So we were looking forward to it: Sascha Lissowsky, the former head chef of Bühners La Vie*** in Osnabrück, has gone into business for himself with a brasserie serving French home cooking near Stuttgarter Platz on a pretty lousy corner – unless you need a new syringe for your drugs.
Sascha Lissowsky, Brasserie Anouki, Berlin
French home cooking from a three-star chef? That sounds awesome! The respected critic Tina Hüttl was already there in May and was thrilled. But unlike us, she did not test anonymously.
We tried to reserve a place for several days. We only succeeded after one week. The anticipation increased.
The service is very pleasant and friendly. The prices raised. Instead of the usual horrible Nestle Waters there is local mineral water. Exemplary!
And it continues briskly. A complicated greeting from the kitchen is handed to us. White cabbage, chocolate and vinegar.
You can like it, I didn’t like it much. I would take the word interesting here!
Afterwards we had a delicious brioche with butter. That is a great opening act in a brasserie. Impressive.
We then ordered ceviche and vitello tonato. I like his version of ceviche better than the original dish, because Lissowsky can handle the acidity better. But the interpretation of the Vitello Tonnato has little to do with the stuff you get from the good Italian. So the expectations were badly disappointed.
Also the portion size in relation to the price is a rather bad deal. We have now understood that our understanding of home cooking is quite different from Lissowsky’s.
He writes on his website: At ANOUKI we prepare traditional dishes that we all know and love. Here and there we add a few North African elements that are typical of French cuisine. We did not share this opinion. Did we eat the wrong dishes?
As main course we had steak / fries. The dish is the Burner. But he only refined it as much as it needed. No sperenzies like before. Great meat, perfect sauce Bernaise, fries, salad. These 34 € are well invested.
My wife was taken by the fine fish and seafood of her bouillabaisse Marseille. Unfortunately the bouillabaisse was completely salted and unlike me, my wife likes to eat saltier. But that was also too much for her. I wonder if Lissowsky is in love.
I had ordered the meatball and extra fries before the La Ratte potato. The very small veal boulette had strong roasting aromas on the bottom, which irritated me a lot. Since it was very small, it was eaten quickly.
For the fries, however, I would have liked the slightly stronger heat of the meatball. I like them crispy and not so mushy. And not so salty. I still hung under the tap at home hours later, because I had an afterburn from the salt.
The ketchup along cost 1 €, probably homemade. Very vinegar-heavy, but not bad.
Summary: Lissowsky does not know what he wants. Does he want Michelin starred cuisine or home cooking? I’d love it if he delivered home cooking perfectly. But it’s a rollercoaster ride like that.
Salty bouillabaisse and burnt-on boulette are out of the question for a man of his caliber.
Why weren’t we complaining? Yes, of course it would have been fairer. But we’re not a consulting firm. We’re full-paying guests. We want a nice dinner and no arguments. And it wasn’t exactly cheap, was it? We paid a total of 175 €.
Will we go again? First we wait and see what the more competent colleagues write (Bernd Matthies) or whether they bring something (Reiner Veit).
If we want to have Michelin-starred cuisine in the area, we’d rather go to the Savu at Kudamm next time. Maybe we’ll make it for lunch. It’s cheaper there than elsewhere in a brasserie …
And we always left the Savu happy.