In fact, Gugulhupf is a European bakery in Durham, named for an Austrian Bundt cake studded with rum-soaked golden raisins. Its German-trained artisan bakers have been turning out everything from ciabatta to Black Forest rye to Linzer cookies to the bakery's namesake cake since 1998.

But it's understandable if you've never heard of the place. Its reputation has spread largely by word of mouth. And, given its location, hidden away at the back of a parking lot between the much more visible Asia Market and Foster's Market, you'd have to be looking for Guglhupf to find it. Even then, it wouldn't hurt to have the address (2706 Chapel Hill Blvd).

Guglhupf's breads and pastries are indisputably the best around, but that's not the reason it's in the news. It's the new Guglhupf Cafe that's got foodies abuzz.

Open just a few weeks, the cafe -- a two-story affair that dwarfs the original shop to which it's attached -- is already packing them in. On fair weather weekends, the crowd spills out to the ample umbrella-covered patio.

No wonder. Judging by a recent Sunday afternoon visit, I'd say Guglhupf Cafe's lunchtime offering of sandwiches and salads lives up to the high standards set by the Bakery.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the sandwiches -- including the Westphalian ham on Black Forest rye and the seared medium-rare tuna steak with black olive tapenade on baguette I've sampled so far -- are served on house-baked breads. Or that the best fruit tart and Linzer cookies this side of Vienna were baked in those same ovens.

Or, for that matter, that they offer a small but well-chosen assortment of wines by the glass, not to mention Franziskaner Hefeweizen on tap.

Guglhupf Cafe is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; Sunday hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Breakfast options range from granola (house-baked, naturally) to smoked salmon with scrambled eggs, onions and Hollandaise.

Plans are in the works to add a dinner menu. When it's available, you can bet I'll be there. From the looks of things, I won't be the only one.