As I found myself mentally circling the food hall in the Kaufhaus des Westens, I recalled Adam Gopnik's piece on the new Paris stadium. After much deliberation, the name was announced – Le Stade de France (The French Stadium). "Banal and beautiful at the same time ... Obvious and seductive. Timeless and unalterable," is the response of the journalist Gopnik quotes.
There is really nothing more obvious than naming the KaDeWe as a must-visit destination for food lovers, but Berlin is not, I think, a city that lives particularly large in the food lover's mind, so even its institutions and pillars must be worth mentioning. And really, where else can I send you? No faithful reader needs me to rave on about the weekly Kollwitzplatz market once more, and the liquorice shop tucked away in Kreuzberg, delightful gem though it may be, won't be to everyone's taste. But the KaDeWe, central and open late, will make the jaded foodie go pale with excitement.
The thing is range. I do cherish the specialist shop with its carefully edited shelf of twelve exquisite vinegars, but entering the KaDeWe means setting every foodstuff you can think of on a pedestal in a hall of mirrors. You see the same item everywhere in a thousand varieties: three robust sets of shelves filled with 163 (Reader, I counted!) types of vinegar, dozens of salts from six continents, alien seafood out of Cousteau, vanilla in every form ever invented, more than a thousand cheeses (1,300 according to their website) – and I could go on.
Editing doesn't really come into play at the KaDeWe, and I think one of the more quixotic aspects of the place is that the fiercely fancy rubs shoulders with the utterly quotidian (Fauchon beside Heinz was one pairing I smiled at). As an American, I also can't help but be entertained by such items as the box of Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mix for 7.48 EUR. On the whole, though, prices are quite reasonable, considering it's such a lavish temple of consumption: My 100 grams of 5-year-old Gouda, its surface cragged with crystallized minerals, was only 3.79 EUR, and my two Neuhaus gems 3.33 EUR.
A little planning doesn't hurt. Usually I do a quick case around a big store to draw up a mental short list of what I'd like to return to, but the scale of the sixth floor make such a blithe approach impossible. Lately I've made a brief list of items to focus on before entering, (eg spices, chocolates, fruit brandies), just to keep from being dizzied when faced with the sheer mass of food.
Shopping is one half of the experience of visiting the KaDeWe, and with such range, it would impossible not to fill a basket with items sure to delight friends. (Note that the fourth floor is very well-stocked with all manner of kitchen equipment, cutlery and china, for those looking for something more lasting than comestibles.)
Once you're done with your purchases, though, you might need to revive yourself with some immediate sustenance, and the other half of the KaDeWe experience is visting its eateries. There are more than three dozen counters serving everything from fresh oysters, lobster, champagne, sushi, and elaborate Tortes, to rotisserie chicken, Lenôtre pastries, cheese plates, and all the beers in the world.
Honestly, it's the sort of place one can hardly reconcile with a city famously/notoriously dubbed "poor but sexy"by its mayor. Nevertheless, it's not to be missed. Do let me know if you're coming to visit – I'd be more than happy to help you find the turkey eggs.
Kaufhaus des Westens,Tauentzienstr. 21-24 (map)
Open Mo-Wed 10 am to 8 pm, Thu-Fri 10 am to 10 pm, Sat 9.30 am to 10 pm
(Go on a weekday if you can, as the place can be almost impossibly full on Saturdays and even on weekday evenings.)
Many hearty thanks to Paula for organizing the Fourth Food Destinations event, and to Maki for starting it all! I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has to recommend, and will post the round-up address as soon as it's out. (PS: Forgive the few images, but the KaDeWe is plastered with stern signs forbidding photography.)
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