Kapp is back!

This only means something to ~3 people, but I have to put it in writing:

Peter Kapp (the “Artisan Boulanger”) is currently (until March ’26 for now) consulting at local bakery Brot & Salz in Mannheim. Which kind of means, Kapp™ bread is back!

For years it was *the* bread to get for basically any occasion, regardless of whether you’re eating dinner, throwing a party or supplying a restaurant. Then, only a few years ago, his bakery in Edingen Neckarhausen closed shop, almost overnight. It was a huge blow for people in the Mannheim, Heidelberg and Weinheim region, since quality bread offerings are sparse.

While we were running NORD, Peter Kapp was out only supplier of bread and was a major draw for the business. This is why I’m very happy to see him sort of un-retired and back in action. If you are in the area and can afford to spend a stop at Mannheim city center, pay Brot & Salz a visit. (I basically always get at least a Kastenweissbrot and a couple of Croissants (best in Mannheim) and Pain au Chocolat.)

Starbucks

If it wasn’t clear from my post yesterday, I usually don’t go to Starbucks. It’s further away than my go-to café and it feels kind of icky to support a major chain like this.

But today I was in the city (Fasnachtsdienstag! Why??) and decided to stop by. Coffee wasn’t great, as expected, but I did appreciate the meticulously crafted color palette of the interior. “Nude” color walls and sea green accents, with white tiles. Feels simple, but I noticed and appreciated it today.

A fun realization was that the walls in my home are also, white, nude and … petrol, which is kind of like a dark sea green (?)

Like in the meme

me: can we go to Starbucks? also me: we have Starbucks at home

Agata Tip Jar

When Agata Café opened at their Mafinex Location in Mannheim Lindenhof, the team did what many hip cafés did at the time and put up two tip jars instead of one and had a weekly motto for deciding between the two. This way, guests and customers had something to think about while the barista prepared their order.

The team published the results of their little surveys on their Instagram feeds at the end of the week.

Sadly, after a few weeks, they ran out of ideas for surveys and put up some they had already run in the past, which I found extremely sad. So sad in fact, that I kept thinking about new mottos and pondering them in my head. I was too shy to suggest them at that point, but one week I figured I had something. Something worthy.

At the time, there was a new Guardians of the Galaxy movie coming out, but the Mandalorian was on TV (Disney+?) as well. So I got two small pieces of paper and drew two crude doodles: “Baby Yoda” vs. “Baby Groot” and gave it to the head barista. The rest is history.

I have been drawing (almost) weekly doodles for Agata ever since that time. Some more elaborate, some simple, but I try to always make them a true dilemma, that has customers stop and think about where to put their tip.

I especially love when it’s very hard to decide, or very surprising or dumb, of course. Stop by any time to see my latest works of art :)

Becoming Gerhard Richter

A while back, somebody emailed me asking for permission to publish one of my early paintings in his upcoming book. I was inclined to allow it, felt a little excited even. But I didn’t remember having done the painting at all.

Anyway, I forgot to reply to the email (as I like to do) and went on with my life. Today that same person emailed me again, with the same inquiry.

As it turns out, he had been looking at a painting by Gerhard Richter the entire time, which regrettably is not me. So I won’t be published after all, and can’t give permission to publish a Gerhard Richter painting either. At least, he got his reply this time.

For people confused about this, my work can be viewed under https://richter.studio