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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