Café 1842

A historic café and confectioner in Zurich's old town

Café 1842, which also calls itself Café & Conditorei 1842, is a café and confectioner at Napfgasse 4 in 8001 Zurich, in the old town (Altstadt). It makes wedding cakes to order and rents a handful of period rooms for small celebrations, including an apéro after a civil wedding. The café belongs to the Stiftung Arbeitskette, a foundation that, as the site puts it, offers work and training places for integration, and the site says every visit supports that purpose. Press coverage listed on the site records that the former Café Schober became part of the Arbeitskette and reopened under the foundation.

The site quotes the café's reputation with some pride. It is described as "Zürichs romantischstes Kaffeehaus" (Zurich's most romantic coffee house), and the press page lists an article in Discover Germany, Switzerland and Austria under the English headline "Zurich's most romantic coffee house". The café is also said to appear in publications such as "Die schönsten Cafés von Europa" (the most beautiful cafés of Europe).

Wedding cakes

The wedding cake page frames the cake cutting and the opening of the cake buffet as another high point of the day after the "Ja". Couples are invited to describe their cake dreams, "romantisch, verspielt, modern, geometrisch, blumig" (romantic, playful, modern, geometric, floral), and the Conditorei creates the cake from there. Couples choose the flavor, size, shape and color. A "Tortenbuch" (cake book) is linked from the page as a source of ideas.

On request the café also ties small bags of mini meringues, colorful biscuits or sugared almonds (in white, pink, silver or turquoise) to hand out as favors or to use as sweet table decoration matching the cake.

The request form on the page shows how an order is specified. It asks for the kind of order (wedding cake, birthday or motif cake, or pastries and cakes), the cake size as a number of guests, the shape, the sponge, the filling, the decoration, a dedication, the color, any pastries or cakes wanted alongside, and the date and time of collection. The contact page confirms that cake orders should go through this form.

Timing and consultation

Two rules on the page matter for planning. Consultations are offered by phone or email, preferably Monday to Friday between 12.00 and 14.00 ("am liebsten von Mo-Fr jeweils von 12.00-14.00 Uhr"). And final orders for wedding cakes or motif cakes must reach the café at least 72h before the event. That is a short minimum, and it is a deadline for the definitive order rather than a recommendation, so a couple planning a wedding months ahead can still talk through the design well in advance.

The form asks for a collection date and time, and the site does not mention delivering wedding cakes to another venue. A couple marrying elsewhere should ask whether delivery is possible or plan to collect the cake from Napfgasse.

Rooms for a small wedding apéro

The celebrations page presents the rooms for small gatherings: an apéro after the civil ceremony, a club meeting, a family party or a team breakfast.

• Colonial, on the 2nd floor, is presented as a journey back to the 19th century. Its main feature is wallpaper from the Alsatian manufacturer Zuber, known, the page says, for hand-printed landscape motifs. The room has its own coffee bar and seats up to 40, with room for more at a standing apéro.
• Züri Stube, on the 3rd floor, is a classically furnished room for up to 40 people.
• Salon Rouge is described as "ein Raum voller Charme und Eleganz" (a room full of charm and elegance), with a carved ceiling with heavy wooden beams, crystal chandeliers, vermilion walls with gilded frames and small standing lamps. The page names wedding apéros and engagement parties as uses.
• Beside the neo-baroque shop, a refreshment room seats up to 16, the courtyard (Innenhof, with a fountain) seats up to 24 on summer evenings, and a standing apéro there takes up to 60 people.

The page's meta description gives slightly different figures (Salon Rouge 40, Colonial 38, Züri-Stube 32, courtyard 24), so a couple should confirm the capacity of the room they want. If none of the rooms fits, the page points to other restaurants run by the Stiftung Arbeitskette.

Getting there

The contact page gives clear directions. Trams 4 and 15 stop at Rathaus, and the site says the café can be reached from Paradeplatz in a few minutes. There is no vehicle access to the building; parking is at the Obergericht, on Zähringerplatz or at Hirschengraben, each about 10 minutes on foot. For a cake collection this matters: someone will need to carry the cake to the car.

Opening hours are Monday to Sunday 09.00 to 18.00 from May to September and 09.00 to 19.30 from October to April, and the café says it is open 364 days a year. The phone number is 044 251 51 50 and the email address is 1842@arbeitskette.ch. Helmut Ofner is named as manager (Betriebsleitung).

What the site does not settle

The site publishes no wedding cake prices and no room hire rates or minimum spends for an apéro. It does not list the flavors, sponges or fillings on offer, even though the form asks for them, so the Tortenbuch or a consultation is the way to learn them. It does not say whether cakes can be delivered, whether tiered cakes are made and up to what size, or whether a tasting is part of the consultation. The site is in German, apart from the English press headline, and it does not say whether consultations can be held in English.

Who it suits

Café 1842 suits couples holding a civil wedding in Zurich who want a small apéro in a room with real period character and a cake from the same house. It also suits couples who only need a cake and can collect it in the old town. The social purpose will matter to some couples. The caveats are the small rooms, which cap a seated gathering at about 40, the lack of published prices, the German-only site and the absence of any stated delivery service.