Chez Gino and Sofia

I had 2 weeks ago an argument with one of my colleague at work. This is not good, I know. But sometimes, for whichever reason, you just can't help it. It always starts stupidly, for a thing very little and simple, and suddenly, It's the clash. Then comes shame and because you have to handle the situation the best you can, you try to put back the pieces together. Normally I don't feel myself threatened personally, individually, when something like that happens at work. But this time was different and because I didn't see myself guilty, found that the reaction was far too important in proportion regarding the fact, so I needed my explanation. I don't like having it at the workplace and I believe, in order to have a good understanding, going outside is a good option. We settled an evening dinner together. It can be hell to stay so long in front of someone you have problems with and It can, on the contrary, be too short if you find a nice place to enjoy the meal together with the conversation. That's why the place you choose is important. Some easy and nice looking place, not too far from each other's home, where you know the food is good and not too expensive, and where the wine selection is worth the journey. Among the choice we have in Berlin, the selected one for this evening was "Chez Gino", in Kreuzberg, in Wranglerstrasse. You enter in the bar where you can have a drink to share with your friends, welcomed by the smiling staff. "Chez Gino" has nothing to do with an italian, despite of the name. It's just that the owner, when he took over the restaurant, never changed the name. So don't call the guy at the entrance "Hey Gino, how are you today ?" to make your entrance. You'll lose. If you did not book your table, there is a big chance you will have to look for another location. Second option : because the tables are mostly for 4 or 6 people, you can request the waitress to share a table with some other guests, of course with their approval. It happened to us : one guy alone asked if he could have dinner at our table. He opened his laptop and I hope he could not follow our conversation in french. It's not a big restaurant but It's the kind of place you're just happy to go to. It has this atmosphere of warm easy going moment. And once you open the menu, you enjoy even more. There is a mix of german and french cuisine which is surprising for a german table. Meaning you can order there some rabbit with polenta (my colleague took it), some blood sausage with mash potatoes (I took it). German cuisine has all the makings of perfect comfort food: potatoes, stews, spätzle with melted cheese, flammkuchen (a sort of pizza/flatbread) and so much more. But much German cooking is uninspired and unflavorful. "Chez Gino" works at undoing the wrongs of so many herb and spice wary cooks of yore and presents some of the finest southern German cooking around. Instead of a flammkuchen with the normal speck and onion combination, "Chez Gino" offers one with arugula and delicately cured meat. And while one can hardly go wrong with potatoes and mushrooms, the restaurant offers a more interesting twist with truffled sweet potatoes. The food is always solidly interesting, but never too playful and over-the-top. And the slightly kitschy forest themed wallpaper, as well as the occasional celebrity, reminds you that you’re in Berlin and not Baden. And when you get the possibility to entertain with the 3 cooks, you understand the whole thing : they are from different countries and work together, inventing delicious cooking (can't recall exactly where they're borned, but I'm pretty sure there is a French among them). Then he carries on if the owner decided to sing in the center of the room. Associated to this delicious meal, the conversation went well and the situation went positively in the right direction. So it was time for another glass of Bourgogne. We paid directly at the bar and left a good tip. And because we could not leave each other like that, we decided to have a drink "for the road" as we say. Thirsty a little bit and not in the mood of going far away, why not stepping just opposite the restaurant, in the bar Sofia ? good idea, as I remember, this bar was kind of sad, not particularly welcoming and without a wide range of drinks to suggest. But the owner changed and without making big work, the clientele comes from the neighbourhood (any kind of age, or social environment) and now It's full all evening. Parties are sometimes happening and everyone is smiling. The place is small so It's easy to start talking with the ones seating next to you or ask them to pass the next drinks because you just can't move from where you are. It's a not a nice bar, It's very smoky, toilets are worth the visit but you just enjoy being there and part of the crowd. So after a few more drinks and cigs, It was really time to go back home. Next (early) morning, we both felt dizzy, I must say. But the good point is : problem solved. Back to work again.