Summer 1966. Robert Simon has a dream. When the owners of the cafe in the Carmelite market square shutter the business, Robert sees that the chance to realize his dream has arrived. The place is in a poor neighborhood of the Austrian capital, but in the newspapers one can read about great things to come, a bright future beginning to rise from the quagmire of the past. Enlivened by these promises, Robert refurbishes the cafe and customers arrive. Some are in search of company, others long for love or just a place where they can feel understood. As the city is transformed, Robert's cafe becomes a place of refuge and one from which to observe, mourn, and rejoice.