Expat Cafe
The Expat Cafe, situated near Cologne's Latin Quarter, opened in March 2021 was co-foundered by Bradley Geiger and Steve Marks. Steve is an Australian music producer and teacher living in Cologne.
“I don’t know German paperwork too well so I recruited a fellow Australian to help me out with all that side of things. We plan on hosting events such as: live music, pub quiz, speed dating, language lessons, social nights, whiskey tastings, wine tastings, and maybe even some DJ lessons, haha!”
We caught up with Steve online to ask how he came to start a cafe during the pandemic.
How long have you called Cologne home?
"I first moved to Cologne in 2016, starting as a DJ in several night clubs, then managed some Irish pubs in Cologne and Essen, and also worked for a few years as a tour guide travelling around Europe!"When did you start with the Expat Cafe idea?
"Honestly, about mid January 2021, and we were opened by March 1, 2021. The process was very fast and it was like the heavens aligned to make this happen!"How was getting to launch during a pandemic?
"It was definitely strange to open with such heavy restrictions, but our to-go concept is slowly gaining popularity. It was a big risk for me to invest a lot of money into something like this, but for now, coffee to-go is a business type that is still allowed to operate."Many businesses are struggling because of lockdown; what "to go" options are you offering?
"We have a small cafe-style menu at the moment catering for most dietary requirements. If you arrive at Expat Cafe you can expect to see a menu consisting of: coffee, gourmet bagels, mini-baguettes, banana bread (try the raspberry one, it is delicious...), power oats (choco & banana is very popular), muffins, croissants, pasta bowls and a few other things when we feel creative."What are your other passions and will they influence the cafe culture?
"I have travelled all over the world as a DJ and music producer, and we plan on hosting live music often in the cafe. We have a public guitar and piano for anyone to play when we are open so we hope corona restrictions ease when it is safe to do so."
Hopefully we come out of lockdown soon, then we can maybe organise some fun meet ups in the cafe, but until then the Expat Cafe is opperating a to-go service.
