What they are famous for is not so great.
What they are not famous for is outstanding.
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The Aera Bakery is the Mecca for Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwich lovers in Berlin.
They also do a Grilled Cheese-From-A-Cow Sandwich for traditionalists.
There is a line to get into Aera.
Virtually everybody is ordering grilled cheese sandwiches.
They have bread, they have other sandwiches and wraps, they have desserts.
The line is grilled cheese sandwich, grilled cheese sandwich, grilled cheese sandwich and grilled cheese sandwich.
Vegan vs Cow depends on the person involved.
* * *
Trust me you can skip the grilled cheese sandwich.
I had the traditional version.
My wife did vegan.
You get a massive massive sandwich.
It is grilled and buttery on both sides, with vegan butter or cow butter.
There is a ton of cheese inside and all sorts of vegetables.
Regardless of what version you get,
The cheese is nearly tasteless .
You get a great big plateful of stuff to fill you up.
* * *
I have never had a grilled cheese sandwich place ever serve me a grilled cheese sandwich that I would want to order again.
The world has hundreds of different kinds of cheeses.
The number of cheese flavors you can work with is unlimited.
The number of ingredients you can add is unlimited.
And the damm sandwiches come out boring as library paste every single time.
You would think at a minimum they would make three or five or ten different flavors of grilled cheese sandwiches - based on different cheeses and add-ons.
But that never happens.
* * *
So what makes this an interesting bakery?
The cookies.
Oh my god .....
I had a chocolate buckwheat cookie that was the happiest dessert moment I have had in Berlin.
I have been eating well in Berlin - and have had some great desserts.
But I have had a lot of end-of-meal sleepers.
That chocolate buckwheat cookie was everything that I would want in a special treat.
Note that said cookie is small.
For us Americans who expect a bakery cookie to be the size of a dinner plate
plus the cookie has to have at least 1500 calories and a half pound of sugar,
And preferably half pound of sugar per bite,
The Aera chocolate buckwheat cookie will seem dinky and unimpressive.
Just put that cookie in your mouth and all of your concerns about size will melt away.
I was happy for two hours after I had that chocolate buckwheat cookie.
* * *
And the nice thing is you don't have to finish your grilled cheese sandwich before you have your cookie.
You are a grown-up now.
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