Sweet-looking cakes known as Kranz are displayed in the window of Bäckerei and Cafe am Altenhof in Kaiserslautern. The café’s baked goods are replenished twice a day. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
I recently went out to breakfast before work on a weekday, something I don’t think I had ever done before. One of Kaiserslautern’s newest breakfast spots, Bäckerei and Cafe am Altenhof, had been on my radar for several months.
Tucked along a side street off Schillerplatz, the café feels slightly hidden, its door angled toward the sidewalk beside a window stacked with sweet-looking cakes and a simple sign advertising a breakfast buffet.
I showed up at 7:45 a.m. on a Wednesday, 15 minutes after it opened, and customers were already lined up behind the glass display case buying baked goods and coffees to take away.
An employee stocking the buffet told me it wouldn’t be available until 8 a.m. That still left an hour before I had to be in the office, so I decided to stay and ordered a tea and a pastry while I waited.
A different employee suggested the puddingstück, a Danish-style pastry made from laminated dough and filled with vanilla custard. Their version includes cinnamon, which accentuates the pastry’s sweetness. It was soft and light in the mouth, though sticky on the fingers.
Puddingstück, Danish-style pastries made from laminated dough and filled with vanilla custard, are among dozens of sweet pastries available at Bäckerei and Cafe am Altenhof in Kaiserslautern. They are also can be included in the café’s breakfast buffet. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Eight o’clock rolls around. The buffet is ready. One table is overflowing with various types of sliced loaves; rolls made with honey, rye grain, poppy seeds; three kinds of soft pretzels; and brioches.
“So much bread,” I said.
“Well, we’re a bakery,” one of the employees pointed out.
On another table, cheeses, fruits, vegetables and yogurts were displayed. Two types of muesli and hot items such as an assortment of sausages, baked fish and deep-fried feta cubes were also offered.
My first plate consisted of a slice of wheat bread topped with paprika cheese, ripe tomatoes and cucumber, along with a few pieces of tomato and mozzarella drizzled with a sweet balsamic dressing, and an even sweeter slice of carrot cake.
A selection of cheeses and lunch meats is included in the breakfast buffet at Bäckerei and Cafe am Altenhof in Kaiserslautern. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Slices of carrot cake, a blueberry muffin and a cookie known as an Amerikaner are among the sweet offerings included in Bäckerei and Cafe am Altenhof’s breakfast buffet. Items on display regularly change. However, customers can also request additional pastries. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
The most noticeable thing about the food was its freshness. Everything was simple but satisfying because of the quality.
My second serving consisted of a poppy seed roll with a slightly crisp exterior and soft center, creamy slices of Gouda cheese and a croissant that was light and buttery. I also added a deviled egg topped with pesto, which dominated the taste buds but in a refreshing way.
I grabbed an Amerikaner, a soft, cakelike cookie with sugar icing covering one half and chocolate the other. It was very sweet and seemed like a perfect way to end my breakfast. Or so I thought.
I hadn’t realized that the breakfast buffet also comes with eggs. Boiled eggs are available on the buffet, but customers can also order cooked eggs prepared however they want.
I opted for scrambled, even though it was already coming up to 9 a.m. The eggs arrived garnished with red and yellow peppers, cucumbers and lettuce. They were piping hot and neither runny nor overcooked.
Eggs cooked to order are included with the breakfast buffet at Bäckerei and Cafe am Altenhof in Kaiserslautern. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Various fruits are part of the breakfast buffet at Bäckerei and Cafe am Altenhof in Kaiserslautern. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
Bäckerei and Cafe am Altenhof in Kaiserslautern. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
The door to the café opens at an angle onto Am Altenhof near Kaiserslautern’s Schillerplatz. The narrow front portion of the café opens into a spacious seating area in the back. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)
My server said that the café gets busier later in the morning and that on Saturdays it becomes so busy that reservations are recommended.
Many people come and stay for both breakfast and lunch, she said, sipping coffee while working their way through the buffet.
The coffee served is from Valentino, a family-run Italian company known for producing espresso blends in the traditional southern Italian style.
It can be made in three different strengths. Americans tend to go for the weakest, which one employee jokingly called “colored water.”
As I was leaving around 9:30, a German couple at a nearby table, who had surprised me by filling a basket with five pieces of bread for just the two of them, yelled “auf wiedersehen.”
Bäckerei and Cafe am Altenhof
Location: Am Altenhof 1, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Wednesday and Saturday, 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; closed Sunday
Cost: Breakfast buffet with coffee or tea included 14.90 euros, coffee with cake 4.90 euros, most pastries between 1.50 and 2.50 euros each
Phone: +49 631 311 683 28
