The Quadriga Philipp Jay Meisels heavenly menu

Many years ago I once had the pleasure to eat at the Quadriga in Wilmersdorf. Back then, Bobby Bräuer was the cook and the evening made an everlasting impression on me. Many fantastic cooks like Sauli Kemppainen and recently Sebastian Välz have worked for the Quadriga, but since a couple of weeks a new cook is in the house, working his magic at the Brandenburger Hof kitchen.

His name is Philipp Jay Meisel - he is half German, half American - and he promises to “celebrate the world’s diversity”. The Quadriga was the first place I got to enjoy a star-menu and the new cook was a great opportunity to take a more mature look at this exquisite restaurant.

Generally, I would sit down at a table without judging with the eyes of a food critic, but more with the naive anticipation of a child and with enthusiasm, because whatever they serve is not comparable with normal food. It is an experience.

Immediately we got offered small appetizers that wowed us by their visual appearance and their taste. Among them was a tiny crispbread with beef tartare and a 1000-year old egg. Just heavenly! The Amuse-Gueule was a brilliant follow-up and a befitting prelude for the coming courses like the ‘Lobster from Brittany with fermented garlic and Verbena’, `Scallops in Peavelouté with Carrot, Asparagus and Cabbage Turnip’ or ‘Morgan Ranch Kobe Beef with Ginger and Piment’.

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The beautifully arranged lobster plate is my personal highlight. Just like at Margaux, I’m sitting here in awe and absolutely adore all the magical little elements of this piece of art, and I think of our jewelry friend, who surely could find some inspiration here. The taste is superb, only the ‘Tuna with green Tomato and Fennel’ stands back a little bit. The selected wine harmonizes with the food and we like it very much.

The cherry on top was the dessert that ended our menu: ‘Strawberries with Passion Fruit and Ivoire Chocolate’. Imagine small mushrooms with a shaft of strawberries and a chocolate cover, alongside tiny cylinders made of passionfruit-creme in the midst of cookie crumbles and drops of purée. Grand!

Always present, straightforward and perfect in form was a young man from the service team that accompanied us through the evening and made our second visit at the Quadriga just as memorable as the first one.

Constanze Hallensleben

Founder Creme Guides