While the streetwalkers still ply their trade on Kurfürstenstraße, the neighbourhood is undergoing a subtle transformation - and the appearance of Burgundy wine specialist Les Climats one block north on Pohlstraße is a sign of the times.
For years, owner Roland Kretschmer has sold wine to restaurants and connoisseurs from a damp cellar in Mitte – but he wanted more human contact and was attracted by the flourishing art scene in the area.
The new Les Climats – an unpretentious wine shop and bar in former 'casino' No Limits 2 – is an exercise in low-key good taste. A huge shelf holds a manageable selection of Burgundy wines to take home.
Kretschmer, a long-time French wine fanatic, regularly travels to the region in order to personally visit small vintners. He's happy to explain the difference, for instance, between a Chablis (like the Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin, €11.90) and a Petit Chablis (La Chablisienne, €9.90).
His bar/café serves several wines by the glass, small snacks and meals like a perfect French-style leek-and-goat-cheese quiche (€4.90 with a small salad). Here you can sample some real French terroir imports, such as a hearty plate of Boeuf Bourguignon (€7.50) or the veggie-friendly classic, Ratatouille (€5.50).
A suitable accompaniment for your evening tipple is a plate of cheese (three to five raw-milk French cheeses, including a few creamy-pungent Burgundy stars: Brillat Savarin, époisses) or charcuterie (cured ham from Morvan, rillettes, Rosette de Lyon, etc) arranged in various plates (€5.90-6.50).
The rye bread comes from Kreuzberg cult bakery Soluna, the quiche from top Schöneberg patisserie Aux Plaisir, and the homemade farmer-style terrine de campagne turns out to be our favourite Berlin pâté - from the Mitte brasserie La Bonne Franquette.
What's more, they serve real cornichons! Evidently, Herr Kretschmer knows his stuff.
April 25, 2012
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