Klub književnika (Serbian Cyrillic: Клуб књижевника) (The Writers' Club) is a Serbian restaurant (kafana) located in downtown Belgrade. Founded in 1946 as the Serbian Writers' Association's (UKS) eatery, over time, the club managed to develop a unique identity outside of its umbrella organization. Originally only accessible to association members who had to show their cards to get in, it eventually became open to the general public. The restaurant is located in the basement of a neoclassical building at 7 Francuska Street, which also houses the Writers Association upstairs. Special part of Klub književnika's lore are its famous patrons. In addition to an endless list of Serbian and Yugoslav writers who frequented the restaurant over the years such as Momo Kapor, Bogdan Tirnanić, Ivo Andrić, Danilo Kiš, Dobrica Ćosić, Miodrag Bulatović, Matija Bećković, Miroslav Krleža, Miloš Crnjanski, Borislav Mihajlović Mihiz, Duško Radović, Predrag Palavestra, Mirko Kovač, Zuko Džumhur, Borislav Pekić, etc., Klub književnika was often visited by various other artists, politicians, journalists, and diplomats. Location The 7 Francuska Street building where the restaurant is located was erected during the late 1850s by a wealthy Serbian merchant named Pećanac. The building later housed the Turkish embassy, then the American embassy before eventually becoming the Auto Club during interbellum. History Established in 1946, Klub književnika initially served as hangout for writers from the association upstairs who used the basement facilities for literary presentations and book promotions. At first only coffee, and occasionally fruit snacks, were served. Sometime in 1952 the menu expanded to include simple soups and salads as food now began to be served on regular basis. Two years later, in 1954, the club opened its doors to the general public. Managed at the time by Ivo Kusalić and Nikola Bosanac it quickly established itself as the place to be among the country's main decision makers, and thus began to be frequented by top Yugoslav communist political and military officials such as the foreign minister Koča Popović, Rodoljub Čolaković, Draža Marković, general Peko Dapčević, etc. In 1957 with the arrival of Budimir "Buda" Blagojević to the management team, the restaurant got the recognizable duo of Buda and Ivo that would run the place in hands-on manner for the following 30+ years. It would only open at night (operating six days a week, closed on Sundays) with first patrons usually slowly arriving around 8pm. In addition to writers and politicians, the smoke-filled basement