Slide & Vitrum Night, Tuesday 7th December 2004

It's that time of the year again, when thoughts switch to Christmas cards, rotten bonuses, goose fat, shopping in the Weihnachtsmarkts, munching a half-metre bratwurst while drinking some warm gluhwein. And dripping mustard and ketchup from the bratwurst over your coat. Yes, I know what you've been doing.

Anyway, for December, I thought we will combine simplicity with refinement. Simplicity is sliding down a snow slope on a rubber wheel as many times as your stomach can handle. Simple enough? Maybe we can also follow that with some cocktails if we are early enough before dinner.

And for the refinement, well, I thought we will try one of the newest and best gourmet restaurants in Berlin. Well, why not? It is a top-class restaurant called the Vitrum, located in the Ritz Carlton in Potsdamer Platz. But don't panic about the price because we are getting a really, really, really special deal, which means that we will get 4+4 courses PLUS all the wines for less than 50 EUR per person (OK, 49.50 EUR). And they are laying on some special wines as well for this occasion. All we have to pay extra for is the water and the coffees, if we choose to have coffee there. The cook, Thomas Kellermann, has a Michelin star and you can have a look if you like his little joint on this website:

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels_de/berlin/dining/venues/vitrum/default.asp

And if you do check out the website, you will see, for example, that the Menu Vitrum is actually 168 EUR including wines. Well, to be honest, we won't be having that menu, but something pretty nice and comparable, so you can see what a good deal we are getting. We cannot choose any other date either as the restaurant is completely booked out for the rest of the month, so apologies for picking another weekday again.

So that's the really simple plan. Dress is casual formal, nothing too onerous as you will be sliding down a snow slope, remember? But nothing too trashy, like what I usually wear either. Or if you like, you can bring some extra clothes and change at my place if you want to look your best for the dinner. After dinner, we can perhaps repair to the Adagio or just watch a late night movie or whatever, as long as it is legal.

The date again is Tuesday, 7th December, and places are really pretty limited (maybe 8 persons in total) so if you want to participate in this top-class special dinner, then send in your emails to me asap. I mean it. As Soon As Possible. This is probably the best dining offer you will get this Christmas!

Chris

 

How it went on the night...

Well, we started with a few slides down Europe's largest portable ski slope and you can see the results in the photos below. If you have not done this before, do it NOW! It is really a blast, especially the tandem sliding!

Then it was off to the restaurant, where we managed to survive the full 8 courses plus coffees and we were also the last persons to leave the place, which sort of sums it up. Although, it must be said that someone said that she was *worried* about the amount of food, until the goose turned up. At which point she brought the subject up no more. :o) Overall, the food is excellent, the company was great fun and the wine was too much (I would suggest, almost equal quantities of alcohol and food)! Oh well. It was truly a marathon eating and drinking session but someone has to do it and we did it in style! It was really worth every single cent. The service was also fantastic and everyone was just so pleasant to us and made us all feel very welcome the whole night.

After dinner, we met the cook, Hr Thomas Kellermann, and he is truly a nice guy as well, which was a really nice way to round off the dinner! Oh, and afterwards we walked around the Ritz Carlton banquet halls upstairs and had a discussion about which beautiful room in which we will have the next dinner party! :o) Well, maybe one day...

 

Sylvie	Gwen	Ulli & Andreas	Gwen & Sylvie	Ulli
Andreas	Christine	Crowd	Xmas market	Stefan+Gwen
Christine	Next table	Prawn	Fish (cod)	Goose wurst
Goose braten	Pumpkin	Wonderful