Vai Vai, Italy in Germany

Saturday night in Frankfurt, out for food and drinks and fun.  Boyfriend had had his eye on this restaurant since he moved to Germany, and had been waiting for me to try it out.  Vai Vai is a slice of hipster Italian cool that wouldn't be out of place in Shoreditch or the Lower East Side.

Part cocktail bar with DJ, part noisy, buzzing restaurant, Vai Vai serves up sexy Italian food not unlike that of our London favourite, Pizza East.

We started with Hugo cocktails - elderflower, mint, lime and white wine - whilst we perused the small-but-perfectly-formed menu.

Of the enormous starters, polpette (veal meatballs in tomato sauce) were tiny parcels of deliciousness, and the burrata was one of the creamiest and richest I've ever come across.  Bistecca alla Fiorentina, so rare it was practically still mooing, was as good as anything we've had in Florence.  

We left long after midnight, on the search for Frankfurt's famous 1920s smoky piano bar, Jimmy's, but the party at Vai Vai was just getting going.

Vai Vai is Italian for Go Go.  There's isn't much to add to that - if you find yourself in Frankfurt, go.

http://www.vaivai.de/

Guten Tag Frankfurt

The Year of the City Break continued with a weekend in Germany to visit Boyfriend.

Frankfurt gets a bad press sometimes, as being largely just a financial centre which empties at the weekends.  But that couldn't be further from the truth.  It's a young, vibrant city that lives its life outdoors, with plenty of hidden gems.  Hipster shopping, a terrace cafe culture and, above all, fantastic food.

The Bull and the Bear, outside the Deutsche Börse

http://www.bikeboutique-ffm.de/

Alte Oper, the old opera house

Sculpture in Rothschildpark

No trip to Germany would be complete without a schnitzel lunch.  On Saturday lunchtime Boyfriend ushered me into Apfelwein Wagner, a traditional German dining room packed with tourists and locals alike, feasting on enormous fried schnitzels and apfelwein, a sour cider.

At first sip, apfelwein tastes like something you might use to sterilise medical equipment, but paired with the rich, greasy schnitzel, it got better with every gulp.  After polishing off a schnitzel between us, along with the obligatory frankfurter (when in Frankfurt...), we were full to bursting.

A favourite spot for coffee or a light lunch is Brot und seine Freunde (literally 'Bread and its friends', awww), a tiny cafe with mismatched garden furniture sprawling out into the street.

My weekend visit was timed beautifully with one of the first hot days of the spring.  Frankfurt is a city built for the outdoors, with endless cycle lanes, paths along the river and sonnenterrasse (sun terrace cafes and bars).

At the first sign of sunshine, everyone flocks to Walden for weekend brunch on the sun terrace.  We kicked off Sunday morning with elderflower, mint and white wine cocktails, settling in for the day with a crispy pizza to people-watch and soak up the sun.

Danke Frankfurt, I'll be back soon.

http://www.apfelwein-wagner.com/htdocs/english/essen.htm
http://www.brotfreunde.de/
http://www.walden-frankfurt.com/website/walden.php?lang=deu&site=about