As of: April 1, 2024, 4:46 a.m
By: Lisa Metzger
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Eric Rautenberg is stunned: his newly opened café “Süß&Salzig” in Nuremberg is doing sensationally. So good that it had to close shortly after opening.
Nuremberg – There is a little sensation in the southeastern part of Nuremberg: a new breakfast café. Actually something that is not unusual in many places. In the Garden City – the district in which the café opened – yes. Because there are almost no breakfast cafes there, says Eric Rautenberg - but he can't explain why, he tells our editorial team on the phone on a Wednesday afternoon, while the sounds of coffee machines, dishes and voices can be heard in the background.
Eric Rautenberg (29) enchants Nuremberg: his newly opened breakfast restaurant in the south of the city is booming so much that he even had to close it again for a short time. © Instagram/cafesuessundsalzig
The 29-year-old, who has been running the “Süss&Salzig” café on Paumannstrasse since the beginning of the year, has his hands full. He still likes to take the time to talk. After all, what happened to him a few weeks ago was quite unusual. At least you don't hear it every day that a café has to close because it has
too many
customers. But that's exactly what the young restaurateur had to do because he hadn't expected a rush of this magnitude.
Shortly after opening: staff had to be doubled
“We actually assumed that people would sniff it out at first,” says Rautenberg. But in the first few days he was taught otherwise. “We were full from the first week on.” 80 meals went out on Saturday and Sunday, and 110 meals were already in there. “That’s obviously a lot for a 32-person restaurant,” says Rautenberg, still laughing somewhat incredulously into the phone.
There has been a new café in Nuremberg's Südstadt since January 2024. The rush to the already very popular breakfast location surprised the owner himself. © Instagram/cafesuessundsalzig
This couldn't be managed in the long term with a team of just five people. Rautenberg pulled the emergency brake, closed the restaurant that had just opened and reorganized his team. “Now there are eleven of us.” But he’s currently looking again. “We now have seating on the terrace, which offers another 25 seats, and we also have an 80 square meter garden that can accommodate another 40 seats in the summer.”
Modern plate language based on upscale gastronomy
His café in the south of Nuremberg seems to be a complete success. “That touched a nerve,” says Rautenberg. “I'm glad I met him, but I didn't expect it myself.” The secret of his success: “Decent breakfast dishes, but reinterpreted.” This means that instead of just scrambled eggs from the pan with a little chives, it's in the café “Sweet & Salty” is a little more sophisticated, oriented towards more upscale gastronomy. “We have a modern plate language,” says Rautenberg. “We serve the scrambled eggs with a serving ring, plus beetroot, some cress and sprouts and parsley oil.” The aim is to simply make it a little better.
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The selection is impressive. Rautenberg presents his creations on the café’s Instagram page. These include breakfast platters arranged on a cross section of a tree trunk and ten centimeter high pancake towers. “French toast, club sandwich or salads – there is something for everyone,” says Rautenberg. Hence the name “Sweet & Salty,” he says. The “good and honest work with fresh products” is definitely well received by the guests. Just like the prices.
Whether hearty breakfast platters or sweet pancake dreams: there is something for every palate in the “Süss&Salzig” café, promises owner Eric Rautenberg. © Instagram/cafesuessundsalzig
An omelet at “Süss&Salzig” costs just 7.90 euros, and salads with goat cheese or salmon for around 11 to 13 euros. And the infamous battle over the 0.75 liter water bottle is also far away from the prices we now know: 4.90 euros. “This usually only starts at six or seven euros,” says Rautenberg. Not with “Sweet & Salty”. “We just try to be fair to the people. Of course, we also have to earn money, but everything within limits.”
Cheap prices: restaurateurs still do their own shopping
The prices are ultimately a reflection of his purchasing policy, explains Rautenberg. Many restaurants have deliveries made and calculate a certain amount of lost goods in advance. “The reason why our prices are like this is also because I still go shopping myself. At least three to four times a week. Sometimes I even go to the metro every day to buy things. I just want to react exactly to what's going on." Of course, that's a hard calculation, but in this way he avoids unnecessary excess and that's the only way prices like his are possible.
There are always difficult times. But you can't wait for better ones. You have to give 100 percent and then you will be rewarded. I am convinced of that.
Eric Rautenberg, young restaurateur and owner of the Café Süß&Salzig
At 29, Rautenberg is a young restaurateur on the scene and yet he already has a lot of experience: “For the last twelve years I have held almost every position in the catering industry. Shift and operations management, most of the time as a waiter, of course.” The decision to become self-employed was not difficult for the young man, despite the current economically uncertain situation. “I’ve always wanted this,” says the 29-year-old. So he wasn't afraid of taking this step. “If I was scared, I shouldn't have done that. There are always kind of difficult times, it's never really easy. But you can't wait for better ones. You just have to give 100 percent and then you will be rewarded, I am convinced of that.”
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Second café possible, but “not this year”
The sales of his small café prove him right for the time being: “We currently have sales that can be compared to an evening restaurant in the city center,” says Rautenberg. Of course that's great. After this rocket launch, is he already thinking about another café? “Not this year,” assures the young entrepreneur. But he is not closed to it. "Stagnation means regression. But now we've only been up and running for a few months," he said. He wants to see how business continues. He always has plans.
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