Whenever I am in Berlin, I go for lunch or dinner at the Paris Bar. Being married to ‘une française’ and knowing the French way of life and, of course, food, to me the Paris Bar in Berlin is ‘Frencher than French’. When you order an ordinary glass of red wine, they serve it to you in ‘un ballon’, the classic little round wine glass which was used in every bistro and bar all over France from the 1950s but nowadays you can barely find a place where they still use them. But in the Paris Bar they do. And you hear the waiter instructing the barman: “Deux ballons, s’il vous plait”. They serve many French classics and have an extraordinary wine list, which unfortunately is an exception to the rule these days. The story goes that it all started with a former cook in the French army who missed favourites from his homeland. Happily for Berlin’s French residents, he opened the Paris Bar offering classics such as onion soup, salad niçoise and foie gras. The restaurant opened in 1962 and is still in its original location in Charlottenburg. During the Cold War, the Paris Bar became the ‘living room of bohemian Berlin’ and a hotspot for artists and celebrities in a divided city. In 1977, the original owner’s nephew sold it to Austrian restaurateurs, Michel Würthle and Reinald Nohal, who renovated the space and enhanced its social status. Michel runs the restaurant to this day. Regular guests at the Paris Bar have included artists such as Georg Baselitz, Damien Hirst, Helmut Newton, Sigmar Polke, Robert Rauschenberger and Martin Kippenberger (who apparently paid his bill by trading drawings and paintings) and Hollywood A-listers including Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Madonna. And during a famous interview with David Bowie, Iggy Pop described the café as like a scene from ‘The Absinthe Drinker’ by Edgar Degas. Though much has changed over the past few decades, the Paris Bar remains a cosy but stimulating environment for savouring French food and admiring art. It continues to be an art-filled time capsule with works covering every inch of the walls. You will always find a special atmosphere. I just love this place.