The longest-running cake shop and café in Brno celebrates 87 years

The functionalist monument on Josefská street in Brno survived the war, occupation, and Covid

“On January 30, 1937, the famous Brno confectioner Josef Sedláček opened the sale in his new, largest, most elegant, and most modern establishment of its kind,” read the contemporary newspapers.
In 1936, the construction of an apartment building by architect Vítězslav Korn on Josefská street was completed, with well-known Brno confectioner Josef Sedláček as the investor, who opened his own modern establishment in the building. Since its opening, the operation of this café and pastry shop has never been interrupted, making it the oldest and only continuously operating café and pastry shop in Brno.
The uniquely preserved interior of the café is especially noteworthy, featuring noble materials such as onyx wall cladding, wooden panels, marble flooring, and built-in counters.
After the end of World War II, the house with the pastry shop and café was confiscated from the Sedláčeks and subsequently nationalized. It was during this time that confectioner Adolf Zeman began working here, who took over the establishment after 1989 and ran it until his death in 2023, at which time he was already working alongside his grandson Tomáš Zeman. The tradition of the Zeman family’s confectionery craft dates back to the Austro-Hungarian period, and the current operator is thus the fifth generation of confectioners.
The celebration of the 87th anniversary of Zeman's pastry shop and café will take place throughout the entire Tuesday afternoon on January 30, 2024. The official opening will begin at 1:00 PM along with live music, followed by a lecture by Kristina Šemberová on interwar baking, a well-known author of cookbooks such as Sweet First Republic and Baking According to the Herbarium - Sweetly. There will also be a book signing event for her books on-site. The celebration will conclude with a lecture on the history of the café at 5:00 PM. Visitors can look forward to a special offer of mixed period cocktails throughout the day.
In addition to sitting down for selected coffee, pastries, or a good liqueur in the atmosphere of old times, the café enriches visits with a cultural program aimed at fostering intergenerational dialogue. It hosts concerts with live jazz and swing music, educational lectures, book launches by prominent Brno authors, an art exhibition, and guided tours of the premises. The establishment plans to continue hosting public events this year as well.
Tomáš Zeman, operator of Zeman’s café and pastry shop, said: “The café has been through good and bad times over the years, and it is still here in almost unchanged form. Similarly, the recipes for pastries and baked goods have remained nearly unchanged. Zeman’s pastry shop is a reflection of several periods of the last century, and we are rightly proud of these so-called layers of time. With its architecture and offerings, the café can confidently compete with renowned Vienna cafés.”
Kristýna Kyánková, creative manager of Zeman’s café and pastry shop, said: “Zemanka, in addition to its unique architecture, is full of memories and emotions; many guests fondly remember coming here with their parents and grandparents. We want the café to be a place for generations to meet, where time flows more slowly, just like it used to.”