A Happy Accident Behind Sacher Cake, Vienna

Sometimes I simply hate my job. I travel a lot, and yet I see nothing but the airport, my hotel room and the conference hall. There is never enough time for me to do the sightseeing or enjoy the beauty of the place I am visiting. This time, my trip to Vienna turned out to be a fantastic mixture of business AND pleasure.

After the perfect day that I had spent in Schonbrunn Zoo and Park, I thought the fun was over. The work had to be done. Ahead of me were three (I thought) dull and tiresome days of presentations. By the way, my job is to organize and hold presentations about our newest product — FiveCubits Inc. device, which is quite revolutionary in fleet management.

Today I was to meet my Austrian clients so I woke up early, dressed up, packed my laptop and documents, and went to the hotel lobby to meet them. I was completely caught by surprise when I heard that they had decided to have our business lunch at Sacher Hotel, one of the Vienna landmarks.

Sacher Hotel is located just opposite the Vienna Opera House, right next to Kaerntner Street- one of the most beautiful streets in Vienna. My hosts were perfect and well prepared guides. We reached Kaertner Street by car, and the rest of it was a pleasant walk.

One half of Kaertner Street is closed for traffic and that part of the street runs from Stephanplatz to the Opera House. The first sight we visited was St Stephen’s Cathedral, the famous Stephansdom. The truth is that I am not much of a fan of churches, especially the Gothic ones, but this cathedral is simply something special. Maybe because of its combination of many different styles (a bit of Gothic, a sip of Romanesque, a touch of modern) or simply due to its unbelievable wonderful multi-coloured tile roof, but I found it irresistible.

If you need a souvenir from Vienna, Kaerntner Street is a place to come. There are souvenir shops, brand stores, restaurants… And at almost every corner you will see street musicians playing classical music, mostly famous waltzes… No wonder Vienna is called the City of music.

At the end of this pedestrian part of Kertner Street, was our destination: The Sacher Hotel. Home of the best and the simplest cake in the world — Sacher Cake. The hotel itself well deserves its five stars. Beautiful elegant design, luxurious foyers, immaculate appearance. Most charming, pleasant and kind staff.

The history of Sachertorte (as it is originally called) is rather simple as well. As many other great inventions, Sacher cake was made by chance. One day Prinz Von Metternich wanted a new, special cake made for his important guests. The main Chef being ill, this task was given to a 16-years old cook apprentice Franz Sacher. The best he could do was to slice a cake biscuit into two, spread some jam on one part and put the other part of the biscuit on the top of it. Then he covered it with chocolate. And that was it. The Prinz and his guests loved it, and the rest is history.

I loved it too. So, if you are in Vienna, do not miss it, especially if you are a chocolate fan as I am. The business was a success, and I am sure the great atmosphere of the Sacher Hotel helped us a lot.