PASSIONATE RATIONS

Given the choice, would you rather pay €75 (~$101 U.S.) for three courses or €14 (~$19 U.S.) per course for that same meal?

Perhaps the smell of burning money is your particular addiction, but, if not, I suspect the sensible among us would choose the latter.

That is why–if you appreciate excellent value and/or your culinary tastes run to the expensive, but your billfold echoes with emptiness–lunch is your friend.

Case in point:  Vau Restaurant, Berlin.  Once the only Michelin-starred restaurant in the city (now one of a handful), Vau’s venerable place in Berlin’s burgeoning culinary culture means its dishes are priced accordingly.  You simply will not be able to get away with a meal less than €75 if it’s after three in the afternoon.  Come between noon and two-thirty, however, and you’ll feel like you’ve hit the jackpot, as they feature a lunch menu with each course priced at €14 each.

And, so, we feasted.

The chef began the meal by presenting diners with a surprise appetizer–in this case diced pork and spices in cream, the whole of which simply melted in one’s mouth.  Alas, I do not recall the name of the dish or the more subtle of the ingredients, but the experience will not be forgotten.

As for the courses we ordered, for the first I had a beautifully plated asparagus salad with chives and radish.  My spouse ordered a sorrel soup.  Both courses were delicious, but the soup won out for sheer beauty and unique flavors.  It was a beautiful spring-green color garnished with a slice of egg, the deep-yellow yolk and whitest white startling against the green backdrop.  It tasted like a lush garden and brought forth blissful memories of childhood summertimes.

For a main course, I stayed with the vegetarian, ordering a potato curry with bok choy and cumin yogurt, perfectly spiced and quite tasty, but not otherwise unusual.  My spouse ordered a roasted halibut with potato asparagus ragout and capers.  It, too, was artistically presented and delightfully flavorful, though not quite at the level of gastronomy that we anticipated.

For this meal, it was the first and last portions that wowed the most, and in particular the last–desserts (unusual, as, often, I find desserts to be the most disappointing course).

For dessert, I ordered a triple threat:  pineapple-coconut mousse that was accompanied by a macadamia creme brulee and lemongrass-chili ice cream.  The tropical, Asian, and European came together as one on the plate in such a way that makes one realize that world harmony may, indeed, be achievable.  The creme brulee was rich and velvety, divine.  The mousse was as light and airy as the tropics.  The unusually-flavored ice cream burned subtly and pleasantly in the back of my throat, so subtly, in fact, that I had to concentrate a bit to feel it, which only served to make the experience more satisfying.

My spouse ordered an iced lemon soup with sour-cream sorbet that was so extraordinary I doubt we will ever see or taste anything like it again.  It arrived topped with the graceful figure of an swan in abstract and was the color of the icy-cold one seeks on a hot summer day.  On the spoon and palate mingled a perfect balance between lemony sour and sweet.  This dish, alone, was worth the full price of admission.

All meals–whether lunch or dinner–should end this way.  And all the more gratifying that it was lunch at a fraction of the cost of dinner.  Gives one a whole new reason to “do lunch,” as most top restaurants offer lunch menus that are kinder and gentler on the wallet.

Bon apetit!