A post-nursery drink

Text & Photos: Christian Schiller

With windswept hair and concealed dark rings around my eyes, I stumble into the Apotheke café bar early in the morning to get myself a ginger and lemon iced tea and a brie sandwich. The same as always. Earlier that morning I’d been watching my toddler splash around in the bath. The day is going pretty well so far.

Getting a child to nursery is no mean feat. In my defence, I’m really not a morning person. But no one is going to take that as an excuse. Certainly not the little chap who I would ideally have given a quick shower-off this morning after he spent the whole night wearing the same nappy.

Fortunately, splashing around in the bath is one of my one-and-a-half-year old’s favourite hobbies, which means the biggest protest comes when I turn off the tap. The reason for the rush this morning? An 8 o’clock meeting. When the little one finally has a clean nappy and is dressed, I make him his muesli while he sits in his high chair with both hands tapping impatiently on the table.

Those who are trying to quit coffee cold turkey need to find alternatives.

image

A short while later, I stuff my son into his full-body winter suit. Time to go. My stomach rumbles. We rush along Freiestrasse to the nursery. Chirpy, clean and fed, the little one sits up in his pushchair and admires the world around him. That sets me up for the day. I tell myself that my ‘just-rolled-out-of-bed’ hairstyle might even be the latest trend. I’ve managed to conceal the dark circles around my eyes using my wife’s make-up. All in all, I’m doing just fine.

And it gets even better – after the nursery drop-off, I take myself to the Apotheke. This café bar right next to the nursery serves one of the best ginger and lemon iced teas in the city. Not too sour and sweetened with a little honey. I tell myself that this refreshing drink is healthy and wakes me up in the morning. Those who are trying to quit coffee cold turkey need to find alternatives.

But before I start getting creative in the kitchen first thing in the morning, I would prefer to use my few spare minutes to take a shower.

image

To go with the iced tea, I treat myself to a brie sandwich with fig mustard and rocket. I’ve never been a fan of sweet things in the morning. The young woman behind the counter assures me that the sandwich is homemade – and the ginger and lemon iced tea is too, by the way. Homemade or not, my post-nursery breakfast was delicious. Good food doesn’t always have to be extravagant. It’s true that I could probably conjure up a similar sandwich myself after some experimentation.

But before I start getting creative in the kitchen first thing in the morning, I would prefer to use my few spare minutes to take a shower.

Address

Apotheke
Zürichbergstrasse 17
8032 Zürich
+41 44 260 82 82
Website

Info

The ginger and lemon iced tea costs CHF 5 and the brie sandwich costs CHF 7.50.

The Apotheke doesn’t add any flavour enhancers, opts for local ingredients wherever possible and uses environmentally sustainable packaging.