Kavarna Cukrarna

Stow coffee inside a sugar refinery

The coffee at Kavarna Cukrarna comes with a building attached. It sits inside Cukrarna Gallery, the contemporary art complex on the bank of the Ljubljanica, a converted 19th-century sugar refinery, industrial in its lines and now given over to exhibitions, performances and concerts. The café runs on the same rhythm as the programme around it.

The coffee comes from Stow Coffee Roasters, whose Kamnik roastery, Ljubljana academy and second café at the Mestni muzej make up the rest of the operation. Stow buys worldwide and roasts light, chasing clarity of flavour rather than body. Named coffees include Brazil Daterra Boa Vista, Brazil Pau, Colombia Golden Huila, Costa Rica Los Campos, Rwanda Gisanga and Kenya AA Baragwi Karumandi #023, with Colombia Cumbres for decaf and two blends, Coffee Racer 3.0 and Big Buddy. The café has been recognised in the 2025 European Coffee Trip Awards.

Coffee by day, beer and cocktails later

The place shifts through the day. It opens as a specialty coffee stop for people coming to see the exhibitions, holds a pastry-and-coffee middle, then turns social as the cultural programming does, with craft beer and cocktails taking over. It functions as coffee shop, gallery café, bar and concert space at once, and the house line, where modern art meets modern taste, is not far off what actually happens.

It is also built to be sat in. The gallery keeps benches through the building and provides chairs on request, public areas including the bar are accessible to people with disabilities, and lifts reach every floor. Stays of a few hours are normal, and nobody hurries them. Outside, the setting continues: the river, Plečnik’s sluice gate and the Fabiani Bridge are all part of the same walk.

How to order

Start with the Stow coffee, which is what the café is built on. For black coffee the roster gives a clear map: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Rwanda and Kenya are all represented, with a Colombian decaf if caffeine is the issue. Milk drinks are handled well, and the two blends are the easier entry point if a light Kenyan is more than you want.

For food, think pastries and light snacks rather than a menu. The clearest named bake is the brownie, soft and moist. Later in the day, craft beer or a cocktail fits better than a second coffee, particularly if the visit lands on a concert or an opening. The simplest plan is a Stow coffee and a brownie during the exhibition, then a beer once the building fills up.