A Taste of Germany In Berkeley
Real-deal Black Forest cake at Gaumenkitzel. (photo by Carolyn Jung)
Gaumenkitzel in Berkeley is named for the old-fashioned German term for “delicious and precious.”
The restaurant is both those things personified.
It was opened in 2011 by husband-and-wife Kai Flache and Anja Voth, who hail from Hamburg, Germany.
You can’t miss the restaurant on San Pablo Avenue, what with its sunny mustard-hued facade. It’s the place for comforting, rib-sticking fare, along with what’s likely the largest selection of German beers and wines in the Bay Area.
Recently, I met my brother and sister-in-law for dinner, paying our own tab at the end.
The happy-hued exterior. (photo courtesy of Gaumenkitzel)
Flache revamped and designed the colorful, almost Scandinavian-like, clean-lined space, which used to be a lighting store. Voth is the head chef. She takes great pride in the fact that everything that can be made in house, is. That means even milling her own flour to make bread daily, flaking her own oats for granola, jarring her own jams, and culturing her own yogurt.