When you travel to Toronto, this multicultural metropolis, you will have the opportunity to taste delicacies from around the world, but one of the national cuisines is not well represented: Austrian cuisine. Canada experienced a large wave of Austrian immigrants just after World War II and in the 1970s, but since then the number of newcomers from this small European nation has dropped sharply, leading to a shortage of Austrian restaurants.

As an Austrian immigrant, one place caught my eye some time ago: an authentic Austrian cafe / patisserie called “Konditor”, which is German for “sugar baker”. In recent months I have tried several times to stop by and try some Austrian dishes that I had grown up with, but each time I passed by I would inadvertently choose a Monday or Tuesday when the establishment was closed.

Well finally, today after doing my interview with Sheila Blinoff and Carole Stimmell from Beach Metro Community News, I decided to pay another visit to Konditor, and since today was Thursday, I had finally chosen the correct day of the week. I arrived around noon at a small but neat establishment in Toronto’s Beach neighborhood, on Queen Street, west of Woodbine Avenue. This compact café has nine tables and three of them were occupied by enthusiastic customers. The atmosphere in the place was incredibly upbeat, with customers chatting from table to table, and I overheard a conversation between two different groups of customers agreeing that Konditor has the best apple strudel and the best coffee.

A group of three local businessmen sat at the next table: Ernesto Monte is the owner of Meat on the Beach, known for its high-quality meats; Arthur (Arturo) Bossio runs a local pest control company, while his brother Tony is a general contractor who works a lot on the beach.

Soon the jokes were flying from one place to another and Arturo began to ask about the reason for my visit. He indicated that he is originally from Italy, from the southern region of Calabria, but came to Canada as a young child. Then Arturo joked with one of the owners, Benedetta Stellino, who is also a native of Italy.

People sometimes say that Toronto residents are quite reserved and that strangers are hesitant to talk to each other. Well, on Konditor, witty comments were flying around, and complete strangers (including me) were making fun of each other, having a good time.

The real reason I had come here was to finally try some Austrian cuisine, some sandwiches that reminded me of my time in the Austrian Alps. So I ordered my favorite Austrian soup: Fritattensuppe (pancake strip soup) and a gourmet roast pork sandwich. Trying the food from my birth country again, right here in Toronto, was great and the hearty food definitely hit the spot. The gentlemen next to me were already wondering how I was going to polish up a large soup bowl and a good sized sandwich, but no problem here, this girl can eat …

The guests kept coming and Benedetta kept them entertained with her charm and an enviable gift of speech. He definitely has a great knack for making anyone feel welcome, like they’ve been friends for many years. He explained that on the weekends this place really starts to jump. Finally, I had the opportunity to meet his business partner and the baker herself. Burgi Riegler grew up on a farm in Mürzzuschlag, a city in the beautiful province of Styria, only about 30 km from my own hometown in Austria. We sat and chatted a bit in our native German dialects, and then switched to English when the formal interview began.

Growing up on a farm, Burgi learned to cook early on and had to prepare meals for her large family. At the age of nine, he had already discovered his ideal job: he wanted to be a chef. He thought that they would also pay him for his favorite activity. After his local apprenticeship, he spent some time during the winter tourist season in the Austrian province of Tyrol, working as a chef and skiing as he pleased. Although he sometimes worked 20 hours a day in winter, he had summers off.

But the big city kept calling her: Vienna. He spent several years in the Austrian capital, working in such esteemed establishments as the Hotel Bristol, the Hilton Hotel and the Restaurant Corso, one of the most famous restaurants in Vienna. He worked with some of the best known European culinary experts. While working in Vienna, she fell in love with pastry (who doesn’t?) And took an evening apprenticeship as a pastry chef. Part of the reason was also to prove that one of her previous supervisors was wrong, who had told her that she was a “total loser with pies.” Burgi now had official credentials as a fully qualified executive chef and pastry chef.

After a few years in Vienna, that Austrian city became too small. The big world was calling: Burgi wanted to go to America. But he couldn’t get a green card and a friend suggested that he should go to Canada. In reality, Burgi was recruited by the Royal York Hotel in Toronto when they were trying to raise their profile with high-end desserts. Burgi was a game, and in 1987 it hit Canadian soil. I had come here myself in 1986, so we realized that we both had about 20 years of Canadian life under our belt.

Burgi’s first impressions were that the country was so big, the city was huge (compared to the 5.3 million inhabitants of Greater Toronto, Vienna, by far the largest city in Austria, only has about 1.5 millions of inhabitants). Like me, this transplant from Austria fell in love with Toronto. She felt that people were friendly, and within half a year she had found a Canadian who was so friendly that she decided to marry him. During the following years, Burgi and her husband started a family in Toronto.

After the Royal York, Burgi also spent several years as a pastry chef at the prestigious Badminton & Racquet Club until Benedetta approached him and told him that he was wasting his talent and that he should pursue his lifelong dream of opening his own coffee shop. . Burgi liked the idea, quit his job, and Burgi and Benedetta ended up becoming business partners. The breakthrough came when Ben was listening to a radio show where Kerry Stratton, conductor of the Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra, commented that he couldn’t locate a decent Sacher Torte (a true Viennese specialty) in Toronto.

Benedetta told Burgi “your Sacher Torte is great” and they sent a sample to the director. The sweet treat turned out very well, and Burgi was invited to provide the sweet table for the prestigious Viennese Ball hosted by the Toronto Philharmonic. Other highlights of Burgi’s career include an appearance on the popular cooking television show “Christine Cushing Live,” a job for the Italian consulate, and the annual Salute to Vienna concert at Roy Thompson Hall. People were definitely taking notice of this talented Austrian pastry chef.

Today Konditor and the partnership between Burgi and Benedetta are well established. While Burgi prepares sinful treats in the kitchen, Benedetta takes care of the customers at the front. Ben is definitely a character; He has a great natural sense of humor and is not afraid to tease customers in a caring way. While he was there, a regular customer walked in and Ben reprimanded him for spending too much time at Starbucks, his competition. The skipper came back right away with a witty reply and a little humorous joke was flying from side to side.

Not surprisingly, Benedetta has a sales background, spent many years in the headhunting business and said she “sold heads for cash”, before starting a business with Burgi. Although the last three years have been a lot of work, both entrepreneurs agree that their foray into business ownership has been very rewarding.

Their recipe for success is to provide an authentic Austrian café atmosphere, with high-quality meals and desserts. In addition to delicious merchandise, they live to create an environment that makes people feel comfortable, as if they were at home. Benedetta has a knack for engaging in conversations with people and clients chat freely with each other. Ben, an avid poet, said that he is keeping track of everything that happens in his establishment, and one day he will write a book about it in which he will distribute the products and share the juicy bites that he has witnessed in his cafe. I joked that I had better behave myself to avoid compromising news being leaked.

Ben adds that Burgi’s desserts are second to none and taste even better than they appear. And people who have traveled to Austria confirm that this place looks like a real Austrian pastry shop. As an Austrian, I can attest to that. For Mozart’s 250th anniversary celebrations last winter, Burgi prepared a special three-tier cake that was enjoyed by a crowd of 200 patrons. Attendees were lucky that it was one of the hottest days in January with temperatures around +10 degrees Celsius. Customers were able to hang out on the outside patio.

I asked if there were any special events at the restaurant. A recent initiative in Konditor consists of regular poetry readings called “Poetic Justice”, held every first Thursday of the month. One or two poets present their writings and members of the audience have the opportunity to read their own work at the open microphone.

A delicious strawberry cremeschnitte represented a pleasant highlight at the end of our conversation; I thought I couldn’t leave this place without at least trying one of the sweets. I finally made it to Konditor, this little Austrian corner that reminded me a lot of where I grew up, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll be back (to use Arnold’s famous words), not just for the food, but for the company.