The US ‘Hallowien’ invasion in the land that invented coffee shops

VIENNA, Austria – Professor Johann P. Fritz, our Director of the International Press Institute (IPI), complained to this writer yesterday about the rampant murder of journalists in the Philippines, "especially those," our old friend noted, "killed while in the midst of exposing government corruption."

This is the view held here in Europe about the "killing fields" of media persons in our country. The IPI, as you already know, is the worldwide association of editors, publishers and media practitioners and owners, representing 140 countries. We lunched at Zum Schwarzen Kameel on the Bognergasse, a restaurant founded in 1618 – one of those delicious Viennese eateries with both a long history and an even longer, more varied menu. It was convenient, being just around the corner from our IPI headquarters on Spiegelgasse 2, in the bustling heart of the Karnerstrasse shopping area.

My advice, of course, from many pilgrimages here is to window-shop but not buy in Vienna. The city may no longer, since it lost its vast domains on "which the sun never set" in World War I, the capital of an Empire, but the prices in this sparkling old town are still ...well, Imperial.

In any event, I was reporting to the IPI as chairman of the Philippine National Committee, and after lunch we repaired to our office, full of books, ledgers, electronic files, and personnel keeping track around the planet through e-mail and computers, for a fuller accounting of media’s woes and concerns.

With us was our Philippine Ambassador to Austria, Vic Garcia – who has been there for almost seven years and knows everything. Vic and his charming wife, Connie, are the toast of the town – recently the ASEAN Ladies’ Circle of Vienna put on a Cooking Demonstration. Their husbands, the Ambassadors, were of course the Chefs. Vic, in Chef’s hat, and a red apron tagged WOW! Philippines did his version of "Chicken Adobo," which was wolfed down appreciately by the other diplomats and guests. This was before the "bird flu" scare. The Indonesian Ambassador did "spicy fish," the Vietnamese produced "Nem," the Malaysian did "Mee Mamak," the Thai envoy came out with "Gang Kaew Wan Kai." Nobody looked, in those more placid days, for Tamiflu.

Vic and Connie have already packed up – their stuff headed home in containers, and are living in a rented, fully-furnished apartment. They’re headed home to Manila on December 3 for posting in the Home Office.

The incoming Ambassador Ms. Lingling Lacanlale (a Fonacier from Ilocos Norte), currently Presidential Chief of Protocol in the Palace, will be here in a few weeks. Vienna is really not terra incognita for Lingling since she lived here for five years when her husband worked with Ambassador Domingo "Jun" Siazon Jr. – now in Tokyo – the former Foreign Affairs Secretary, when Jun was chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and later Director General here of UNIDO.

Vienna is, in fact, the third United Nations City after New York and Geneva (Switzerland). A multi-million euro UN complex here houses the above-mentioned atomic energy agency, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) – and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which today has a major say on global oil production – and the soaring cost of oil.

So it’s clear that while Vienna still waltzes to the music of Johann Strauss (Father) and Johann Strauss (Son) – the younger wrote 500 waltzes – and the "Merry Widow" of Franz Lehar, or vibrates to the music of Mozart, Schubert and Haydn (who composed, by the way, the German national anthem of Deutshland Uber Alles), it is both in tune and in step with the modern world.

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What must be appalling to some Viennese, who after all "invented" the coffee shop, is the invasion of "STARBUCKS" – which cheekily first set up shop in 2002 at No. 1 Kartnerstrasse. This is the most strategically-located outlet location in Vienna – since it is at the corner of the most frequented pedestrian shopping street, which leads to the historic St. Stephan’s church in the heart of the metropolis. A block away, some of Austria’s royalty lie buried in a crypt. Just across the street from "STARBUCKS" in the Statsoper – the State Opera House – where Tosca, Carmen, La Nozze de Figaro, Madam Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflote, Turandot, and other opera greats are routinely staged.

On the same corner is the fabled Sacher hotel, whose founder, Sacher was the master cook of Prince Metternich, the man who presided over the 19th century Congress of Vienna, the coalition formed to redesign the boundaries of Europe after the defeat of France’s Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.

Metternich wanted to set something special before his guests, the mettlesome and quarrelsome allied leaders. Sacher, commissioned by him to create something different and exquisite, devised a chocolate cake, without cream filling, but with chocolate icing on top over a thin layer of apricot jam, served of course with generous helpings of whipped cream. The cream, naturally, is called by Austrians Schlagobers. Even Kaffe (coffee) is served frequently mit schlag which is the connoisseur’s delight and the dieter’s downfall. (Remember the old warning: Six seconds in your mouth, six months around your waist!)

In any event, Sacher’s invention, Sachertorte has become renowned worldwide. It is air-shipped by Sacher hotel to eager "eaters" around the planet.

There are now, alas, FOUR "STARBUCKS" flourishing in the Austrian capital. I thought there were only three, including the one across from the Votive Church, but yesterday I spotted a fourth "STARBUCKS" near the St. Michael’s Church, only a few hundred yards from the legendary Cafe Demel, founded in 1786 by the family Hofzuckerbacker, former confectioners to the Imperial Court. Cafe Demel – actually Demel’s Sohne, K.u.K. Hofzuckerbacker – is always thronged with foreign tourists, especially Japanese who visit it to dine on various Tortes and pastries, just as reverently as Prime Minister Koizumi visits the Yasukuni Shrine.

Doggone it. "STARBUCKS" is not the only evidence of US intrusion. There have, for years, been McDonald’s everywhere, including the one at the corner of our Imperial Hotel serving "Shanghai Chicken," incidentally. But "Hallowien," as in France, takes the cake.

Pumpkins everywhere, Flying witches decorate bars and other establishments. Imported some six or seven years ago, Trick or Treat has become a local institution. Adults hold "Hallowien" parties. Children have them in the afternoon in their schools. The Emperor Franz Josef must be turning in his grave! Hallowien in Wien, by golly.

The pity of the "STARBUCKS" invasion is that Austria invented the coffee shop. When the Austrian army, led by Emperor Leopold I, with the help of Poland’s valiant King John Sobieski, and the military genius of Prince Charles of Lorraine, repulsed the antlike horde of 300,000 Turkish warriors led by Kara "The Black" Mustafa from the Gates of Vienna – the Turks fled leaving their tents and all their possessions behind. The victors found sacks of black "grain" which nobody understood or wanted. Nobody, of course, except someone named George Koischitsky who had lived among the Turks, spoke Turkish, and knew that the mysterious grains could be brewed into "coffee."

The Viennese loved the brew at first taste. What’s more: To commemorate their triumph, the Viennese invented a feathery piece of bread in the shape of the Muslim (Moorish) Crescent, called a "Croissant." Sounds familiar? Today, you’ll find the Croissant everywhere including in the Tuesday Club breakfast.

There are still more than 800 coffee shops in Vienna. And now, alas, "STARBUCKS." Maybe "Figaro", our own brand, may not be far behind.