Wednesday, June 17, 2015

CANDY ON BONE: Foodie heaven on my mind!

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Last night I went to foodie heaven. And I didn’t even have to die to get there.
As you will know, over the past three and a bit years, more or less since its inception, I’ve become a devoted customer of the Katz Orange in Berlin’s Bergstrasse … whether for a full slap up meal, a light snack or a smasheroo cocktail. Or three. Apparently, I made silver medal spot for ‘most bookings’ last year: and I was only here six months!
Well, last night I got my reward. The Katz management is opening another establishment, in Kreuzberg, under the name ‘Candy on Bone’ (no, I don’t know what it means either, but it’s catchy!). It’s not a restaurant, more like a lunch bar. But a ten star lunch bar. Of course. 
Now, the Katz isn’t just the ‘little’ restaurant I know and love. There’s a backstage. Fifty people. And a ‘food development’ department. And in that department, under mastermind Sabrina Warning, the dishes for ‘Candy’ have been being concocted.



 And last night was unveiling night. A test run, a tasting, before twenty or so guests, of a selection of the goodies … from gaspacho to petit-fours … destined for Kreuzberg. And Paul and I were invited … to this!



And supplied with … this! A list of dishes on which to comment. Count them!



Now, the secret of a tasting is that you just have a little of each thing. But I couldn’t. Paul couldn’t. And the lady next to me certainly couldn’t. We went back for extra bits of our favourite things …
The next secret of a tasting is that you’ve got to be rude. There’s no point in writing down ‘super-lecker’ for everything. You’ve got to give the chef an idea of why a dish might be a winner with the public, or less so. So with pained pencil I tried to find fault. When you are reduced to ‘crusts on sandwiches no good for false teeth’, you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel!



The sandwiches, in fact, were heroic. A melting egg mixture, and a fabulous trout on the most sensational brown bread (I should NOT have had three …). But my dish of the night was a simple-looking salad. Yes, salad! I, who am known as the ‘no lettuce, no tomato,’ ‘kein Salat’ man. And I said simple-looking … I’m not wholly sure what was in there, but there was goat’s cheese, radish, and the crispest little lettuce …



And then came the meaty treats … chicken with pak choi, pork belly … oh Lord! Why did I have that third sandwich! And the petit-fours. I’ve had my eye all night on the lemony one with the sail … and, yum, a pungent licorice creation which quite took what was left of the top of my head off … have a little home-made basil and cucumber lemonade too cool it …    ahhhhh!



10pm. And we’ve been eating steadily for nearly two hours. What I’ve eaten in ‘lunch’ food, could have made three dinners! Even my lady neighbour, who’d filled every single box (‘I have to, I’m the host’s sister!’) was calling 'enough'. And I’m starting to nod … well, after a mega-lunch, a snooze…

We’re never going to make it to midnight and Sabrina’s birthday …

I’ve had mine. And learned: do NOT try to eat your way through an entire menu, no matter how super-delicious!


 As we left, we were presented with one of the lovely bunches of flowers that hung above the table. I adore flowers. A perfect ending to a splendid evening. They sit now among my window-sill memories of Gerolstein. I guess that’s where I’ll be when Candy on Bone opens its doors … hoho! Look out Kreuzberg! You lucky people!


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