After absorbing the Old Masters I was exhausted. Back to Wedding for a quick rest and into our finery and a walk next door to Ernst. Unprepossessing by day.
At night it transforms into one of the world’s top restaurants – number 62 in the top 100. Eight diners sitting alongside the tiny kitchen watch the chefs hard at work.
We elected to have matching wines and this was our first. Champagne.
It was fascinating seeing the chefs teamwork as they produced tiny bite size morsels – forty of them. I’ve photographed thirty three – not bad given my seven glasses of wine on the night. I only remember one of the missing ones – a char-grilled wedge of lettuce. This was our first – it’s a sweet potato. My descriptions don’t do justice to the complexity of the flavours and the complicated, skilled cooking process. With these dishes we were getting the essence of the ingredients, lightly or intensely flavoured with various herbs and spices. Overall a Japanese feel to the flavours.
This was our second wine – I took photos of the bottles cos I want to see whether we can get any of them in Melbourne.
Second course. A plum. The plums here have been wonderful. I’ve bought them at the farmers market and stewed them. But this was on another level altogether.
This is octopus and mushroom. Not a skerrick of toughness in the octopus, which is why I don’t usually like it. Served in the most delicate broth.
And this is the stem of a mushroom – I have cooked the variety – very thick stems, small caps. Would not have known what this was without being told. A lovely charred flavour matched with salty, fishy caviar. Perfect combination.
More mushrooms – with squid I think. All the ingredients are chosen for their seasonality. We are coming to the end of mushroom season here in Berlin.
And some more of the same sort of combination. This looks like squid but I can’t remember. All of these dishes tasted very different.
Another bottle of wine – of which we only had a small glass!
This dish consisted solely of leek – melt in your mouth soft as underneath fried shreds.
This might have been whelk – I’ve never had this shellfish before, which we were shown in the shell. ’From our friends in Norway’. Whelk or not it was was tender and delicious.
The dishes are getting harder to remember! I don’t know what this is.
And here are our chefs hard at work.
This is one of the prettiest dishes we were served, but from memory (fading) not the tastiest.
Now we moved onto beans – which normally I shun because I don’t like the texture. Here they were chopped so beautifully and cooked so well they were crunchy. I suggested to the chef nearest me that this style of cooking must be half chopping, half cooking to which he replied ‘ and half cleaning!’
There was a nice balance between dry dishes and those served with sauces. This was a full on broth.
More wine.
These are tiny turnips with something like a bechamel sauce – the chefs would probably be horrified at that description.
And here they are working hard. The young man in the middle has only recently joined the team. Originally from Adelaide he has worked at Brae. The person on the left is from Sputh America I think.
An oyster – but I was told not one that I would be familiar with. My photography is getting fuzzy – wonder why!
In a similar fashion I was told I would not be familiar with this variety of tuna – amd it did taste different. Very dry, that’s shredded ginger on top.
And here are we – taken by the lovely Japanese woman sitting beside me.
This pumpkin was wonderful – looks like normal pumpkin but the flavour was very intense following a very complicated cooking process – dehydration, reconstitution, lengthy braising.Actually I’m not sure that was the process with this dish, but we were told often that these techniques were used.
Looking to the right and to the kitchen – see how tiny it is. The man on the left is one of the founders of the restaurant.
More pumpkin or maybe sweet potato or a swede of some sort.
More wine.
Mussels in a chawanmushi style dish – another ingredient I’m not that keen on but delicious here.
Putting the next course together.
Which was this. I thought it was a red pepper but no it’s a tomato stuffed with tomato. Creating such an intense tomato flavour.
Hard at work – such concentration but all so calm and composed. And good fun to talk to.
I have no idea what this is though it may come to me.
This looks like mushrooms again – but who can be sure?
This is the most unattractive looking dish we were served all night. But it tasted delicious and I was astounded to discover it was tongue.
I think the chefs were surprised we knew this was bok choy.
This spinach was covering something, but I know not what.
More wine.
I was trying to get a photo of all the chefs. Unsuccessfully.
This was pork belly – a bit too soft for me.
So pretty, this was beetroot.
I was getting full and requested a smaller serve of veal.
Wine to accompany desert.
This was a milky ice-cream.
This is the lightest cake I’ve ever eaten.
A perfectly caramelised fig.
I have no memory of this dish.
And these are blueberries.
And this was our final dish – so pretty, but not up there with the best.
Now a final picture of the chefs – serving up ice-cream. The chap on the right was responsible for our drinks. Which were all rather wonderful.
And so we staggered out at about a quarter to nine, having started at six. The chefs standing in the hallway to say goodnight. Good thing we didn’t have far to go. It’s no wonder this place is first on the list of places to eat in Wedding that Joe found here.
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