Hjo´s oldest café - Vete & Råg
A place to feel at home!
2006 marked the opening of the Vete and Råg café and sourdough bakery in the square in Hjo. Since then, baker Charlotte and her artist husband Erkki have been serving up home-baked sourdough bread, Swedish cakes and pastries and coffee in an environment where it’s easy to feel at home.
At Vete and Råg you can sink into one of the armchairs and read a book in the small lending library, sip a morning coffee while the square comes to life or enjoy Erik’s art on the walls while you eat your breakfast roll. Vete and Råg is now one of Hjo’s treasures, but recently it has been joined by several other cafés and outlets that attract visits all year round. Whether you’re making a short day trip at the weekend or a longer visit from further afield, you can enjoy the experience of a charming wooden town environment coupled with a typical Swedish coffee break, or “fika”, with freshly baked cinnamon buns, princess cake or a classic open prawn sandwich. You’ll find all of our cafés and food outlets at www.visithjo.se.
A Swedish fika - what’s that?
“Fika” is an old Swedish tradition that is more about spending time together than the actual drinking of coffee, as in Italy. Instead, in Sweden, the social aspect is crucial: you have to socialise while eating goodies and drinking coffee. Oh, goodies. Can that be anything? No, definitely not. The classic Swedish cakes and pastries for a fika are princess cake, strawberry cake, mocha squares and sponge cake, chocolate balls, cinnamon buns and various small bakes like hazelnut biscuits and dream cookies, and perhaps even an open prawn sandwich. At Christmas there are gingerbread and Lucia buns, of course. In February we also eat plenty of Lent buns: buns filled with cream and almond paste. You can also order a “hetvägg”, which is a Lent bun served with hot milk.
So as you see, fika is quite simply a time to eat lots of tasty treats, as well as a time to relax, socialise and chat.
