Almost 15 years ago, Sashko Iamkovyi moved from Ukraine to Vienna. He knew very little about making coffee, but he knew what he wanted: an espresso good enough to make him come back the next day. He tried cafés across the city. When he couldn’t find quite the one he was looking for, he decided to try making it himself.

Sashko opened his first café to learn the craft. For two years, he worked behind the bar, experimented, made mistakes and discovered how much goes into a single cup. During that time, he came up with the idea for Fenster: a café built entirely around coffee. He sold his first café and used the money to open Fenster.

On May 13, 2017, the first Fenster opened in a storeroom of less than nine square meters, on a narrow medieval street in central Vienna. There were no tables or seats inside. Guests ordered through a window, and the menu was all about coffee. That idea still defines Fenster today, although we’ve made a few exceptions along the way.

But coffee is only half of Fenster. The other half is the people who come to our window. Some start their day with us. Some stop by at lunchtime for a break. Others come on the weekend for a Fensterccino, a photo and a good time. We’ve learned to listen to what our guests enjoy and do our best to give them more of it. Everyone comes for something a little different.

Our team is there to welcome them. The people at Fenster are warm, thoughtful and love what they do. They care about coffee and about the people they serve. We’re incredibly proud of them. You can invent an unusual drink and buy excellent equipment, but it’s the team that gives guests a reason to come back. The Fenster team is Fenster.

You don’t need to know a thing about coffee to enjoy a visit. Order your usual cappuccino. Ask the barista which beans are on filter today. Or try your first Fensterccino and see if you can take a photo without spilling it. We love that all these people meet at the same window.

The work behind every drink begins long before the beans reach our roaster. We look for coffee in growing regions around the world and carefully select the green beans we buy. We consider their quality, their flavor and what they might bring to the cup. We build long-term relationships with farmers and suppliers, getting to know where our coffee comes from and what makes each harvest different. Then we roast the beans ourselves in Austria, both for familiar classics and for specialty coffees with flavors worth exploring. You can try our coffee at Fenster or buy the beans online to brew at home. We also invest in equipment and technology so we can serve it quickly, consistently and at a reasonable price.

We bring the same care to our signature Fensterccino: coffee in a waffle cone lined with quality Belgian chocolate. We prepare the cones right in our Vienna café. Fensterccino is coffee, dessert and, as our guests have shown us, a great subject for a photo. We’re always happy to help get the shot.

After three and a half years, Fenster moved from that tiny storeroom to a larger space next door, in the same building. We gained room to work and prepare our products, while our guests gained more space in front of the window. The idea stayed the same, but it had room to grow. Over the years, Fenster has appeared more than once on lists of the world’s best cafés.

Today, Fenster’s story continues beyond Vienna. Our partners have opened several cafés in Saudi Arabia. Together with our European partners, we’re bringing Fenster to Leipzig, while our franchise partners are preparing to open in Prague. We hope people in both cities will find their own reason to stop by: an everyday espresso, a first Fensterccino, or simply a coffee they’ll want to come back for tomorrow.