restaurant review - Frankfurt | L'Apostrophe

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting my friends at L'Apostrophe, a very charming restaurant in Frankfurt Nord-End.

I'd never been there before and as I was strolling up Rotlintstrasse I couldn't resist taking pictures of the lovely residential neighbourhood.  Suddenly, I stumbled upon a really nice table set up on the street.  I took some pictures of the tables...

...I turned to face the front door to see what restaurant it was, and you can imagine my delight that the hanging sign said L'Apostrophe!

The ambiance was really nice - a bit of a French bistro vibe going on. The interior decor was really inviting and stylish.  We sat outside though because the weather was so nice. 

 

The menu showcased a a well rounded selection with a Mediterranean themed cuisine.  They also had a separate menu of "Chef Suggestions" with specialty items which are not on the regular menu.  Love those.  I had the eggs with homemade green sauce ... hmmm, I think this sounds better in German: Eier auf huasgemachter Gruener Sosse.  Green sauce is a specialty of Frankfurt.  In all the time I lived in Berlin, I never had any because I never even heard of it.  But in Frankfurt it's everywhere and I'm pretty smitten with it.  It's a lightly creamy sauce made of precisely seven specific green herbs - so fresh and tasty.  You can eat it with anything practically (eggs, bread, meat...probably great with fish too).  I like to try the Gruener Sosse everywhere I go.  L'Apostrohes was delicious!

The food was amazing.  Everyone loved their plates; boiled veal filets called "Tafelspitz" on a dijon mustard sauce garnished with a small salad bouquet, artichoke filled ravioli in a tomato-sage butter and my 4/2 eggs on homemade Frankfurt "Green Sauce" served with potatoes parisienne. Desserts included an apricot/passion fruit mousse with a kumquat compote and naturally, chocolate soufflees.  Everything was ordered off the Chef's Suggestions, except for the soufflees, which are a regular at L'Apostrophe. 

The service was friendly and attentive.  The price was moderate, not too expensive, not too cheap.  I gladly paid my bill.

Holly's overall rating for L'Apostrophe:

If you are in the area, you should most definitely stop by.

Have you been to any good resaurants this week?  Would you like to share a link to your favourite one?

'till next time,

xoxo

Holly

p.s.

Badeschiff

It's 38 degrees today and it feels like the desert. It's amazing. I'm loving drinking water and eating fruit. I feel so alive yet comfortably slow. We went to the Badeschiff (bathing ship) today for some cooling off. It's basically a pool in the river with some docks that lead to it where people lounge about. It was pretty crowded, obviously, due to the weather and the fact that it's Sunday. What else are Berliners to do?

Badeschiff

As everywhere in Berlin it seems, the crowd was well balanced. Old, young, ugly, pretty, hipsters,buff gym go-ers, church go-ers, families, clothed, naked, strings, shorts, reds, blues and everything in between. The pre and post pool showers were super cold. The pool was 23 degrees. Pauli and I found a spot after some effort and took turns getting soaked, drying off, lounging and doing it all over again. We lasted about 2 and a half hours. We biked home and stopped for ice cream on the way. Zitrone and Waldfruechte. Now we are chilling on our balcony, drinking cold coffees.

Prost!

"Magnesium White" at Wansee Beach

Strandbad Wansee

Today I went to Wansee beach with the kids I take care of. It was super fun and to add to that, it was a gorgeous day. I packed all my beach paraphanalia this morning, sunglasses, snacks, change of clothes and of course ... the bathing suit. I put it in my bag trying to ignore the anxious knot in my stomach caused by its presence. I used to hate wearing a bathing suit (and even skirts for that matter) because I hated my legs. I used to think they were not straight enough. Now I don't mind them so much anymore, but I have another issue. My skin. Yes, I have very fair skin. Porcelain skin, some have said. Overall, I like it. I like my white skin - except when I have to wear a bathing suit. It's not so much my face or shoulder or back or arm skin that bothers me, but my abdominal and leg skin is a problem. Because those areas don't get much exposure, they are super white. Really white. Pasty white. Practically green. Almost glowing! I'm so conscious of it, I feel like I'll blind people with it. And there's not much to do about it. I'm to lazy for regular spray tans. Maybe once in a while, here and there, but I know I'll never maintain it. Plus, it's fake. Turns me off a bit. And as it fades away, it can get blotchy. Maintaining it is too much work, whether professionally or DIY-ing it from an aerosol can. I'm also not a big fan of tanning booths or prolonged baking sessions in the sun due to the skin damage these cause. That means I'm doomed to accept my intensely white skin until a better fake tan technology comes about. Or I could live somewhere really sunny and let nature take its course. Even then, I would always be white ... but at least after a couple of years I'd be acceptably white.

Anyways ... I wore the bathing suit, a yellow and brown flower patterned two piece, and I paraded across the beach in my glow suit. I don't think I caused any severe cases of blindness today, but who knows. The main thing is that I had a fun day and got to lounge a bit in those charming beach baskets.

And then, this evening, I was reading my book, and came across this sentence: "The girl was pretty and nervous, the boy was large and pale, almost magnesium white in the morning sun." MAGNESIUM WHITE! Amazing. I've tried to describe my pale skin in many ways. Some ways insult it, some ways praise it ... but describing it as magnesium white is bad ass! I think from now on I will think of my skin as magnesium white and describe it as such.

Here are some facts about magnesium:


- Magnesium is the 11th most abundant element by mass in the human body; its ions are essential to all living cells.
- Magnesium is a fairly strong, silvery-white, light-weight metal. It tarnishes slightly when exposed to air, although unlike the alkali metals, storage in an oxygen-free environment is unnecessary because magnesium is protected by a thin layer of oxide which is fairly impermeable and hard to remove.
- Magnesium is a highly flammable metal, and once ignited, difficult to extinguish.
- Spices, nuts, cereals, coffee, cocoa, tea, and green leafy vegetables are rich sources of magnesium.
- Aluminum-Magnesium alloys are praised for their lightness and strength.
- The bright white light produced by burning magnesium contains ultraviolet light that can permanently damage the retinas of the eyes.

So yes, my skin is magnesium white. Somehow, that's funny, fitting, and empowering.

xoxo
Holly

Volkspark am Weinberg

I'm interested in 4 things lately. The first is getting my bike geared up for summer. I need fenders, a bike rack and a basket or saddle bags ... haven't decided yet. Next, I'd like to take some more German lessons, some Tango lessons and Sewing lessons. So these days I've been doing lots of research on these topics. I'm in the process of booking my German lessons for August since that is when I have time off from work... Oh my god! August! Oh my god! I'm turning 29! Ok, breathe ... relax ... !!@@$&**??@!!!

Sorry about that. As I was saying ... I'm booking my German lessons. I found a Tango school I'm serious about checking out. I plan to go to Mauer Park this Sunday to see if I can get any cheap, second hand and preferably "retro" looking accessories for my bike. I also found a Fabric/Sewing store that also gives sewing lessons. I went to check it out this past weekend. It's super, super cute! But, of course, they had no room so I had to accept being put on a waiting list. I know I could always look somewhere else, but this place is just too darn cute! I want to go there. I will wait.

But really what I want to tell you about today is the perfect park I found just across from Frau Tulpe (that's the sewing store's name), and conveniently just two stops away from home by street tram. It's called "Volkspark am Weinberg", which translates to the People’s Park At The Vineyard. Apparently, it's called that because of the former vineyards that used to be there. The park, situated on slopes (which are pretty rare in Berlin) includes a large lawn, used by local residents (mostly hipsters), especially in the summer. The day I was there, people were seriously lounging around. It was so picture perfect, I suspected these people were professional loungers! Children were flying their kites, groups of friends and families were picnicking, lovers were cuddling, people were reading, sleeping, drinking, playing leisure badminton and blah, blah, blah ... the list goes on! Below the lawn is an artificial pond filled with lilly pads. Above the grassy lawn is a nice looking Swiss restaurant with an amazing terrace, a playground and a sports complex with Ping Pong tables and a small soccer field. And the best part: A rose garden! Tons and tons of roses! Beautiful. Of course, a small but super sweet outdoor cafe is nestled in the corner by the rose garden and it's called "Rosen Garten". I think Pauli and I will be spending a lot of time there this summer!

Here are some pics:



Goodnight all!
xoxox

Cafe Sundays

Pauli and I have decided to designate Sundays to sitting around cafes. So far we've been to two around the neighbourhood and would definitely go back to both. Last Sunday we went biking around and found a cute one called Cafe Vienna. They serve coffee and tea and other warm drinks and ice cream! Only ice cream. All kinds of combinations, sizes and types. You can be reserved and get one scoop topped with chocolate or strawberry sauce or you could go all out and get one of their very intricate looking sundaes. We passed on the ice cream that day but we will be going back.

Today we went to Cafe LuLu. We each had a latte machiatto and a cinnamon roll and walnut chocolate brownie to share. Excellent and delicious! They also have a full menu offering soups, sandwiches, salads, Asian tapas and wine and beer.

I love sitting in cafes =)