Cosmo Berlin, Spittelmarkt 13, is a hippish Starwood
property sort of in the Element or W vein. The main
problem we had with it was that though it's on the
market of the same name, the sign of the place is
on another street, meaning that we walked past it
twice before finding it. A pleasant front desk staff
and a standalone sit-down bar restaurant. We got a
room that looked just like a Hampton, on the second
floor overlooking a playground, not a big problem, but
if that's what they give to high elites, I don't know
what normal people get. As it was warmish, we wandered
around and noshed on the inedible sausage cart food and
stuff, which are tasty only in the context of nice weather.
A day of wandering about and looking at the way the city
has growm and evolved since the Wall came down.

--
For another Starwood stay, we chose the ultra-hip
Provocateur, where we got a garret hovel if a nice one.
Apparently the staff read us not quite right and gave
us an especially romantic room, but whatever.

The bar is the focus of the place and probably is the
major revenue generator - while we were there, in the
normally dead midafternoon, it was hopping.

Lilli found Rittenhouse rye at regular whiskey prices
and had one with water, and it was excellent. I wanted
a Chocked, a chocolate cocktail, but it had just been
taken off the menu, and nobody remembered how to make
it! a week later so they made me a concoction of San
Andres mezcal, egg yolk, chocolate, and Aperol. It was
kind of cool, but why Aperol? I had them give me tastes
of the mezcal, which was smoky and good, and the Aperol,
which was disgusting, as I'd expected.

I washed my palate out with a house draft, name unrecorded,
probably from one of the big guys, likely Schultheiss,
which is one of the only two major Berlin breweries, guess
the other one? It was fine.

Family Becker Pinot Noir 12 - a deliciously cherry-berried
aroma with a touch of smoked meat. Light to medium body,
pineapply finish that went away when asked; good as an
aperitif.

--
Golden Phoenix is a hopping restaurant that just
happens to be in this hotel. We weren't super hungry
but did need to try the place. We just got a few appies
and a bottle of the Alois Lageder 13 Cabernet, excellent
and a pretty good bargain, almost twice what it would cost
at a store in Germany but a bit less than it would cost at
a store in the US. It tasted like a classified Bordeaux,
rich blackcurranty-cedary tones and a luxurious mouthfeel.
It was just ready to drink, but that slight rawness made
it stand up to the food pretty well.

We started with xiao long bao, which were ham-handed if
not ham-filled, the wrappers neither thin enough nor
intact enough, so the juice had mostly leaked out. The
filling was underseasoned in the Germanic way but also
undersalted in a non-Germanic way. Lilli liked them.

Short rib buns were a bit more successful, good though
underfatted meat, nicely done, the hoisiny sauce a bit
sweet, sort of BBQ pulled beef. Fluffy buns made fresh
yesterday. Lilli liked them.

What was listed as fried eggplant was actually a pretty
classic Chinese-American yu hsiang - a little too thick,
a little too sweet, a little too sour, a little too
little garlic and ginger. I was thankful that the wine
was in its first robustness but still drank most of it
up before eating much of the dish, which I finished up
with the help of a tiny bowl of rice, as Lilli didn't
much like this.

The bill was large but not overwhelming.

Answer to riddle: Stone Brewing Company.
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