The urban dictionary defines a ‘ripster’ as being part of the ‘counter-culture to hipsters’ as in, quote, ‘Ripsters don’t do what they do because they want to be cool, they just do it to have fun. The result is they look cool, and people try to do it too.’ I first sighted the term and proper usage here.

So, yeah, it’s pretty good about the ripster thang cuz I’ve had about enough I can take of the posing, the emo, the vintage sneakers and the poindexter glasses. Anyway, that seems to be happening here in hipster-saturated Berlin–at least as far as typical German cuisine goes. And I’m not talking about currywurst here; I’m talking old school.

A while back on Wiener Straße–the extension of Oranienstraße beyond Gorlizter Bahnhof, which strikes me as a ripster kinda place–I spotted Spätzleexpress, a fast food joint selling one of the classics from southern Germany (Swabia), Spätzle. Yuhang and I finally got to try it out today and man, tell you what, I haven’t been this excited about food in a while. The last time I had or saw Spätzle (a lumpy, often homemade, egg noodle / side dish) was Stuttgart in 1999 and the last time before that was as a kid, when my (German) Mom occasionally made them with a Spätzle press. The place was full of recovering hipsters. I can’t explain it. It just was. You know wearing corduroy just because they like it. We ordered the über-classic variety of lentils and wurst. Käse (cheese) Spätzle is another typical variation.

Needless to say (but Ima say it anway) the meal was robust, satisfying and looked a lot like the pic above (plus a plate, minus the weird shadows). I should have taken a wheat beer with it, but I got a latte macciato instead. Interesting sidenote: when I asked the waitress how she keeps the milk and the espresso from mixing in the macciato, seemingly everybody in the place has a tip: ‘milk first, then coffee’, ‘you gotta let the milk sit for a while’, ‘pour the espresso quickly’. I was like, wow, uh, thanks guys. I didn’t know you’re all Italian coffee experts here, but yeah, thanks and your Spätzle is gettin cold, by the way.

I had the day off today so I had time to take this tangent. Thanks boss!

Spätzleexpress
Wiener Str. 14a (Kreuzberg)
Tel: (030) 69 53 44 63
Monday to Friday 12:00-22:00, Sunday 15:00-20:00

make your own

my boy (and renaissance man) Jah Fish has a site up

Showtime is picking up Arrested Development (probably)

Kanye West video for Touch the Sky (takes forever to DL)

new trailer for A Scanner Darkly (movie’s gonna be awe-sim)

my siblings Jesse and Rebecca (nice hair Rebo)

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