Monthly Archives: July 2010

No Brats, No Beer, No Service

Adjectives like sensitive, delicate, and expressive rarely describe German cuisine, at least not the stereotyped foods so common in America: bratwurst split over hot coals, a tall stein of beer. All served with a jolly smile straight from the hands of a barmaid or mustachioed, portly man in lederhose. I always imagine a rather drunken, lecherous Santa Claus shipped direct from the Black Forest, a glorious icon of gluttony. Although restaurants offering this experience do exist within the beautiful but slightly creepy neoclassical wonderland that is Berlin, a new aesthetic has emerged. Wholly divergent from heavy, hyperclassical French fare, this new German gastronomy emphasizes subtlety and composure. Just as frail glass and steel megacities arose from the ashes of Potsdamer Platz, contemporary German food involves a transcendently gentle architecture of flavor. At Reinstoff, dishes feel more ethereal than monumental; barely any pork or beef appears on the menu. Huge sausages hold no place on these plates; no brats and no beer here.

Reinstoff offers two tasting menus, “quite near” and “far away”—”quite near” focuses on traditional flavor combinations, while “far away” explores unconventional pairings. Since I wanted to consider Reinstoff’s “covers” of German classics, I opted for the former. Both menus begin with an identical series of canapes entitled “waking up the senses.” Despite the goofy title, these miniature bites succeed as a whole, particularly vegetable muesli. An eccentric lollipop of dehydrated vegetables simulates the cereal, and an accompanying shot of yogurt completes the breakfast experiment. In fact, after forcing the entire lollipop into my mouth at once and downing the drink, my mind fixated on eating granola mixed with sour, thin yogurt in the college dining hall. Campy, but outlandishly delicious.

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Taken Aback

Standing outside Abac, I feel intimidated. The restaurant, located in an exclusive resort, stands behind an imposing wall of stone and shrubbery. In order to enter, guests must buzz in, announcing their presence and validating their worthiness. As the gate swings open, revealing a stark glass building, we step into the urban sanctuary, entering a sumptuously contemporary universe of topiary and sculptured gardens. Abac always feels controlled, never relaxing its precisely starched edges for even a moment—fortunately, the sensation of intimidation does pass though, leaving only luxuriant comfortableness in its wake.

Honored with two Michelin stars, Abac ostensibly reinterprets Catalan cuisine, using super high quality meats and produce to achieve incredibly powerful flavors; nearly every composition here quivers with intensity. Everything is paradigmatic, the paragon of its kind: the most prawny prawn, the most melony melon, the most hammy ham. Within the Catalan genre, these ingredients make repeat appearances almost to the point of redundancy; but at Abac, the diner comes to view such Spanish mainstays with virgin eyes.

After the requisite series of nibbles and amuses, none particularly interesting, the first course arrives, a single oyster. Dressed with green apple and salicornia, the mollusk tastes refreshingly sweet, only barely redolent of the ocean. In Madrid, we sat on the market steps and ate enormous oysters, just shucked and overflowing with juice that swirled like sea foam in the mouth. This sample, while perfectly pleasant, fails to compare, and we sigh, too young and too jaded. Next, a riff on salt cod, tiny cubes of fish in tomato water with olives. Again, an almost conformist dish that devolves into boredom after a few bites.

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Looking for Coffee and Finding Picasso

In Barcelona, my brother and I visited the Museu Picasso, a well executed collection of Picasso’s earlier works (spanning his student, blue and rose years) and some later works (including ceramics). According to the Museum, Picasso spent a considerable amount of time during his formative years in Barcelona, frequenting a cafe called “Els Quatre Gats.” Wandering among the labyrinthian streets of the Barri Gotic, we stumbled across a cafe called “4 Gats.” We wondered if this could be the same night haunt of Picasso.

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Deliberately Lost

Hungry, wilting under the Spanish afternoon sun, I actively look for a lunch spot. Scanning storefronts, I encounter no English, only the bemused faces of locals gawking at these clearly lost Americans. I am, luckily, trying to get lost, taking hallucinogenic turns and ignoring my GPS-enabled iPhone. Finding a proper luncheon involves an epiphany, stumbling into a perfectly delicious and unspoiled experience.

When off-the-beaten path still proves too well trod, deliberately wandering a few more blocks usually yields less trafficked and more interesting restaurants. Of course, this process of intentionally losing oneself in a city is understandably frightening; touristy streets exist to assuage anxiety, providing comfort in unfamiliar environs. Starbucks, McDonald’s, even Yves Saint Laurent outlets—a proliferation of recognizable brands and accompanying brandistas decreases discomfort to a minimum. Fundamentally, the “tourist” searches for safety in recognition, whether a famous Picasso or a generic gelateria.

Although I oftentimes play the tourist part, I also enjoy losing myself in the real of the city. Not losing oneself in the sense of “I have lost myself in these romantic, twining alleys. Now, I shall stop for a coffee and ponder culture and life.” No, I mean the heart-pounding, adrenaline inducing tingle of realizing that I am completely ignorant of my location. Behind a graffiti-ed train station, in a shuttered marketplace, under the romantic, twining alleys in a narrow lane where a dirty cavalcade of housewives marches to do battle with delinquent husbands—I want to feel in danger of losing my identity to the city, swallowed alive in the gaping maw of the plazas.

Beyond the Museo Reina Sofia, though I couldn’t say exactly where, there is a hill that cuts through the touristed districts, transecting old Madrid and the Paseo del Prado. Crossing the street, I see a worn sign and a blackboard, sure signs of a tavern. El Horreo beckons to me, and I step closer, enchanted.


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Ladies and gentlemen… The Chocolate Room

Zach B., Yale University

This is why I love Spain:

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Just Like Momma Made It

“Squeeze it out like toothpaste onto the cracker.” Not instructions expected in a Michelin starred restaurant. But when confronted with a white tube of “olive oil butter” and a boat shaped receptacle, one follows directions without undue questioning. The tube looks like an over-the-counter cream, suspiciously unmarked. The “olive oil butter” even appears akin to antibiotic ointment, translucent yellow and gelled. This rather medicinal, almost surgical procedure feels creepy, because the juxtaposition of medical objects and food products is, to be frank, revolting.

At La Terraza del Casino, chef Paco Roncero follows in Ferran Adria’s footsteps, preparing a menu similar to El Bulli’s: cocktails, snacks, tapiplatos, desserts, and morphings. Of course, Adria consulted on the restaurant back in 1998, so his strong influence comes as no particular surprise. Nevertheless, rethinking  Spanish cuisines within an avant-garde framework seems tired in 2010. However delicious a “sphericated green olive” tastes, mimetic canapes no longer shock, especially since chefs like Grant Achatz introduced Adria’s best known tricks to Americans.

Therefore, Roncero’s techniques typically stray into familiar territory: liquid nitrogen tableside? Jaded diners have seen it all before. Roncero does manage to chart new cartographies of gustatory sensation though, manipulating ingredients without inducing the  freak-out factor.

For example, “meringued cashew with soya” (picture far right) concentrates the known universe of nuts into a singular, crisp bite. False “espardeña” (center) mimics a sea cucumber with nori and puffed rice, an intellectual approximation of fishiness without the fish. Finally, pumpkin seed and yoghurt sponge (far left) billows in the mouth, the softest pumpkin bread imaginable, its sweet squash flavor tightening the platter’s composition.

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Baby Squid and The Oldest Restaurant In The World

In Madrid, food is forever. Meals remain engraved in the collective memory, idiosyncratic ingredients and preparations occupy the urban consciousness. Caught between tourism and tradition, the city strives to preserve a fundamental way of life: the siesta, the antiquated streets, the boisterous community that flourishes amongst precariously tilting churches and eroding stone walls. Food, however, is never in question—even while exploiting naïve foreigners, restaurateurs maintain a sense of the original.

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