I’ve been eating in other people’s dining rooms a lot over the past couple of weeks. It all started with this fantastic Shanghai Family Style Dinner with Ashlee Lee aka The Dumpling Diva. The evening was hosted by Kitchensurfing.
Kitchensurfing brings together chefs, hosts and their guests - which they may or may not know before. Next weekend, starting September 27th, presents twelve chefs and their menus. Tickets are going on sale today.
My small cell phone camera only captures part of the graffiti leading to a bridge crossing Landwehrkanal from Treptow to Neukölln, and cuts hipsters to hips. Which makes absolute sense considering the fabulous baked goods served over there at places like Bully’s Bakery on Friedelstraße:
A crunchy topped Pear Pie.
In response to my friend Glen’s poetic food posts on his Facebook stream:
I’ve found a Berlin based bakery which - for now - satisfies my desire to beam myself over to Mazzola Bakery in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
This a cheese-tomatoes-herbs-layered-Italian-summer-dream from Soluna Brot und Öl in Berlin, Kreuzberg. Also took home a piece of one of their sourdough breads. It is hard to chose from the amazing selection of twenty or so breads, with names like the “Ostblock”, a dark and wholesome looking loaf, and a corn & potatoe bread, called the “Blues”. Definitely worth a weekly trip to Kreuzberg.
Soluna Brot und Öl, Gneisenaustrasse 58, Berlin-Kreuzberg, Mo-Fr 10am-7pm, Sat 8am-4pm
While cat sitting in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park area I was introduced to the most delicious sandwiches, fresh, tasty & spicy, my favorite! I was sad to leave both cat and the shop around the corner when my friends returned.
After moving to Berlin I found a lot of wonderful Vietnamese restaurants, but no sandwich shop, until CôCô opened in Mitte! A sweet little spot near Rosenthaler Platz with a backyard, moderate prices, nice service, and the best bánh mì East of Sunset Park.
My favorite on “meatless days”: Bánh Mì Tofu – Bánh Mì Chay
Last week’s first #kaffeeklub was so much fun that I’ve decided to make it a weekly gathering. Simply show up anytime from 8-10am, get a coffee or other beverage, and sit down for a chat with us. There might only be standing room this week though since The Barn is a small, very popular & wonderful coffee shop in Mitte, and makes the best coffee & scones.
I have started a Facebook page for Berlin by Bike to announce #kaffeeklub, rides, and more since I won’t be using Meetup anymore in a few months. So please “like” the page, or follow me on Twitter for updates and fun things to do.
This Sunday I rode to Slow Travel Berlin’s event at Markthalle IX in Kreuzberg. Tons of delicious, local, organic food, workshops in photography and sewing, various Berlin themed walking tours, book stalls, and an overall wonderful atmosphere. Hopefully there will be more markets, especially food related! Food, good food, healthy, local, and organic food is what’s very important to me and I am happy and proud to announce that I’ve joined Dickes Bee Food Coop. Excited to meet all the Bees tomorrow at their weekly Wednesday food pick-up!
P.S. Have I told you about my beautiful new bike? Here’s a sneak peek:
Jalapeno & Chili jam tasting session at my place soon. Can’t wait to receive the reward for my pledge. Watch the video and help this wonderful project reach goal.
The bike racks at the office are still empty. My poor bike’s been pretty lonely. 
I was glad to see that it made new friends today.
I’ve been taking my other bike for the quick ride to work. It is an old bike from the 80’s I guess. I love it, especially the handlebars and loud bell I bought for it.
Since I’m still getting over that cold I decided to make a spicy soup for dinner. I prefer organic veggies and biked over to LPG, a huge organic only grocery with a big selection of all kinds of good food. I couldn’t resist to also splurge on some goat cheese and crackers. Hope the crackers are as good as my favorite ones I used to buy in San Francisco at Rainbow Grocery. Miss that place and the fabulous Humboldt Fog cheese.
I felt a little star struck when I realized that the lady in the beautiful coat checking out before me was one of my favorite actresses, Marion Kracht. Probably not known anywhere else, but a well known face on German TV.
The ride home was pleasant, especially because I hadn’t even thought about wearing my gloves. Nice and warm, birds singing, spring in the air. Maybe the Carrot Soup I spiced up with lots of ginger and some cinnamon is the last winter soup for a while. Salad, hummus wraps, sandwiches,…here I come!
I am trying to recreate Choice Brooklyn’s Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies. These are good, but not even close to that crispy, chewy goodness. There will be more trial & error baking sessions. I think I’ll also go for a vegan version.
Off to the exhibition called “A City Goes Cycling” about Copenhagen’s bike culture.
