Winter Warmers (3): The Tajik Tea Room

Berlin is in the grip of a Siberian winter, and the sun has not broken through grey clouds in fourteen days. When winter doesn't quite feel like wonderland, it's time to head to the Tajik tea room for some Oriental warmth.


Just off Unter den Linden, behind the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum), is the Palais am Festungsgraben -- an eighteenth-century palace residence built by Frederick the Great for his wife's royal valet.

photo: Peter Groth, 2007

Damaged by the bombing during the Second World War, the building was restored by the Soviet military after 1945. The reproduction of a traditional Central Asian tea room, where men relaxed on cushions and played board games, was originally the contribution of the then-Soviet republics of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan to the 1974 Leipzig Exhibition. The pavilion was later moved to the palace which, at the time of the GDR regime, served as the House of Culture of the Soviet Union.

Head for the first floor up a splendid marble stairway. From the interior architecture of eighteenth-century royal Prussia you step into a room redolent of ancient Persia.

  photo: Johan Tingne

Sixteen carved sandalwood beams decorate the ceiling, and a row of hand-carved columns runs the length of the room. Miniature paintings on the walls depict scenes from traditional folk tales from the mountainous regions of the Silk Road. Cushions are covered in vibrant green, yellow and purple silk, and carpets feel warm under your feet (guests leave their shoes along with coats and bags in the hall outside the room). Seating is on divans, an arrangement of mattresses and cushions around low wooden tables, although you can opt for chairs if you prefer. Once comfortably seated, you can draw a deep breath. While it looks like this outside ...

photo: ddp

... you can snuggle deeper into the cushions and forget about icy S-Bahn stations for a blissful hour or two. No need to hurry -- the tea takes time to brew.

At the Teestube, tea (and there are at least 20 different varieties) is brewed with care. Ceylon tea is served in an earthenware pot and Japanese teas in purist porcelain. You can order scones and clotted cream with English varieties, and if you ask for the Russian tea ceremony, a silver samovar will arrive on a tray with a slew of accompaniments including rum raisins, marmalade, crystallized lemon and orange. Snacks with a Russian/Central Asian theme (pirogi, blini, pelmeni, etc.) round out the menu.

No longer an "insider tip" (alas!), the Tajik tea room is often full, so it is wise to call ahead and reserve seating. During the winter months there are storytelling evenings (from the Arabian Nights and other magical tales) on Tuesdays at 6 pm.

The Tadshikische Teestube is at Am Festungsgraben 1, off Unter den Linden. Public transportation: S1 or S2 to S-Friedrichstr., or U6 to U-Französischestr., or Bus 100 or 200 to the Staatsoper stop on Unter den Linden. 


Open Monday to Friday, 5pm to 12 midnight, and Saturday and Sunday, 3pm to 12 midnight. Call (030) 2041112 for reservations.

Winter Warmers (2): Just Chocolate

There's nothing like chocolate -- pure, rich and sinfully good -- to chase away the winter blues. So it's good news that Ritter Sport, the 100-year-old family-run chocolate manufacturer from southern Germany, has just opened a flagship store in Berlin.

Chocoholics around the world easily recognize Ritter Sport because of its packaging -- the distinctive square shape and use of a bright color palette. Each color stands for a different chocolate variety (there are 25 of them), and each 100 gm square-shaped bar is divided into 16 smaller squares, making a four-by-four pack.

Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut.
The flagship store, Bunte Schokowelt (Colorful World of Chocolate), plays with these two visual elements, making them into an eye-catching display theme. Brightly colored quadrants are a repeated motif: whether in wall design, the form of storage shelves or the surfaces of lounge tables. There is a designer chic to Bunte Schokowelt. It may dare to be square, but this is one cool store.

Mmmm-elted Chocolate
At the chocolateria on the ground floor you can order one of several varieties of hot chocolate: melted Ritter Sport with foamed milk or with a dash of espresso or pinch of cinnamon. A mug of their melted Mousse au Chocolat (as rich as a dessert) will make you forget the snow outside in a few delirious minutes.

The chocolatier will also make up an individual chocolate bar by adding your combination of ingredients from the array on offer, including anis, strawberry, chili, marshmallows, puffed rice and peppermint. If you're looking for an original gift idea, try making your own chocolate creation.

On the first floor, the Chocolate Path is a multi-media museum display that traces the journey of chocolate from the cocoa bean to the familiar snappy, wrapped quadrant. A short film (worth the watch) takes you through the history of the Ritter Sport company (English version on headphones), and an interactive screen shows you Ritter Sport television ads through the decades -- an interesting highlight since Ritter Sport made the very first countrywide television commercial back in 1970.

Choco-Workshop
An innovative feature is the chocolate workshop in the basement, where kids (no adults allowed) can learn about their favorite food group and even make their own chocolate bar and candy wrapper. An excellent idea to keep kids engrossed in a useful activity -- I'm adding this to my Berlin for Kids Tour for my nephew (7) -- but remember to book online ahead of time, as I'm sure this is going to be popular with school groups.

Quality. Chocolate. Squared.
By the way, do you know what sports have to do with Ritter chocolate?

The idea came from the wife of Alfred Ritter, the company's founder. Clara Göttle noticed at a soccer game (her eye was clearly not on the ball) that men made a mess of chocolate bars crammed into the pockets of their sports jackets. Why not make a chocolate that fits into every jacket pocket but that weighs the same as the long rectangular bar, she thought? A handy candy, in other words. The idea was a hit.

Clara had her eye on the ball, after all.

Bunte Schokowelt opened on January 15 at Französischestr. 24, 10117 Berlin, in the Gendarmenmarkt square (U6, Französischestr.). The store is in a historic building, 1000 square meters in area and on three levels. 


Opening hours are: Monday through Thursday: 10:00 am to 8 pm; Friday and Saturday: 10:00 am to 10:00 pm, and Sunday: 10:00 am to 6 pm. Entrance is free. The chocolate workshop is 75 minutes long and costs 8 EUR per participant. The age group is 7-18 (except for kindergarten classes). 


Lots more information is available on the company's very cool website at www.ritter-sport.com

Winter Warmers (1): Noon Song

The Christmas Markets have disappeared from the city squares, the last stalls with warm roasted almonds are melting away with the snow, the New Year firework display at the Brandenburger Tor is only a memory, and as January sets in, it feels like time to balance all that exuberant Yang with some more rueful Yin.

So I'm introducing a series of entries through the months of January and February called Winter Warmers: Berliners' personal favorites for places to warm body and soul.

Thirty Minutes of Heaven
My first pick is Noon Song, thirty minutes of heaven every Saturday at the Kirche am Hohenzollernplatz. Eight professional singers form Sirventes, a choir that performs mostly Renaissance (but sometimes Romantic or contemporary) choral music. Unlike a concert at the Chamber Music Hall at the Philharmonie, this performance embeds the music in the liturgy for which it was composed and so has a meditative quality that is deeply moving.

Noon Song is the brainchild of Stefan Schuck, who explains that the tradition of marking each hour of the day with sacred music goes back to the Benedictine monks.

The weekly Saturday market takes place opposite the church, and most listeners come in directly from their shopping, lugging bags and baskets of flowers, cheese, or vegetables. The music is a heavenly interlude that begins and ends in the earthy reality of the market stands.

Last week, I bought sweet potatoes and carrots for a winter soup, then came in and listened to the pure sounds of choral arrangements by Schein, Praetorius, and Schütz. You couldn't do much better for food that warms body and soul.

50 Years of Noon Song
Saturday, 9 January 2010, will be the fiftieth performance of Noon Song, and Schuck plans to make it special. Don't miss it.

Noon Song takes place every Saturday at 12:00 noon at the Kirche am Hohenzollernplatz (U3, Hohenzollernplatz). Entrance is free, but you can show your appreciation of the music by making a contribution at the door.  You can read more about Sirventes and Noon Song at www.noonsong.de