Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
became even more significant—KaDeWe
was off-limits to East Germans, now cut off
from the gourmet delights of the Free
World.
Since reunification, the remodeled sev-
enth-floor food department more than
ever celebrates world foods—no loca-
vorism here. The cheese counters, for
example, may stock 200 different kinds of
German cheese, but there are twice as
many from France, as well as hundreds
from Italy, Switzerland, and many other
nations. Other departments offer 120
exotic cooking oils, or 120 global varieties
of vinegar. The produce section plies
exotic fruits such as mangosteen, cheri-
moya, dragon fruit, rambutan, tamarillo,
uglifruit, kaki, and cassava. The meat hall
has an emphasis on free-range meats, as
well as game meats such as moose, veni-
son, and wild boar in season. Sure, they
sell hearty German sausages, but an inven-
tory of more than 1,200 types of sausage
inevitably goes much farther afield. Fish
are flown in from Hawaii, the Seychelles,
and Mozambique. There's a definite French
bias evident—witness the Brittany oys-
ters, the Bresse chickens, the breads and
pastries from Lenôtre, the renowned Pari-
sian baker. Granted, the chocolates in the
confectionery department are locally
made—you can even watch the candy
makers at work—but the chocolates they
use are sourced worldwide. After all those
years of Iron Curtain isolation, Berliners
can't really be blamed for embracing the
global cornucopia.
When hunger sets in, shoppers repair
to a cafe serving coffees, teas, and sweets
or to the counter stools at more than 30
“gourmet bars” scattered around the sell-
ing floor, featuring delicacies such as lob-
ster, caviar, champagne, oysters, and
sushi. The classic KaDeWe dining experi-
ence is on the floor below, the
Restaurant
Silberstrasse,
with its vintage Art Nou-
veau interior under an elegant glass
dome.
Tauentzienstrasse 21 (U-bahn Witten-
bergplatz) (
&
49/30/21210;
www.kadewe-
berlin.de). Closed Sunday.
(
Berlin-Tagel (14km/8
3
/
4
miles).
L
$$
Hotel Hackescher Markt,
Grosse Präsidentenstrasse 8 (
&
49/30/
280030;
www.loock-hotels.com). $$
Myers
Hotel Berlin,
Betzer Strasse 26 (
&
49/30/
440140;
www.myershotel.de).
Open-Air Markets
6
Victualienmarkt
Robust Bavarian
Munich, Germany
While tourists throng into the Marienplatz
to gawk at the town hall's quaint glocken-
spiel, you'll get a richer glimpse of Munich's
daily life a few minutes' walk southeast,
just off Tal, at the city's top street market.
With the copper-spired tower of St. Peter's
church rising over its shade trees and
umbrellas, the Victualienmarkt (
victualen
being the German word for “food”)
expresses the easygoing Bavarian sensi-
bility. The market sprawls over a wide
stone-paved area, its tented open-air stalls
run by some 150 independent merchants
who maintain whatever hours they want,
often packing up as soon as the day's
inventory sells out. And of course there's a
popular Bavarian-style beer garden set up
right in the middle, under spreading chest-
nut trees.
Though this is chiefly a retail market
(most restaurants buy their provisions at
the wholesale Grossmarkthalle, out in the
