This is Krakow’s finest café and its astonishing decor gives it the air of a museum. A simple cake shop in the late 19C, this establishment opened by Jan Apolinary Michalik became in the Belle Époque period the hub of the Mloda Polska (Young Poland) literary and artistic movement. In 1905, its denizens created the Zielony Balonik (green Balloon) cabaret, famous for its puppet shows, and directed until 1912 by writer Tadeusz Boy-Zelenski, who embellished performances with his own satirical texts.