A Place to Breathe
My local steakhouse. Photo: Ulla Hennig
This is a place I like to go to on the weekend: just a few meters away from where I live there is a lovely steakhouse, managed by two young men in their 20ies, with a wonderful patio. Since Easter 2009 they have been offering delicious food, tasty wine and beer and – a place to breathe.
One of the young man is a Palestinian. He speaks German without accent. The other one is a Berliner – he also speaks German without accent. If you like to get a perfect service you have to come to that rather inconspicuous restaurant in a more than inconspicious district. Although I am living near the Potsdamer Platz and the famous Friedrichstraße I am living in a part of Berlin where the majority of the people communicate in the Turkish or Arabian tongue. They have got their own snack bars. Most of the few German people who still live in the flats next to mine are unemployed and haven’t got the money to eat in a restaurant. So both young men very much depend on tourists coming along the road and dropping in.
I admire their courage to open a restaurant in the current economic crisis. I admire the way they do business and the way they make everybody welcome. Sometimes I drop in just for a small glass of beer when I come back from work and I sit on the patio, looking at the blue sky and breathe.
By the way – the steakhouse is called “Steakhaus Asador” – in case you might come to Berlin and want delicious food, good wine, cold beer and a perfect service!
4 Responses to “A Place to Breathe”
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Ulla, I hope I’ll see you there soon!
Hi Ulla – It looks wonderful! These neighborhood places are the best, aren’t they? I found your description of the area in which you live interesting, too. I hadn’t remembered that the demographics in certain neighborhoods have transitioned. It’s great to have a place, as they sung about in the TV show Cheers, where “everyone knows your name.”
Ulla – Hi – Very tempting! if I was in Germany I’d have to stop in! I love your ability to take me into the neighborhood.
Joanna, I look forward to meet you there and have a a nice talk, delicious food and whatever you’d like to drink.