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Caveman cookin’

Boris and Rodrigo married a year ago and started eating Paleo at the same time. After six months of hard labour, they delivered on May 12: they called the baby Sauvage.

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Sigrid Malmgren

The Paleo-diet is simple: eat what our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate 10,000 years ago: wild vegetables, nuts and seeds, sustainably raised game and fish, and above all, no processed grains. Plenty of protein and easy on the carbs – HEAL-THY.

Boris and Rodrigo, from Belgium and Brazil respectively, married a year ago and started eating Paleo at the same time. Although Rodrigo admits he’s not 100 percent faithful (to the diet), overall they’re so happy with it, they decided to share it with Berliners. After six months of hard labour, they delivered on May 12: they called the baby Sauvage.

At first you could think the regimen might not exactly catch on: a blitz reader’s poll showed an alarming increase in vegetarianism, while consumption of carbs was peaking. Modern adherents will have to be found among bourgeois bohemians, who will appreciate the focus on quality organic ingredients.

But Sauvage also boasts a large selection of veggie options. Tonight: a cracker-like ‘tortilla’ appetizer made of carrot, hemp seed, and celery, served with choice of dip (€4). We got three: pungent sun-dried tomato pesto, a creamy arugula pesto, and one green, utterly flavourless pulpy mash, which in fact was so unremarkable that we were unable to determine its composition (theories: avocado crème? Hummus?) and had to ask. It turned out to be baba ghanoush!

We got a lot happier with our main: wild rabbit stew with root puree and salad (for a mere €10). The strategy here is to pair fresh herbs with unexpected spices; the rabbit stew was seasoned with fresh thyme and cardamom, a great combination of flavours.

For dessert: vegan, low-carb roasted apple custard pie (€4), paired with very reasonably priced espresso (€1). The nut flour crust added an earthy element to the natural sweetness of the apples and coconut milk custard.

We left the cosy, stone-walled and candlelit locale fully sated, but with a stomach as light as our hearts – the enthusiasm of owners and staff was communicative. Kreuzkölln has a new, primordial inhabitant: let’s hope it doesn’t go the way of the Neanderthal.