Winter truly is a rough season during which life seems to be extinguishing. Ice and cold mercilessly roam the country, leaving both humans and animals shivering and trembling. Silence and serenity embrace the forests and roads like a thick white veil at night and it almost appears as if I could – encased in darkness – perceive myself blinking.
But we are not in the middle of some forest. We are in fucking Berlin! We are the heart of Germany. We are dripping with life, we are wild and hungry. The essence of this agility, the soul of our glorious and dirty, wonderful and debauched capital city can be experienced in the small but nice vaudeville theater “Wintergarten” … or so rumors say. But is this the truth? Well, in order to answer this question, I will take a closer look at the Wintergarten in the following.
A chic atmosphere coated in red and gold…
Now, the time has finally come. Fortuna has eventually shown some mercy and blessed me with an invitation to the Christmassy party of my spouse’s company. Ultimately, I was allowed to indulge in the joys of the most legendary show-and-dine events Wintergarten has to offer: The show is called “ All Night Long”. Good food and entertainment at its best for only €80 per person? Guys, what more could you want? Dressed up to look like a fine lady just like the rest of the audience, I entered the medium-sized show and dine hall of the theater which is designed in the style of a circus from the 20ies. The hall was beautiful, but not necessarily overwhelmingly gorgeous. However, I was forced to mutter a “Wow.”, when I looked up to the artful, high ceiling, whose sparkling small lamp constructions represented a starry sky.
The service sadly was anything but gold
Oh, how I looked forward to the promised culinary pleasures. Despite the jolly atmosphere at our table, I really couldn’t turn off my critical thinking. Perfection definitely was not the right word to describe the service. “Hey, when is the food served? What the hell is going on? I don’t get it…”, my table neighbor exploded with confusion. Indeed, the entire procedure was anything but transparent and clear. On top, our beloved waiter didn’t delight us enough with his wonderful presence. The whole organization seemed to be characterized by flaws.
The food – a feast, but not for everyone…
This fear turned out to be true as the appetizer, a very delicious celery soup with crispy beets chips, was finally served without any exceptions to everyone in the hall – with shrimps. This meant that vegetarians simply were unlucky. The entrée too was a dream for true carnivores: delicate boneless duck thighs with potato dumplings, apple red cabbage and an immaculate red-wine sauce. Oh yes, this was a feast – at least in my opinion. My boyfriend however who wasn’t a lover of duck meat couldn’t share my euphoria due to the uncompromisingly determined menu. Unfortunately, he couldn’t even drown his disappointment in the mediocre gin he ordered. The dessert sadly was a little letdown for both of us. Maybe we are just too young and our tastes not developed enough to grasp the joy of infusing sweet dishes with alcohol. Well, each to his own. I personally didn’t like the dessert.
The show – a successful symbiosis of live music and acrobatics…
Nonetheless I really didn’t have the time to pity my spouse and myself. After all, half of my consciousness was focused on the show which already began after the appetizers. “All Night Long” turned out to be a symbiosis of a musical live act, which particularly specialized in performing American soul and blues hits, and circus arts. Jugglers, a balance artist, a pole dancer and many artists which seemed to dart through and get thrown into the air succeeded in entertaining us. But I really had the feeling that I have seen most of their tricks already somewhere. While the circus artists presented their talents on the stage, the musicians sang and virtuously played their instruments to support the acrobats’ shows. Man, I couldn’t help but fall in love with the great and soulful voices. Purple Rain by Prince, Billy Jean by Michael Jackson or Soul Man by the Blues Brothers but also recent tracks such as We could have had it all by Adele were perfectly rendered by the skilful musicians and singers.
Whitney Houston has never left us…
The ultimate burner of the evening however entered the stage in the graceful shape of the unfortunately late Whitney Houston. And for one moment, I thought that she rose from the dead. Her double looked just like her. Her angelic voice too could be compared with that of the soul diva. Despite my euphoria, I didn’t fail to notice the doubtful and questioning faces of the audience. And then it slipped out of the mouth of my table neighbor: “Shit. Whitney is not a woman.” My jaw dropped, when Whitney suddenly switched to a very deep man’s voice. Wow. Whitney was a man. As if that wasn’t enough, we got to know that Whitney was a real Berliner born in Schöneberg. The crowd was cheering like mad, the air was filled with excitement, partly driven by the alcohol.
Wintergarten – not quite the Mt. Olympus in terms of entertainment and service, but…
In the end, I allow myself to pass judgment on this very exciting establishment by dealing with the question which I asked myself before the evening in the Wintergarten. Was this really Berlin – our crazy Berlin which attaches utmost importance on entertainment and culinary art on a high level? Well, the American soul music of course suggests something the contrary, while the service additionally definitely had to be criticized in regard to some points. The doubts along with the perceived imperfection of the service however could definitely easily be drunk away with the help of Prosecco and wine. In addition, the soup and the duck was really amazing and on spot from my point of view. Well, we have to keep in mind that Berlin itself is anything but perfect. In the end, I just could think of how loud, wild, culturally diverse and funny the entire show was and this is exactly what defines Berlin. Wintergarten definitely is not the ultimate definition of amusement, but it can be called a Berliner temple of entertainment and culinary joys. Seriously, don’t miss out on any opportunity to pay a visit to this establishment.
By the way, next year we’re going to Palazzo.
Copyright and Source: http://www.wintergarten-berlin.de/
Wintergarten Varieté
Potsdamer Straße 96
10785 Berlin
Telefon +49 (030)-588 43-40
Fax +49 (030) – 588 43-490
info(at)wintergarten-berlin.de
