Author
Christian Scherl
Published on 13.02.2025
From the business magazine "Workflow"
02/2025 About Growing.
In a dynamically growing district like Seestadt, it is essential to develop a solid infrastructure of local suppliers, restaurants, and retail in parallel. For this purpose, Wien 3420 aspern Development AG founded a joint venture with retail expert Spar European Shopping Centers (SES) back in 2012: aspern Seestadt Einkaufsstraßen Gmbh, to ensure the optimal and needs-based mix. More and more exciting restaurants are finding a new home in Seestadt. The newest member is the charming café “Bruno e Marrone” right next to the Seestadt U2 station.
Alter Egos
After all, you can really tell how much passion goes into the brand “Bruno e Marrone.” “We spent a long time racking our brains over which name would best convey our story,” says Aramis. The spark of inspiration came from his colleague Julian. “Brown bean” is “chicco bruno” in Italian and “faba marrone” in Latin. So, we are the two brown beans.” According to Julian, having an alter ego also helps to shake off any negative criticism more easily, since as a musician he learned that positive feedback fades quickly, while negative comments tend to stick around. Although, in Seestadt, this concern is almost unfounded. “It’s fascinating how open-minded people in this district are towards new things. Every day, we hear from our guests how happy they are that we and Seestadt have come together,” says Julian.
But the alter egos Chicco Bruno and Faba Marrone can do much more. “They come from another era and are equipped with the experience of Italian master roasters, so they reveal new secrets to us and our guests little by little,” says Julian with a wink. “Right now, the trend of ‘Speciality Coffee’ from Scandinavia is all the rage in major cities, where high-quality coffee is roasted very lightly and you can taste notes of different fruits,” explains Aramis. “We deliberately decided against this because we are convinced by the Italian roasting tradition. But unlike Italian coffee houses, we use only high-quality, fair, and sustainable beans.”
Pinsa and cakes. With freshly roasted Italian coffee, there are delicious pastries and sourdough-based pinsa.© Luiza Puiu
Good and Vegan
Of course, good coffee also calls for pastries. The dynamic business duo works with a patisserie here. In the kitchen, Aramis also prepares pinsa. Unlike classic pizza, pinsa is made from sourdough and is much easier to digest. “As our guests’ needs are constantly evolving, vegan dishes are being requested more and more often,” says the trained chef, admitting that this increases the workload, but the effort pays off. From day one, the new café was literally stormed. “We actually expected Seestadt to be in a kind of ‘Sleeping Beauty slumber’ and thought we could easily manage the business with just the two of us.” A mistake.
Acceptance. “From day one, the café was literally stormed,” say the two new restaurateurs with delight.© Akos Burg
“We worked around the clock for the first few weeks, barely getting any rest.” Besides the job, there’s also family. Julian has three children, and Aramis has baby number two on the way. So, additional staff had to be hired quickly. “Which turned out to be not so easy, because in addition to the shortage of skilled workers, it also takes some convincing to attract people from the city to work in Seestadt—even if the commute is short,” says Julian, but he’s convinced this will soon change as the attractiveness and appeal of the new neighborhood in the 22nd district continue to grow. The small café now employs six part-time staff to handle the daily challenges. “We’ll soon be open on Sundays as well,” promise the managers. This means guests will soon have even more opportunities to enjoy the best coffee in Seestadt.
On the right course
Seestadt demonstrates how gastronomy and retail can mutually benefit from each other. Analyses by RegioPlan show that it is precisely these sustainable concepts that matter. RegioPlan is a leading European consulting firm that has been conducting independent market and location analyses for over 35 years. It supports decision-makers with solid data and consulting concepts for real estate and the public sector by analyzing demographic and economic developments and providing recommendations for new uses in city centers and town centers.
A RegioPlan analysis from 2023 shows that the number of restaurants in Austria has declined in recent years, especially in rural areas. Since gastronomy is more of a “frequency user” than a “frequency driver,” it cannot solve all the problems of town centers. “But in times of online retail, it has become harder to get people into stores, and here, gastronomic offerings can certainly help to get people out of their homes again,” says Monika Hohenecker, Head of Urban and Municipal Consulting at RegioPlan, who sees analogies to new urban areas. “Currently, combination uses are booming, such as book cafés—small-scale gastronomy concepts that work in conjunction with retail or support retail.”
Innovative concepts, such as cooperatives for the joint management of restaurants and alternative uses through projects like community centers, could also increase the region’s attractiveness. In addition, cooperation with regional producers and tourism, as well as a focus on sustainability and quality, are crucial to attract new target groups.
“The mix of uses in Seestadt is a great fit. Different gastronomy concepts are given the chance to establish themselves here. Above all, the target groups are very well addressed.”
Monika Hohenecker
Bruno e Marrone are also on the right track, offering an exciting combination, as the Seestadt InfoPoint on the gallery invites you to dive in.
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