A New Café Takes Root in a Wrocław Landmark
One of Wrocław's most storied addresses has a new tenant. Oki Doki Café opened at 75 Szewska Street, inside the Feniks building, the former Barasch brothers' department store that has anchored the city centre since 1904. The café occupies a space that spent decades as a fabric shop, and it enters through its own dedicated entrance rather than through the shopping centre itself, giving it an identity separate from the retail floors above.
The building's credentials are considerable. In its Barasch era it was considered among the most modern department stores in Europe, complete with an illuminated glass globe held by sphinxes and, from 1929 onward, the city's first escalators. It has carried the Feniks name since 1965 and has been a listed historic monument since 1970. First reported by whiteMAD, the café's opening adds a hospitality layer to a building that has always been about how people present themselves to the world.
Design Built Around a Concept, Not an Aesthetic
The interior was shaped by designers Barbara Szymczak and Dobrochna Rajcic, who began not with mood boards but with a strategic brief. The guiding idea was what the brand's team called "together in solitude," a contemporary take on sociologist Ray Oldenburg's concept of the "third place," a setting that is neither home nor workplace but somewhere a person can simply exist among others without social obligation.
The existing staircase, rather than being removed, became the compositional axis of the 58-square-metre space. Once construction crews stripped back plasterboard, they uncovered a historic wooden ceiling and original textured walls. Szymczak and Rajcic left these exposed and set them against mirrors, industrial metal, and natural wood. The result sits somewhere between urban grit and quiet refuge.
The single most striking element is a cobalt-blue mural by Beata Rojek, whose form moves from wall to floor and travels through most of the premises. It functions as a deliberate counterpoint to the minimalism around it. The mirrored bar reinforces the building's own history: crystal mirrors were a signature feature of the original Barasch interiors, including a large mirror above the main staircase that reflected the glass roof.
What's on the Menu
Oki Doki specialises in matcha-based drinks alongside carefully prepared coffee. The menu was developed by Michalina Kolasa. Baked goods sourced from local bakeries are finished on site. The bar itself is divided into four functional zones, covering washing up, coffee preparation, matcha preparation, and service, arranged so staff move in a single direction without crossing paths.
Why It Matters for Hosts
Independent accommodation operators in central Wrocław now have a genuinely distinctive recommendation to offer guests who want somewhere quiet to work or decompress without retreating to their room. Oki Doki's separate street entrance on Szewska Street makes it easy to find and easy to describe. Its positioning around the "third place" concept means it is designed precisely for the kind of solo traveller or remote worker that many boutique properties already attract. Hosts who brief their guests on the building's history before they visit will give them a richer experience at no extra cost.
Details about Oki Doki Café were first reported by whiteMAD. Interior photography is by Migdał Studio.
First reported by whitemad.pl.