ANIKA

Kaffee und Kuchen.

Coffee and cake. Throughout her childhood, 4 o’clock was sacred, the witching hour of all things sweet and caffeinated. Her whole family - mama, papa, and three kids - would gather in the living room, on the front porch, or once every couple years, in a small café in Weimar, Germany. Sometimes it was homemade Bienenstich (bee sting cake), cut into rectangular pieces of almond-honey-doughy goodness. Other times it was her mom’s almond biscotti and fresh strawberries. At Christmas it was lebkuchen and marzipan with warm mugs of gluhwein. In the middle of a busy week, it was store-bought pastries and some extra dark chocolate. But, always, it was 4 o’clock.

It's still up in the air whether this tradition was established purely because of German/Italian heritage-related reasons or was (and is) simply her parents’ way of routinely getting the whole family together. She has a pretty good idea though, built on a foundation of laughs, jokes, memories, and conversations through the years, all sparked by the magical Kaffee und Kuchen. Over time she's realized that all good food and drink - at any hour - involve the former, and that Charlottesville happens to house a unique and always evolving collection of menus, chefs, and foodie personalities. Is recipe for success too much of a pun?

A journalist by degree and at heart, Anika will try anything once, likes to ask too many questions, and is extra excited about the fact that she finally has a good excuse to photograph meals from start to finish (to Patt’s utter dismay.)