wurstfail.

Above: there is a gallery about every 15 feet in Berlin, but this one across the street from where I'm staying is one of the only ones that has really grabbed me. The piece above is a wooden canvas with maybe 75 miniature shelves on it, and the image is constructed from tiny piles of black ash arranged on these shelves. The exhibit is called Disappear, and that's exactly what this piece will do if a strong gust of wind shows up...look at the floor underneath the image to get an idea of what's already gone.

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Just got back from Rutz, and, yes, my sausage blockade came down like, OK, a wall, there I said it, and yeah OK I was just about as happy as all those 1989ers were.

If this place was in Amsterdam I'd be there once a week. OK, once a month considering my current budget. But they had good lighting, Ella and Louis on the stereo, and perfect service from a frankly completely lovely blonde local. And the first thing I ordered was easily the most perfectly cooked thing I've eaten in a long time.

I don't have any photos, which is too bad because it was gorgeous, so we'll have to live with the menu description: "roasted black pudding from Berlin, mashed potato with leek, grübl vegetables (9,50 euro)", and elaborate from there.

Luckily, it was thirteen times lighter than it sounds, and that's what made it so great. The vegetables were baby carrots, cauliflower, shallots, and peas...and the unmentioned sauce was a red wine reduction that deserved its own bowl. But really, as a whole, it was perfect. And a useful lesson in how to plate sausage appetizingly (hints: cut, sear, and separate).

Before any of this came out, ze waitron brought a plate of also amazingly light, fluffy, crusty olive focaccia that must have been treated with a significant amount of butter...that's the only explanation for the incredible flaky/crunchy crust.

Anyway, as you know, this site is not about restaurant reviews. But if I can find a way to justify the financial side of things, I'll be back at Rutz in the next couple of days: it's really a different class of restaurant. And I found out only at the end of the meal that the entire menu is available at the bar. And it's literally five minutes away.

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