Gourmet cuisine and brand clothing?
January 11th, 2018 | on the road
Fine dining at a concept store, that doesn’t match, never, ever – I thought. Until Tom Wickboldt and his team in his The O’ROOM on the German island Usedom convinced me of the opposite. And how! With this new restaurant, Wickboldt sets a culinary exclamation point, which makes the island from the gourmet point of view a lot more attractive.
A short vacation on the island in the winter is a popular “small escape” for us. On Usedom, you can enjoy hours of beach walks getting your head free dreaming the dream of the house by the sea. Relax and dine is the program. This time we were a little disappointed of our hotel with favorite restaurant, thus we looked around for culinary alternatives, and found it – precisely – at the new concept store of “Marc O’Polo STRANDCASINO”. Who would have thought that.
We had the former House of culture of the Red Army in memory as an antiquarian bookshop. A beautiful building that had its best times behind. Today it shines core renovated and modernized in new splendour and is an absolute asset to Heringsdorf – in every respect. In addition to the store for Marc O’Polo fashion the former Casino now houses a wine bar in the basement, a small deli shop and two restaurants, the O‘NE – regional kitchen interpreted in a new way – and the exclusive The O’ROOM by Tom Wickboldt – modern gourmet cuisine with global influences. And all this in a very contemporary Nordic fresh design.
The name concept of this first Marc O’Polo concept stores for my taste comes a little tortured: the ‘O’ of Marc O’Polo apparently has to show up everywhere: BUNGALO’, VINO’, O’DELI, O’NE and finally the O’ROOM. These names get a bit complicated on the lips and can hardly be found in the internet right off the bat. The restaurants themselves, however, boast a lightness and finesse that inspires us and exceeds all our expectations.
We opted for a 4-course menu in the O’ROOM with accompanying wines. We were surprised with additional two amuse-bouche and a pre dessert. Starting with the Danish King Prawn, then veal tongues ravioli with sardine down to the fawn the menu culminated in a unique avocado dessert. Each plate was a small work of art, finely tuned flavors and textures, while not cluttered, a heavenly treat. Really hard to describe with words.
The service was at least as great as the food. We were cared for by a team of friendly, no cheerful and good mood employees who do their job with a smile. What should be self-evident, actually here it is. And that’s the guest’s fun. We noticed that also on the next day, as we had dinner in the O’NE with a direct view into the kitchen. It seems that the good climate and togetherness of the chefs is reflected directly on the plates.
No wonder that all of this was rewarded with a Michelin star in November for The O’ROOM. The sunshine island Usedom is been enriched by an attraction!
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