Recently my travels brought me to Berlin. Too many bars and too few time. Selection was key. After a visit in the OC to see Sebastiao Salgados Genesis exhibition I was on the way to get some food. After stopping at a small Vietnamese place where I consulted the map I realised that I was close to Lebensstern. A place where I wanted to go for a while. It rang a bell that it closed down for a short while but the homepage showed a healthy sign of the bar being open.
Entrance
I thought I give it a try and have a look. Lovely small mansion from the outside in Charlottenburg, though the area is not the most buzzing to be honest. The place is hosting a restaurant called Café Einstein with upmarket Austrian food. The bar is located on the first floor. A handwritten A4 paper note was attached to the wall next to the big staircase saying “Bar open”, which was slightly off-putting. I wonder why it was even there since the place was only closed for three months in 2014. Being May 2015 such a sign should not be necessary anymore. Putting that aside, I was greeted by smart casually dressed barkeepers with a smile. I decided to sit at the bar. The bar counter which can roughly sit six people was occupied by two gentlemen smoking cigars. I was asked fairly quickly if I would like to have an ashtray as well. The water was flying in too and I was handed a menu at the same time. Nice jazz music was playing from a Hifi system. The place could easily host some nice live jazz. Lebensstern is divided in three smaller rooms. One holds the bar, another has big sofas and the last one as well with very nice vitrines showing the rather vast choice of spirits, with a focus on Rum.
Lounge Area
After a quick look at the menu I decided to let the barkeeper choose. Gabriel was very friendly and we had some good talks. I asked for a classic in the direction of Manhattan/Vieux Carré/Sazerac. First drink I got was a cognac based short cocktail including Punt e Mes and Antica Formula, Apricot brandy, Peychaud bitters and the glass was sprayed out with Absinthe. Interesting taste but a touch too sweet for me but overall I was pleased. He fixed me up another drink later which went into the direction of a Rum Manhattan which was lovely with a touch of Benedictine and Sexy bitters. The rest of the ingredients besides rum obviously, slipped my mind but I remembered it was very delicious. An old fashioned bar with a young touch because of the very friendly new barkeeper team. I would definitely return here again.
© Images: Lebensstern
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