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| American Dream
Cuisine™ |
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VAU
Restaurant
Berlin, Germany |
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Extraordinary
March 2003 |
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5 Stars
& 5 Stripes
Cuisine & Service |
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The
Ultimate Award:
Seven Stars and
Stripes® |
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| The VAU
is a hot spot. Reservations are highly recommended. The interior is elegantly
modern (designed by Peter Schmidt, with other clients like BOSS &
Davidoff). It is located in the heart of the historical center of Berlin, at
the Gendarme Market, where the intellectual elite has met for hundreds of
years. Mr. Kolja Kleeberg, the GM, welcomed us with open arms, to a warm,
friendly place, with perfect service. |
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How can one describe this
unforgettable dining experience? We tasted a dozen different courses and have
chosen to feature but a few.
The Chef creates extraordinary food
compositions. All the gourmet meals were an adventure waiting to be discovered,
always amazing, always different. This was a holiday even for our spoiled,
world-traveled palates as Kleeberg's Michelin award winning cuisine was
outstanding. Mr. Kleeberg, a young father of a 5-month-old baby boy, was
invited to be a guest on the
American Dream
Show. |
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Thorsten had suggested that the Chef should have his own TV Show; well, he
should have paid more attention to the German food TV!
Kleeberg is already
a steady on German TV and several times a week is seen on a major station where
he shares his remarkable, unique way of creating fine cuisine. The entire VAU
staff is a (American) Dream Team. Be prepared to be challenged and surprised to
experience perfectionism!
Our American Dream Travel Tip: Insist that
Maitre D' Matthias Martens chooses the matching wines for your perfect meal
compositions. Here is a sampling of our menu: |
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First a glass of Champagne
Duval Leroy Cuvee Femme
Founded in 1859 in the heart of the Cote
des Blanc (the hillside of the whites), the House of Duval-Leroy is amongst the
10 great champagne houses and will certainly be represented at the LONDON
INTERNATIONAL WINE TRADE FAIR May 20th, 2003.
The silkiness and rare
elegance of the "FEMME DE CHAMPAGNE" was represented to us |
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in fine European
crystal stemware which supported the golden color and tiny sparkling bubbles of
amazing finesse. We tasted the promise of spring flowering Honeysuckle combined
with dried fruits and another pleasant roasted aroma as yet unidentified and
quite elusive.
On our palates, it felt both, very mature and
wonderfully fresh, a dichotomy that fits perfectly with a Montauk lobster.
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Appetizer
- Amuse: Confit of
Dungeness crab meat and Kithara rice, completed with light avocado reduction. A
versatile delicacy indeed, the succulent very tender, flaky white Dungeness
crab meat with its distinctive, sweet flavor – the perfect match.
Wine: Haidviertel Grüner Veltliner 2001
Dry – reminded us
of apples, on the palate ripe and spicy, almost peppery; beautifully chosen as
aperitif, completing the amuse.
- Vitello Tonnato
„Vau“ – A specialty of the house; we are going to leave this one
to be discovered.
Wine: 2001 Sauvignon Blanc by Manfred Tement
– Steiermark grown on limestone soils protected by the Grassnitz mountains
prospered this white Sauvignon; fruity, tantalizing, very little
acid.
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Main course
- Calamari stuffed with
wild-rabbit meat, supported by a watercress 'pesto'; who has ever heard of
such? Amazing! Tender calamari tubes are a necessity to create this meal, a
tasteful (in any sense) unforgettable creation.
Wine: Riesling
„Forster Ungeheuer“ Wegeler Pfalz (Rheingau region) It smelled and
tasted a little tart and sour, without much depth of flavor; but an excellent
choice to clean and free the palate for the next adventure.
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- Grilled dove breast,
touched by nothing else then a little salt and pepper; chocolate Au Jus and
thinly shaved fennel – what a creation.
Wine: 97 Lucente
Frescobaldi Toscana – producing wine since 700 years.
This wine is a
direst result of a joint venture with Robert Mondavi wines; we tasted plums and
black berries, silky body. Superb.
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- Honey glazed wild pork
filet with Perigord Truffles und Maroons The Perigord black truffle (Tuber
melanosporum) is a fungus that produces its fruiting bodies under the
surface of the soil. The fruiting bodies are black, roughly spherical and
covered with small diamond-shaped projections, which make them look a little
like deformed avocados. These are considered the finest of the edible fungi and
have a place in gastronomy alongside saffron, caviar, foe grass and the finest
of wines.
Wine: The 2000 Arachon T.FX.T, Horitschon, Burgenland
from Austria, nominated in 2003 for an award in the category of best "Red
Wines" turned out to be more silent almost sensual, it lit the fire for the
next course…
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Dessert
- Pineapple tumbler toped
with pomegranate sherbet – a sheer delight.
- Baked goat cheese with
fig- jam was truly an inspiring combination. The goat cheese reminded us very
much of the 'Mascares', a seasonal cheese from the "Provencal" Alps, with its
floral aroma, hint of thyme and the slight aftertaste of pepper.
- Pistachio – hazel
nut- caramelized- cinnamon apple sherbet. Another very special dessert by the
Master de Creation. Hot & cold, just heavenly.
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by
Thorsten Piosczyk & Arno Goudschaal
Editor-in-Chief: Ingrid Lemme
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