Houses & Lofts / “Paul-Lincke Höfe” five courtyards / Berlin /Germany

Today we feature a special housing project. The Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales are the inspiration for five courtyard gardens in an abandoned factory being converted into luxury loft apartments. Situated over a parking garage and in the shadow of surrounding buildings, the courtyards are a series of man–made, magical vignettes. By transforming traditional tales into a built environment, a cultural connection is made to German folklore, celebrating the mythical quality of Germany. The design provides a strong and memorable identity for the courtyards, creating a fanciful Ômake–believe’ landscape. Because the six–story buildings surrounding the courtyards block the sun, the fairy tale gardens enliven the space with bright, colorful palettes. Each garden’s unique character is accentuated by playful architectural elements, imaginative plantings, and sculptural grade changes. Vertical elements extend the gardens skyward, filling the void between the buildings. Luv Berlin, luv Paul-Lincke Höfe, the sexiest place on earth (Mayor Wowereit)

New resto tip in the hotel: LABANCA, a bit of “stylish bella Italia” in Berlin-City.

The new restaurant by Chef de Cuisine Jörg Behrend is located in the groundfloor of Hotel de Rome. The dining room is just cool. Tables are generously spaced, set with good quality linen tablecloths. The kitchen is well staffed. We tried during the opening the whole menu, eight small courses of tasting menus, including vitello tonnato, Watermelon with thunfish, caprese, Gnocci with Parma ham, Saltimbocc with spinacah, seebass. Everything was perfect, most of the vegetables on the menu came from local gardens.

The wine list has coverages from France, Germany, Italy and Spain in particular, with some rare wines as well. We tried Chardonnay by Alois Lageder South-Tyrol and a lovely Riesling from Anthony Hammond, Rheingau.

This worked well with the food, the textural contrast of the different kind of foods was delicious effective and everything tasted very fresh.

The food was attractively presented and also the Barbecue meat had a pleasant meaty taste, but the itself had a slight chewiness of texture, which I was not expecting.

The vegetables had excellent flavour.

The seabass with artichokes, was an unusual dish, tasty and well balanced.

Dessert came in three stages. Classic Pannacotta, Tirami Su and a lovely chocolate bar.

This is a restaurant that can produce genuinely top class dishes, and the control of balancing flavors was impressive. Yummy.

I am in love with LABANCA, even Sir Rocco Forte (with his daughters) joined the opening.

FB-House & Hotel Magazine