I wish I wish 2016
Last year, FavorFlav’s food editor at large Marjan Ippel made a wish list for 2015. And what happened? The decision-makers at city hall—as well as at street level—dutifully fulfilled most of the wishes (street food actually on the street and a cider bar, for example). Reason enough to slip another list into the shoes of the food movers and shakers this year. What does she hope to find on the menu, on the streets, in the park, the food hall and the hospitality industry in 2016? From ironed table linen to an outdoor vermuteria and an elegant Hong Kong-style tearoom.
Ironed table linen, linen napkins, elegant and recognisable crockery, matching glassware and cutlery, and furniture that hasn’t first spent three years ageing in the rain on an abandoned railway track for the sake of much-needed authenticity. In any case, preferably no presentably worn furniture that you can never get out of without a rescue squad. Or furniture knocked together from salvaged wood, whose splinters give your clothes an unintended punk effect. Vintage is fine, but mint.
Elegant food that doesn’t make your outfit, selfie and hairstyle completely disappear beneath saturated fat, leaving you to put the garden hose on yourself immediately after visiting the restaurant/food hall/festival.
After the indoor wine, champagne, sherry, coffee, G&T and cider bars—and after the vermuteria—now all of this in outdoor bar form too. On the street, in the park, on the square, at the market, in the car park of a shopping centre, cinema or theatre. Oh yes, and these little bars should then also be available indoors in theatres and department stores. Check Selfridges London for inspiration.
Sadly, this still wasn’t fulfilled last year. But a new year means new opportunities: The (city) park as an edible open allotment garden with picnic benches and public barbecues, vegetable, pick-your-own, bee and beer gardens, tea and coffee arbors, and outdoor bars. Co-managed by Friends of the Park, who share in the harvest in exchange for park services. For spontaneous, accessible neighbourhood feasts featuring produce picked in the park. Where passers-by can join in and/or buy provisions at a reasonable price.
And now that the ‘tea word’ has been mentioned: tea houses, tea salons, tea suites, tea speakeasies and tearooms. In British colonial style. In Chinese style. In Hong Kong style. In Japanese style. In Indian or Tibetan style. You decide. As long as they are establishments with loose-leaf quality tea that—just like coffee, beer and wine—is specified by name, tea producer, origin, terroir, tasting notes, picking time and oxidation percentage. And brewed and served by staff with knowledge of tea and tea-making. The tea comes with matching finger food from the same country as the tea. With savoury food in particular making an excellent tea-and-food pairing.
Text: Marjan Ippel
Image: The Needle: Berlin
