P'AM

Review

The apostrophe

Are there combinations of food and drink that inevitably belong together? It's hard to say, taste harmonies are a question of social conditioning, but I would say that a goulash and a Märzen beer are symbiotic. Or oysters and white Bordeaux or tacos and Mexican beer or sour sausage and a white Gspritzter. And what about bagels and coffee? I don't know. Rather bad, I would say. Coffee is generally a mediocre accompaniment to drinks, bitter, roasty, creamy, and it's not for nothing that people in civilized countries drink it after a meal. What bagels and coffee have in common is New York. Specifically, until 25 years ago, it was common there - as in the rest of the USA - to drink thin coffee to quench one's thirst, i.e. also with a bagel. Together with pastrami sandwiches and hot dogs, this combination became the epitome of New York snack culture. P'AM in Kirchengasse is currently standing out. Firstly, because the young restaurant is the only one in the street, which is otherwise almost paved with restaurants, where something is happening. Although the covered pub garden is closed, there is a fairly spacious outdoor area in front of the pub where punch is served and numerous cakes and cookies are displayed in jars and under bells. And secondly, the wrong apostrophe. Damla Örme explains that the name is intended to make it clear that this is a café and bistro during the day and that the concept turns into a bar in the evening, a corruption of am/pm. Mrs. Örme studied nutritional science and her parents have been running a snack bar for 40 years, which is why flavor enhancers are banned and as much as possible is homemade. Her husband Yigit Örme has experience in gastronomy and a passion for coffee. The plan was to roast it himself (hence the subtitle "roastery"), but somehow it didn't work out, which is why they now have the beans roasted to their own recipe at a roastery in the third district. In contrast to the cakes and cookies, the bagels are home-baked, which is less of a problem than the fact that they are only filled with cream cheese or hummus. And that is somehow a bit too little (€ 5 with a cup of coffee). Pasta is sold in large cups, not a bad idea, but here too there's a bit of a lack of wit, spirali with tomato sauce, a bit of rocket, two quartered cherry tomatoes and a baby mozzarella (€ 3.90) - with high fog and lockdown we need a bit more input, please. In summary: the dream of the big, wide world - own coffee, bar with own syrups, healthy breakfast - in a small restaurant. P'AM, 7th, Kirchengasse 17, Tel. 0660/737 77 61, daily 9-20 hrs.

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