Café Alchymista: Pieces of Magic in Hidden Courtyard
If you want to experience an authentic old Prague, you should definitely visit Café Alchymista. Once you enter, you might discover that there is something magical about this place. I can give you some hints, but you need to experience it by yourself…
The Spirit of Café Alchymista
When you enter Café Alchymista, you feel like traveling back in time about one hundred years ago. This is also the moment when the first magical moment might come. Look up at the ceiling, and let yourself wonder about the alchemistic painting. When you look around, you can feel retro vibes with comfortable armchairs, decorations, and pictures. The “homey” feeling is even enhanced by the huge Monstera plant and the smell of the freshly roasted coffee.
If you think that it’s all, I might assure you that it’s just beginning. When you pass the counter with delicious homemade cakes, you will discover another room that looks like a stylish granny living room. The atmosphere is enhanced with old piano standing in the corner, birds twittering by the window and if you are lucky, even cats lying around.
You might guess that it’s still not the end. The cherry on the cake is coming when you open a glass door and enter the charming backyard. This is another magical moment that you might expect. Let yourself draw inside the magical garden full of trees, flowers, and birds. Choose one of the tables under the tree or by a small fish-pond. When you look around carefully, you might even discover several sculptures of modern art. If you would like to discover the whole beauty of the garden, you can do it as a visitor to the Prague Coffee Museum that is connected with Café Alchymista.
Delicious Pastry
Besides the magical atmosphere, you should definitely discover another dimension of this café, and these are homemade cakes together with freshly roasted coffee. All the cakes are produced right in this café or by small-scale producers that are securing the best quality of ingredients. My favorite one is a chocolate cake with mint and fresh herbs (see the picture), but you can have a great variety of cakes that satisfies all your taste buds.
As I already mentioned, coffee beans are roasted just here, so you can be sure that coffee is fresh and prepared with love. Whatever coffee you choose, you will receive it in original mugs specially prepared for Café Alchymista. What I really appreciate is an option to have a coffee with plant-based milk, such as soya milk. Last time, they had even freshly homemade almond milk, unbelievable.
Prague Coffee Museum and Museum of Marionettes
Café Alchymista is closely connected with the Prague Coffee Museum. You can learn about the story of coffee beans from the plant itself right to your cup, or about the coffee culture both from an international and Czech perspective. What I find interesting was different kinds of coffee substitutes that contain no caffeine. Just next to the museum used to be a gallery of contemporary art. Today, you can find here an interesting exhibition of marionettes.
The Story Behind Café Alchymista
The founder of the whole place is the artist Kateřina Ebelová. In 1995, she found the apartment house with a neglected courtyard and turned it into a green paradise. Furthermore, she opened this wonderful café, founded the coffee museum and the gallery itself. Thanks to her vision and devotion, you can now enjoy this small hidden paradise in the middle of the city. Today, the café is run by her daughter Patricie and her husband, Petr.
How to get to Alchymista
The Alchymista is hidden from the touristic trails, and you would not guess from outside, what you can find inside. You can find it in the residential district Letná, just between two big parks Stromovka and Letna Park. The closest tram stop is Sparta (lines 1, 8, 12, 25, 26), pass the Sparta stadium, and take the third left to Jana Zajíce street.
Address: Jana Zajíce 7, Letná district
Map: click here
Website: http://www.alchymista.cz/
