Muraho, Rwanda! (and the blog springs back to life...)

Dear blog, dear readers, it has been awhile! 


Almost two years in fact, with less traveling and more studying, as I've been pursuing a doctoral degree in education. So lots of courses, little travel - though still a fair amount of eating. Should it come to fruition, I plan to do a small series of retrospective food posts, highlighting the best that the past two years has offered on the eating front.


But. But! There is no time to be in the past now, as the present is awfully exciting! I'm heading to Rwanda with S for two and a half weeks. It will be a combination trip - some volunteering, some catching up with her old friends from her time here five years ago, and some explorations!


To get there is no easy feat. Using some frequent flier tickets, booked a whole five weeks in advance (more notice then for the round-the-world trip!), we'll travel for 27 hours going there and 24 hours, all in one calendar day, on the return.


The ourbound itinerary included quick stops in Frankfurt and Brussels. Frankfurt was our Lufthansa-based destination from DC; Brussels the connection to Brussels Airlines, with the colonial-era Belgium-Rwanda air connection we needed.

Of course, we couldn't squander a little bit of time in European airports, even if it was 5:45am local time. Luckily, the gate-side pub had no trouble at all whipping up a Frankfurter, side of bread, potato salad, pretzel, and 0.3cl of draught beer. Yum! Of the plate, the standout was the potato salad, both in quantity and quality. It was a large portion (good as the entire plate set us back nearly US$18). It was also deliciously spiced, with lots of dill and mustard and just a bit of mayo. We had to fight over the single fork for who would get the last bite...


And, with that, we are en route to my first journey to Sub-Saharan Africa!

At long last, the Top 8 meals of the trip!

I figure I've had near 350 meals over the course of this trip. Many got highlighted on the blog. A full 28 got special recognition as memorable. But we have to get even more specific than that. We have to get down to a smaller list, and they will be ranked!

Last to make the list but not least in terms of yumminess, #8 is the fabulous meatballs on a hill in Turkey. Kofte at Yucetepe, a small cafeteria on the top of Buyukada, was spectacularly simple and delicious. The meatballs sang with the combination of freshly ground meat and a small number of spices. They were grilled to perfection, with char marks and a crisp exterior yielding to luscious medium rare meat inside. Superbly fresh veggies on the side, a hit-the-spot pilsner to wash it down, and a view of all of Istanbul's glory made the meal one of complete happiness. Full post here.

Lucky #7 is the brunch at Gugelhof. Were I ever to live in Berlin, I don't know how I'd let a month pass without making it here for brunch at least once. The flammenkuchen showed off the locally harvested chanterelles. The egg dish was simple done beautiful and perfectly. And the choucroute plate, oh choucroute plate, was bite after bite of delicious. The element that took this to the upper echelon, however, was the blood sausage. It was like cake, it was like sausage, it was like a pack of delicious spices. It was all of these things and more, combined to balance on the palate like an egg on a knife's blade. Full post here.

Just out of the top five but still on the list at #6 is the transcendent dumplings at the sidewalk stand in Ha'erbin. Max and I had variably luck, to be sure, but this meal made all missteps worth it. Perfectly cooked dumplings. The exterior, a rice-flavored pasta that had been hand-stretched and cooked until it was tender and chewy, but not sticky. The interior, a mix of pork and herbs that created a juicy flavor explosion with each bite. And the dumpling sauce, simple yet high-quality vinegar and chillies to bring the most out of each of the 16 perfect little pillows. Full post here.

Coming in at #5, the various Turkish breakfasts in Istanbul but, especially, the delightful treat at Kale. My first taste of simit, a sesame bagel stretched to the limit and toasted until crisp. My first plate of marinated olives that were so packed with flavor they didn't need stuffing. My first (and simplest) shepherd salad, with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and Turkish peppers mere hours from being picked. And the bal kaymak, well, about the bal kaymak I can only say that this clotted cream and honey spectacular may have taken some time off of my life but it was well, well worth it. Full post here.

Next up, at #4, the very unknown and very delicious tasting menu at Chaya Mario in Hiroshima. Presented by an ambiance that felt like a homey inn on the side of a travelers' road, I immediately warmed to the place and the two friends running the establishment. Their tasting menu, of which I only have the untranslated Japanese kanji, presented surprise after surprise with a handful of standouts. The first dish, a rectangle of tofu topped with salmon roe, redefined what tofu could be. A clam soup, thick with the grain of a barley, redefined hearty in the Japanese style. Importantly, early on, this meal blazed the trail of a true "What's That?" experience that would be an enduring source of exploration in the months to come. Full post here.

With the bronze medal, at #3, is fresh fish. But not just any fresh fish. The best fresh fish I've ever had. And I only had to wait three hours in the rain in Tokyo to have it, not a bad deal. Piece after piece of amazing nigiri sushi flowed our way. The uni was melting like butter from the sea, an extravagant bite. The spanish mackerel packed a wasabi punch that amplified the fish's own flavors. And the kawahagi, a slice of fish with a piece of its own liver on top, was the chef's recommendation and a truly unique mouthful. I was raving throughout and raving afterwards, and now I still don't know when I'll be able to have nigiri sushi again without comparing it to this fantastic set. Full post here.

Oh-so-close, our runner-up, at #2, the seafood feast at Long Beach Restaurant in Singapore. I knew I would love the pepper crab. And I did, oh I did. Savoring every bite, licking the black pepper flakes encrusted on the crab's shell, it was superb. But then! Out of nowhere! Golden river phoenix fish! Steamed a la Penang! Wow, this fish created new possibilities for what steamed fish could be. It was cooked so that a simple poke with a pair of chopsticks would reveal a luscious bite of fish. The fish itself, sans sauce, was full of great meaty flavor. But the sauce took it to the beyond and back. Tomatoes and scallions to bring flavor and depth and some chillies to add the needed kick. Long Beach is known as the splurge place in Singapore and I can definitely see why. Full post here.

And...

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...in...

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...top...

...spot,...

...the...

...#1 eats...

...is...

...the amazing trio of Sichuan dishes I had over three weeks in China. The Sichuan hot pot, half and half yet full of flavor. When the big bold chillies overwhelmed, a brief retreat to the soothing broth would ready me for more. Sliced meats, great veggies, more pig brain, and Kung Fu noodles, definitely a full-on feast. The Sichuan dry pot, a mix and match of pick your own ingredients. The cow stomach, a new favorite for me in China, blended well with mushrooms, bamboo, and others. But, really, they were just a side note to the resplendent Sichuan peppercorn. This little feisty guy doesn't bring the heat, he just makes your mouth numb in an amazing, novel, and let-me-have-it-again way. And, at the top of the list of Sichuan meals, the near religious experience I had eating the slices of beef poached in chili oil. Sure, there were other things on my table, like lettuce and peanut sauce and some Chuan noodles, but the poached beef was king. Each bite transported me to a land I had not seen before, a land full of spice and heat. Each bite also confirmed that my chopsticks would head right back for the fiery broth just as soon as my corporeal body would allow. I walked home delirious from that night, that meal. These won't be the last great Sichuan meals I have. Full post here.

Penultimate food post: Memorable meals from the trip

122 days, 17 weeks, 4 months, a third of a year. Any way you slice it, that's a lot of eating. But what really stood out, what were the memorable meals? To answer that question, I'm going to use only my memory, and leave the blog archives for another time. After this chronological review, I'll sift it all down to a Top 8 of the trip. Here are the candidates:

Japan

Sushi near Tsukiji Fish Market: The freshest, fishiest, most flavorful sushi of my life (details)

Tasting menu at Chaya Mario: Unbelievably good tofu and surprise after surprise hidden away in Hiroshima (details)

Iron Chef Matsue nights: Round after round of local seafood and bizarre creations (details)

Indonesia

Roast pig at Babi Guling: Succulent, spicy, and celebratory, as all roast pigs should be (details)

Mangosteens on Gili Meno: The essence of simple, bursting with vibrancy (details)

Singapore

Intricate Chinese tasting menu: Taste after taste of new eats ending with a hands-on demonstration of a sensational omelette (details)

Long Beach seafood extravaganza: Fantastic black pepper crab and a steamed fish that was even better (details)

Ah boiling at a hawker centre institution: Amazing and amazingly unexpected peanut dumplings in broth (details)

China

Hunanese fish head: A very big fish head with very many chopped chillies, soon reduced to bones and nothing more (details)

Ha'erbin streetside dumplings: After many, many plates of dumplings, these reigned supreme (details)

Sichuan, Sichuan, Sichuan: A hotter-then-hot hot pot in Shanghai, a bowl of chili oil for poaching, and a dry pot so spicy it made me numb (details 1, details 2, and details 3)

Sour cuisine of Guizhou: A big bowl of pig stomach and sour seasonings and, as a side, smelly fish grass salad (details)

Turkey

Kofte with a view: Meatballs and uberfresh vegetables on one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara (details)

Feast at Ak Deniz: Where the food started and just kept coming, showcasing Turkish food done right (details)

Turkish breakfasts: From Kale at the beginning to Caffe Privato near the Galata Tower, a range of treats that makes any morning lavish (details 1 and details 2)

Israel

Home-cooked food from Ima: Delightful starter spreads and a tour through the best of Israeli cuisine (details)

Poland

Zapiekanki to celebrate: A pizza baguette after a fantastic set of World Cup semifinals (details)

Germany

Eating without seeing: Going dark at a dunkelrestaurant with ok food but an amazing eating experience (details)

Biergarten all afternoon: The biggest and best pretzels I've ever seen, raw radishes with lots of spice, sausage and whole fish to boot, rounded out by stein after stein of delicious weissbier (details)

Brunch at Gugelhof: Seriously the best blood sausage and seriously surrounded by three exceptional brunch-time dishes (details)

Doner kebab at Hasir: After one bite, I could feel the new addiction forming (details)

Czech Republic

Redemption at Lokal: Czech cuisine saves itself with fresh horseradish, fresh dumplings, and great beer (details)

Denmark

Arty cafe treats: At the Louisiana, easily one of the best museums I've ever been to, the most beautiful food that was fresh and tasty as well (details)

The Netherlands

Late-night Netherlands: Stuff-it-yourself falafel and vlaamse frites with special sauces end any day well (details)

Do widzenia, Auf Wiedersehen, Farvel, Tot ziens, and Näkemiin, Europe: Some thoughts on my time in Central and Northern European cities

The month in Europe has had a different flow from that of the first three in Asia and the Middle East. Instead of two to three weeks in a place, it was more like four to seven days. So my reflections are a bit more numerous and pull from aspects seen in some, but not all, of the places I was in July.

The food can be quite tasty but it can also be wretched: My European destinations were, to put it nicely, not well known for being culinary destinations. But I had some great meals over the course of the month! For example, really tasty German food that was hearty and fresh at the same time (I'm looking at you, Gugelhof). And most of the meals didn't suck. But there were a couple that did (stop feeding me, you bad bad restaurant of U Babci Maliny!)

Lots of the good food has been imported: The flip side of shaky food cultures is that there's room for more. And, with centuries of exploration and contact beyond Central Europe under their respective belts, these places had managed to import some decent food. The Turkish food in Berlin, ah, I would love more doner kebab in my life. The Surinamese food in Amsterdam, a new treat that would get even better the more it was explored. And the list goes on.

World War II has left many scars and they're everywhere: Though I purposely went to Hiroshima at the beginning of my trip, I wasn't expecting World War II to be such a present theme. Yet it was. The unmistakable absence of Jews in Krakow. The horrible terror at Auschwitz. The memorials, some very recent, in Berlin, Prague, and Munich. Even in Amsterdam, where Anne Frank's house serves as a daily reminder to those bicycling the canals.

Cities so livable it hurts: In many ways it was a very urban month. Yet I didn't get any asphalt dreariness. A big part of that comes from the fact that these cities were just so nice to be in. Berlin and Amsterdam, in particular, bring well-rounded places just dying to be explored in depth. I won't soon forget the joys of bicycling Amsterdam. Or the ease of doing so in Copenhagen. These places have put effort into making the human scale the right scale for life in the city and it shows.

The roots of the English language become more clear: Knowing only a bit of Spanish in addition to English, I've been confused before as to the origin of much of English. Sure, some come from Romance languages, but others...? Now it is much more clear, having been exposed to German and Dutch especially. Even when it doesn't look like it, it sounds like, just with a very strange accent and some awfully unfamiliar words in between.

Back to Berlin, time for you know what!

The beginning of my travels home, back stateside. Oh what a wonderful trip it's been! I do get another 15 hours in Berlin, for which I am very excited.

My hotel, though, is way out. It's in eastern East Berlin. You know Warschauer Strasse? East of that. You know Ostkreuz? Yeah, east of that. I get to it and thankfully it is clean and nice (and cheap). And, it has a doner kebab place right down the street.

My final doner kebab in Berlin was just as one would suspect. Not the best doner in the world, but a totally great meal that left me totally satisfied. Juicy meat, plenty of toppings, and a great sauce to bring it all together.

What goes well with doner kebab? I know, currywurst! At the airport, actually, en route to Helsinki, there is a model train that sells currywurst. I must have some.

And I do. And, much like the doner, it is not the best but totally sufficient and totally satisfactory. And with that, I bid adieu to Berlin and to Germany!

Did my whole train just get on a ferry?

I'm sad to be leaving Berlin, again. This town is just begging me to stay for awhile. But, leave I must. I have a train to Copenhagen to catch.

I board the train, a nice Euro City train run by Deutsche Bahn. It looks much like the trains in Mission Impossible, with sliding glass doors that automatically open and very plush seats. It barrels north.

Eventually, we begin to slow down, but differently than we would for a stop. Soon, a man comes on the PA saying we need to exit the train onto a ferry for 45 minutes, then we'll resume our train trip. Ok, sounds good. But do I take my bag or leave it?

My answer comes in the form of an unbelievable sight. The train is pulling on to the ferry. Not the ferry docks, or a ferry bridge, or anything else except for an actual seafaring ferry. The whole train, all at once.

I am shocked, amazed, and perplexed. They built a ferry that could hold a whole train? Wow. Complete with train tracks, the ferry does its job well, ferrying us into Copenhagen.

And with that new discovery in hand, I finish my journey to the first Scandinavian country of my life, Denmark.

Meat that's been pounded to an inch of its life

One final non-fast food meal in Berlin. I opt for schnitzel. Both because it is a German classic and because there is a very good looking schnitzel place next to my favorite bar / coffeehouse in the Kreuzberg neighborhood. Both are on Pucklerstrasse. The schnitzel house goes by the name of Markthalle.

This schnitzel lives up to its billing. The crust on the heavily pounded pork is near perfect, freshly crisp and not too bready. With a squirt of lemon it gets all the more edible. In some places, the breading has bubbled away from the pork itself, getting even crispier, much like pork skin would. The meat inside is also nice, full of porky flavor and still juicy. It's paired with a very good potato salad that goes light on the mayo, heavy on the mustard, just as it should be.

And you can't have schnitzel without beer. I get a tall Lowenbrau and it washes everything down.

More doner, more currywurst, and a Berliner

Back to solo travel. While I lose some good friends, I keep the focus on good Berlin food. Over the next couple of days, there are Berlin classics all over the place.

Sunday brings another chance to have a Hasir doner kebab. I oblige my urging to do so and am quite sated. It is just as good as I remember. Plus, I don't have to share this one!

It turns out my new hotel has a corner currywurst stand not too far away. And this currywurst, while not life-changing, lives up to its billing as very cheap and very tasty food. Especially when partnered with a Berliner Kindl beer (something that may not get exported outside the city).

Best of all for this currywurst stand is the enormous hot dog sculpture. He looks awfully pleased to be covering himself in ketchup...

To these two staples I add a third, new to me. In the train station, just before heading out to Copenhagen, I snag a Berliner donut. Very similar to the traditional American jelly donut, this has a larger, more granulated sugar that adds a great crunch to eat bite. And the jam inside tastes like its made from fresh German berries. I can see why JFK called himself one of these now.

Saying goodbye with a "ka-pow!"

And so it was, Saturday night turned into Sunday morning, and a lovely 9 days with Carolyn and Kevika drew to an end. But we took it to Germany and the Czech Republic, much as I imagine the hero of this movie took it to Hitler.

More seriously though, it was a fantastic time with fantastic people. All that's left to be said is that which is best said in German:

"Alles hat ein ende nur die wurst hat zwei."

(For those, like me, that don't speak much German, that is: Everything has an end, except for the sausage, which has two.)

Kudos to Carolyn for the quote, which is also apparently a hit single by Stephen Remmler.

A doner-off

Somewhere, on the internet or in a guidebook, perhaps, the claim was made that the doner kebab was invented in Berlin. Apparently, as the story goes, a Turkish restaurant owner was looking to make a name for himself and combined Turkish meat in a pita with a yogurt sauce. True or not, the town is full of doner places and we needed to try a couple.

The first contender was Hasir Restaurant. This was more upscale in appearance, a full Turkish restaurant.

But they had a counter and a very reasonably priced doner kebab at only 2.50euro. We ordered one (conscious of the fact we had just had half a chicken).

And it was a sight to behold! This doner kebab had a quarter of a large pita that had been toasted. Inside, fresh shawarma meat was mixed with a yogurt sauce, red cabbage, tomatoes, and other not fully identifiable things to create a massive sandwich. It was approximately the size of Kevika's head before we started digging in. Then, it started to go fast. It was so full of flavor and so fresh! The meat was not dry, as doner meat can often be. It got much closer to the excellent lamb I've sometimes had in gyros. The accompaniments added so much. They also made it that spectacular meal where each bite is just a bit different as the contents mix in different proportions. A very high bar was set.

The second contender was the Schlemmerbuffet. This one had the imprimatur of Lonely Planet, crowned as best in the city, "nuff said."

This was good too. The ingredients were plentiful and fresh. However, it didn't match the subtlety of flavor that the Hasir doner attained. It felt very much more like very good late-night fast food than an amazing dish. Perhaps the best comparison that can be made is that the Hasir doner is like a La Taqueria burrito whereas the Schlemmerbuffet is more of a El Farolito one.

Winner: Hasir's doner kebab. I will not escape this city without having another one of these.

Look, a chicken!

The afternoon took us to Kreuzberg. We were walking through the streets, actually on our way to get a doner kebab. But then! Across the street! A line! For food! We must...

Crossing the street and heading under the train tracks, we found the Huhnerhaus 36. It's always a good sign when the eatery has a number in it to differentiate it from other street stands. This one, though, also had the virtue of a very long queue.

No matter, though. We were on vacation, and this was what we were here to do. We waited.

This glorious half of a roast chicken with pomme frites was our reward. The chicken, cooked rotisserie style, managed to remain very tender and very juicy even as the skin was crisped. we used the little toothpick forks and tore into this. Our table got very quiet.

To complement the bird, we got knoblauchsosse and specialsosse as dips and an ayran as a drink. Ah, a Turkish place! The knoblauchsosse, a garlic and yogurt concoction, was amazing. I want the recipe and I want to make this right now. Yum. The specialsosse was also very nice, a mix of tomatoes and spices that had a bit of a kick and some deep flavor too! The ayran was ayran, a great drink for such a meal.

Five minutes after getting our dish, we were back on the road, still headed for the doner kebab. And we knew our food karma was good!

A few remaining remnants of the Wall, now covered in art

I was intrigued to discover just how far the wall has receded from public view in Berlin. Very few parts of it our still standing, so the clues between the former East and West parts of town are more subtle.

One significant stretch remains, however. 1.3 kilometers long on the north side of the River Spree just into the Friedrichshain neighborhood, this stretch is now under historical protection.

It is also completely covered in large murals done by artists all over the world, usually addressing themes that have something to do with the wall and with freedom. I took some photos of the ones that were my favorites.

A brunch I could eat over and over

Hot on the heels of eating blind we decided to eat Alsatian brunch. No particular connection why.

Our destination was Gugelhof, a cafe just north of our hotel in Prenzlauer Berg. It was a delightful setting, an outdoor cafe on a tree-lined street.

Auspiciously, they had one of my favorite beers on tap: Kostrizer Schwarzbier. A smoky but still light enough for brunch beer, this one packs in the flavor.

Dish one of the three we would be sharing was a choucroute plate with smoked pork, mini sausages, and blood sausage with a side of sauerkraut and boiled potatoes. Wow, what a plate! The pork was delightful, rich, smoky, tender and beautiful. The mini sausages retained so much moisture that each bite was a treat. Both also benefited from the delicious duo of mustards. But, nothing came close to topping the blood pudding.

Though this picture is less than fantastic, the blood pudding was so fantastic. It was advertised on the menu as being the winner of a best in Germany award. It was the best blood sausage I've ever had in my life, and it's not even close. The meat and blood were mixed with a slew of spices, some of which we could pick out. There was a bit of cinnamon, or maybe nutmeg. There was a touch of cloves. The effect was superb. That, and the texture of the blood pudding was somehow like a very moist chocolate cake. I treated each bite like a little gift from heaven.

Dish two was a dish of baked eggs with ham and cheese. It sounds so simple yet it was excellent. The eggs had not been scrambled yet were baked to perfection. The whites would every so often be interrupted by a delicious yolk. The filling ingredients added yet more flavor. And it retained the feel of a thick custard, pleasing to the tongue. It also managed to stay warm throughout our entire meal, no mean feat.

Dish three was a typical Alsatian flammenkuchen with arugula, walnuts, chanterelles, and ham. Yet another winner, and Gugelhof was 3 for 3. The chanterelles sang from the pizza, coming fresh from the hills not too far away. The arugula was appropriately spicy and fresh. A true delight to eat, especially as it was served on a pizza paddle.

We were all quite, quite happy with this meal, proclaiming it the best of Germany and perhaps of our week-long trip. We celebrated by walking through the farmers' market nearby, picking up a little pint of little strawberries, and polishing them off in a nearby park.

Waiter, I can't see my food!

Carolyn, Kevika, and I love to have culinary adventures. We had reunited previously in Chicago to partake in the cuisine of Alinea. It ended up being perhaps the most fabulous dining experience of my life.

So, we wanted to try something new in Berlin. Better yet, we had a lead. A new kind of restaurant had started in Berlin and the concept was spreading across Germany. A dunkelrestaurant, or dark restaurant, is one in which the dining room is completely, pitch-black dark. You cannot see a thing and so must rely on your other four senses to eat.

We went to the granddaddy of them all, the inventor of dunkelrestaurants, unsicht-Bar Berlin.

Here's how it works. We walked into a bar and reception area. There we were greeted and sat at a table. All was well-lit. We received these menus which presented five set course options for us: vegetarian, river and sea, beef, poultry, and "surprise."

The dishes themselves were cryptically presented as little rhymes, where one could make out some of the ingredients but still be a bit perplexed as to the actual dish. For example, the starter of the beef menu was listed as "Berlusconi's young choice of arugla potency." Huh?

I went for the surprise menu, letting my taste buds figure out each little bit. Kevika and Carolyn went for the tasty sounding beef menu. Our waitress, a blind woman, led us to our table (all of the waiters are sight-impaired).

My first dish was Tranchen von der Putenbrust mit wurziger Guacamole und sommerlichen Blattslaten Uberraschung in einer Vinaigrette von Balsamico (translates as an hors-d'oeuvre with fish oil on turkey breast with spicy guacamole and summery green salads in balsamic vinagrette). The experience of receiving a plate in front of me and having no idea whatsoever what was on it or even where the food was located was fascinating. I would discover the turkey breast, and have to figure out what it was. Of course I thought it was chicken. At the end of poking around with my fork, I began to use my hands on the plate, just to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

The second dish was a soup course of Pastinakensamtsuppchen mit Rauchfleisch (or parsnips soup with smoked meat). This was served in a cup and oh-so-much easier to eat. The first bits of smoked ham proved awfully surprising, and also a good contrast to the root vegetable taste of the soup.

The third dish was Lammruckenfilet unter einer Thumiankruste dazu zweierlei Spargelragout und Salbeignocchis (or lamb back filet under a "thumiankrust" with asparagous ragout and "salbei" gnocchis). Imagine being confronted with a large piece of meat! How do you get it into bite size pieces so you can actually consume it? Very challenging, it turns out. I was successful on my first attempt to slice off a piece. From there, though it went downhill. Unable to find the edges, I would cut pieces either way too big or too small. So, down went the fork and knife and out came my hands. Much easier to tear into a steak with my teeth. The other great moment of this dish was when I found the asparagus. Asparagus! What a lovely surprise!

The fourth and final dish was Parfait von Jagermeister an Waldheidelbeeren und einer Creme von Zartbitterschokolade (or a parfait of "professional hunter" with forest blueberrys and plain chocolate cream). Coming on a long rectangular plate, this presented new challenges in eating while unable to see. A little glass in the middle full of chocolate cream. A spread of blueberries all around the plate (imagine eating blueberries when you can't see them to find your fork).

All in all, the food was just ok. The asparagus was excellent as were the gnocchi that came with the lamb. Also, the parsnip and ham soup was quite tasty. Other dishes just muddled through a bit. The first salad was poorly composed and I had no recognition I was eating guacamole. The last dish had blueberries that were too tart.

Carolyn and Kevika had largely the same experience with their meal, though, on average, it was superior. A starter of antipasti led to lots of fun guessing games. And a dessert that included pop rocks was the perfect unexpected surprise. Well, partial surprise: at one point early in the meal, Kevika, being highly perceptive, said that she'd love to have pop rocks in this setting. With no knowledge whatsoever of what was to come, she got her wish. Other dishes of theirs, particularly the meat main, fell down.

But, the amazing thing is, it didn't really matter. Sure, I would love for the taste and flavor to be better, and they can certainly improve. That said, though, as a culinary experience, it was amazing. The tastes were new, each new ingredient a splendid reintroduction to something I've had before. It felt like a whole new way of eating. And that way had so much to offer in terms of getting us to recognize food differently.

A late afternoon pick-me-up, a la Prenzlauer Berg

After an afternoon of such sightseeing, we were a bit peckish. Back home in our quaint neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg ("the Noe Valley of Berlin!"), we stopped off for a sugary treat. Anna Blume, a corner cafe, welcomed us in.

My espresso, delightfully tasty, came also with a mini-biscotti and was adorned by a delightful little floating flower.

A piece of marscapone and nut cake was Carolyn's order. I had a bite and it was quite good, not too much sweetness in each bite so the full slice could be enjoyed.

I went a little overboard and got a delightful mango sundae. It came with three scoops of ice cream: bourbon vanilla, strawberry, and some kind of chocolate. It also came with whipped cream, mango slices, mango chunks, and little bits of banana. It was superb, just what the doctor ordered.

A hour or two lounging in the wonderful outdoor cafe and we were ready to head back out.