Adrie Reinders

Today, my old friend Jan and I had some business to attend to. In my other life as an entrepreneur, business consultant and copywriter I’ve come to the point where I need my own homepage. Jan on his side is one of the best screen designers I know, so we decided to meet for an impromptu design briefing today. Since we generally do as much business as possible over breakfast, lunch or dinner here in Berlin, it was his turn to come up with a suitably refined location for a 11:30 late breakfast.

At 11:30 sharp I heard the horn of his ‘78 Mini Cooper outside my door. And off we went to a place he had announced as a “true hidden gem”. As it turned out, he has been breakfasting there often over the past two years. As it further turned out, “hidden” is quite accurate when it comes to this gem. We drove down to Kreuzberg and then some. Where Görlitzer Straße meets the Landwehrkanal: that’s where you find Salon Sucré.

At first sight, I was both amused and reassured. This would not be Berlin if Salon Sucré was merely a bistrot, a cafe or restaurant. No: it’s all that AND a hairdresser. The place is run by a French patissier, Eric, and his Brazilian girlfriend Katia, who’s a hairdresser. Today, though, the salon was closed and she was helping to wait tables. Very endearing, all that, and Jan as a regular was warmly welcomed.

A closer look at the food on display revealed that Eric specializes in what the art of French baking has to offer. On the downside, this means that for breakfast you won’t get any eggs or toast or cereal or yoghurt. On the plus side, you will get croissants with any conceivable stuffing. I took three: one filled with marinated salmon, one with French cheese, and one with French ham and Dijon mustard. Jan took a croissant and a paté with tomatoes. Thus supplied, we sat down at one of the small tables outside, enjoyed the tranquility on this remote end of Görlitzer Strasse, sipped our Café au lait and lazily went to business.

Business, however, didn’t stop me from noticing that these were the best croissants I have ever had. The filling was tasty and well-spiced – you easily notice that this was miles from the prefab stuff you get at LeCroBag. The croissants exuded homemadedness – juicy and firm at the same time. Beautiful!

After a while, Eric came out with a bottle of crémant rosé and two glasses, which he waved in front of our eyes invitingly. As he poured us two glasses, he explained that this was to say sorry for the fact that they’d be closing Salon Sucré down for summer, so that Jan would have to look for another place to have breakfast until September 17th. Eric did that in his truly colorful German – it doesn’t sound fake at all when he talks half German, half French, frequently ending his sentences with “et voilá, Monsieur!”. When we came in to pay our bills, he calculated out loud: “Un Euró quatre-vingt, trois Euró quatre-ving dix, sept Euró… ca fait neun Euro achtzig, bitte. Merci beaucoup!”

On this occasion a word about the pricing. The deliciously stuffed croissants come at 1,60 € a piece. After three of them, it’s you who is deliciously stuffed. Need I say more?

As we paid, both Jan and I identified some French pastries that we wanted to take home for the afternoon. I chose a blueberry pastry that had already caught my eye as we had arrived. Now before writing this text here, I just finished the last bit of it, and Dear God, it was a piece of heaven! Blueberries of a size and sweetness that clearly designate them as Polish produce (I will have to write about the merits of Polish food another time), a mild and tasty crème and the perfect shortcrust. If there ever was the quintessential Sunday Afternoon Pastry, I found it!

And so can you – unfortunately not before Sept 17th, though. And only Thursday to Sunday, unless you want to have your hair cut – the salon is open Wednesday to Saturday.

What a sweet place!

Salon Sucré

Le Marche, Ft. Lauderdale North Beach Boulevard

You will find Le Marche at the Hilton Hotel on the Beach in Fort Lauderdale. It is an interesting combination of a coffee shop, pizzeria and deli. It has not been open that long, but is already fulfilling a big demand on that part of Beach Boulevard. Everything is prepared locally, coffee is by Starbucks and the pizzas and paninis are freshly made and baked right there for you. The personnel at le Marche, led by John Sobczak, is very friendly and helpful, which is almost unusual in touristic hotspots. It’s a comfortable environment, with a nice sheltered terrace on the front overlooking the beach. Comfy, inviting chairs for you to sit down and just watch the world go by. Definitely recommended if you are looking for some simple, uncomplicated food and great coffee.

Food: 7.5
Service: 8.5
Comfort: 8
Price/Quality: 8.5

Le Marche definitely beats the restaurant/breakfast area of the Hilton itself!