Notes on Scraps of Paper:
- Why is almost everyone on the subway immersed in an 800-page book? How do they remember to get off at their stop?
- The more expensive restaurants seem to have an unusual number of Russians dining in them—heavyset, somber men with trophy companions. Is this the Russian mafia I hear so much about?
- English must be the primary foreign language in schools here. I bet I could go whole days and never have to speak German.
- Who are these aged ladies I see everywhere—thin, primly dressed, gray hair pulled back, eyes looking deep within themselves, so sure of their destinations?
- I suddenly become aware that if there are blacks and Asians here, they are not where I happen to be.
- The pastry shops are filled with groups of penguin-shaped middle-aged and older ladies and gentlemen, their eyes misty with anticipatory bliss, seated before mounds of pastry topped with mounds of whipped cream. I am diabetic, so watching all this is a bit like being at the zoo. I am filled with envy.
- All the trees seem to be in the western section of the city. Did the Russian occupiers have something against trees—or just against the Germans?
- In the richer sections of the city there are children bound for school with skateboards and Rollerblades. Where am I?
- Could I live in Berlin? No. Could I die in Berlin? Of course. —E.A.
Staying There
Four
Seasons Hotel Berlin (800-332-3442; from $295)
The
hotel has the perfect location, across from the Gendarmenmarkt (as in gendarme, and so named for a French
regiment who quartered on the site in the 18th century). But the hotel, while
luxurious, is indistinguishable from every other Four Seasons.
Dorint Am
Gendarmenmarkt (011-49-30-203750; from $225)
Right on the Gendarmenmarkt, now
the bourgeois center of old East Berlin, this stylish hotel has minimalist
rooms with cubelike furniture. Some rooms are tiny. But it’s a winner for the
lack of fussiness, the location, and the superb breakfast (which, in deference
to late-night Berlin, goes until 11 a.m.).
Hotel Adlon
Berlin (011-49-30-22610;
from $355)
The old
Adlon, right at the Brandenburg Gate, was the epicenter of prewar Berlin. The
reborn version is mall-like and caters to groups. Still, the rooms are
wonderful and the service excellent—a surprise. Its setting, too, is ideal.
Eating There
Diekmann Im
Weinhaus Huth (Alte Potsdamer Strasse 5;
030-25297524)
So
many top architects, from Renzo Piano to Richard Rogers, lent their talents to
the resurrection of Potsdamer Platz that it’s hard to imagine how this skyscraper city
could have ended up looking so bland. That’s what makes you love this venerable
restaurant: It has been on the same site since 1912 (old pictures show the
restaurant stranded on a bombed-out vacant lot during the Cold War), and
although caught in the tentacles of the Potsdamer leviathan, you can still eke
out some old-world charm here and order good dishes like coq au vin with potato dumplings or duck in
black cherry sauce.
Maxwell (Bergstrasse 22; 030-2807121)
One of the city’s best restaurants,
especially for Continental food and updated German classics like duck breast in
black pepper sauce. The chic, all-white interior, with Damien Hirst art on the
walls, occupies an ornate old brewery in a run-down part of old East Berlin,
which adds a decadent touch.
Aigner (030-203750; Dorint am Gendarmenmarkt hotel)
A festive atmosphere prevails in
this refined (i.e., the crowd dresses up) beer hall of a restaurant in the same
building as the Dorint am Gendarmenmarkt hotel. Very good regional food (veal
dumplings with beets and mashed chive-potatoes; fried sweet-sour calf’s
kidneys) and a very good time.
Borchardt (Französische Strasse 47; 030-20387110)
Nothing captures the spirit of
bygone Mitteleuropa like Borchardt, despite the jazzy chandeliers. The food
isn’t always the best, but the after-theater crowd turns this brasserie into a
Belle Epoque painting come to life.
Offenbach-Stuben (Stubbenkammerstrasse
8; 030-4420229)
If
buzzing around Prenzlauer Berg (see “The Last Laugh,” page 145), this
opera-themed, gay-oriented restaurant is an elegant respite from scruffy
hipness, with nicely prepared German dishes like smoked pork with sauerkraut
and duck with red cabbage and dumplings. Some come with rather operatic names,
in the latter case, Gräfin von Paris (“Countess from Paris”).
Kaufhaus
des Westens (Wittenbergplatz; 030-21210)
KaDeWe is the most famous
department store in Berlin, and its Feinschmeckeretage (sixth floor gourmet
food hall) is a marvel, with 33 restaurant counters. There’s even a sushi bar.
Being There
The Last Laugh
Nothing is more fun than poking into the bars and nightspots of Prenzlauer Berg, a once dreary proletarian paradise with all the aesthetic appeal of Communism itself. Young artists changed the neighborhood overnight after the Wall came down; now it’s almost respectable. For something hipper, head for Friedrichshain, an off-the-map East Berlin district that only works when outdoor tables line the Simon-Dach-Strasse in summer.
Culture
Berlin, a city that dotes on music and art, has loads of museums, three opera houses, and two main concert halls (the only advantage of having been a divided town). But for sheer drama and cutting-edge presentation, nothing matches the new Jewish Museum Berlin (Lindenstrasse 9-14).
Dirty Secrets
It would be hard to accuse Berlin of hiding its Nazi past. From Peter Eisenman’s new Holocaust memorial, opening in 2005 in the heart of the city, to the subtle monument to the Nazi book burning (off Unter den Linden in the middle of Bebelplatz), the evil has been exposed and carefully labeled. Some things, however, require a closer inspection, such as the new Ministry of Finance, which has taken over the former headquarters of Göring’s Luftwaffe.
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