After the Lemon, You Are in Eden

A warm summer evening and its sunset. A rooftop terrace, in the distance faint guitar music with melodic singing and in front of me is an “Elderflower Lemonade” – a home-made Elderflower spritzer. I feel like I’m on vacation.
But all this is right in Kassel at Baya Central, a bar on the top floor of a parking garage, across from Capitol on Garde-du-Corps-Straße. After passing levels lemon, strawberry and plum in the parking garage (not sure of exact order but you get the idea), you take the stairs straight to the top. “There’s nothing up here,” I thought but I was pleasantly surprised. Straight ahead, a small hotel with nicely set up double rooms and to the left is the entrance to Baya Central. The walls are gray and spartan, just like the decoration. But the details in this bar are what really make it unique: the huge lounge sofa, art books on small shelves everywhere (fitting to dOCUMENTA), and letters on the wall spelling ’EDEN.’ Or for a different atmosphere, you can step out on the roof terrace, decorated with many plants, comfortable sofas and chairs.

Delicious Refreshments

The menu has an international feel as everything is in English. The menu has an international feel as everything is in English. There are exotic drinks on the menu such as a vodka with ginger beer or rhubarb or home-made Elderflower spritzers. I highly recommend any of the drinks however, on the other hand the breakfast plate which is served all day, is a little disappointing. The prices are reasonable and the view definitely makes them worthwhile.

The nice part about this bar is that the DJ and singer provide live entertainment without preventing you from having a conversation. In fact, the quiet “background music” turns your stay at Baya Central into a mini vacation. The sun sets, it gets a bit cool and I make my way home. As I returned to the lemon level I thought to myself, “I enjoyed a little piece of Eden today, right here in Kassel.”