Berlin, Germany (Weltexpress). “Best Dry Age Beef” is a big promise – but the promise is kept at its best. As everywhere at a Filetstück restaurant – here, off Ku’damm – and now, coming soon, even in Neukölln.
The beef that ends up on our plates comes from Donald Russell in Ireland and is hearty as well as delicate, far from soft and mushy or tough and leathery. This may be due to the Irish air and those for ever green pastures or the many rainbows that seem at home in Ireland. In any case the piece on the platter has enough fat to go round. And that’s just great. Because what we don’t want are rapid fattening cattle that never get out of the barn. Healthy eaters like us know about it, and order meat that comes from those more than 6 million cattle grazing on the green island, where individual farms usually have herds of 40 to 120 cattle and only exceptionally up to 250 cattle at home. Meat with the brand of Donald Russell, which was founded in 1974 by the Scotsman John M. Stone and William Donald, is considered top quality and is always on the bone dry matured Irish beef. Under this Irish brand only prime cut of meat such as tenderloin, sirloin steak and rib eye are exported, to Germany, to Berlin and up to Prenzlauer Berg.
In this Filetstück (Das Urgestein) young Malik Staroste wields the sceptre in the kitchen since July 2014 and when we were there on Wednesday he personally, as Chef de Partie, puts hands on our beautiful piece of meat, all laid out on a stone of lava. Besides Donald Russell there are wonderful nearer-by German meats as a delicious choice, such as beef (Pomeranian) from traditional “Schwarzbunt” out of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern or from “Rotbunt” (Freesisch entrecote) from the North of the country or Nordrhein-Westfalen. Instead of smoke thanks to lava stone the aroma is that of a lovely roast. No question: This really and truly is a prime piece of dry aged. And do we want more to go along with it than sea salt? Certainly not, no sauces for us, its lovely as it is.
This week, from February, 29 to March, 4 in the time from noon to 3pm they serve like every week a good “Gourmet Lunch” as a midday meal. On the menu list is beef fillet on Monday, lamb fillets on Tuesday and that very famous dry aged Filetstück steak on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This not only sounds gorgeous, it also tastes like that.
For the best of beef or other meat of course special side dishes will be served. At present it is cauliflower foam with almonds and young chard and a small green salad with Enoki-mushrooms, splendidly presented by Chef de Rang Stefan Steinhöfel. In the sum of 17,50 Euro a juice spritzer and a coffee beverage are included.
After lunch (only one of us, sorry to say, enjoying a good glass of wine with it) we had a delicious coffee and promised: We’ll be back! And we also keep our promises, bet you.
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Das Filetstück (Das Urgestein), Schönhauser Allee 45, 10435 Berlin, Germany, Phone: 030 48 82 03 04, Mail: schoenhauser@filetstueck.de, Web: http://filetstueck-berlin.de/cms/urgestein/
Opening for Gourmet Lunch: Monday to Friday, Noon to 3 pm
