Black tiles, shiny coffee machine, fur rugs over the brightly painted wooden benches - the ambience in this small Westend eatery exudes a successful mix of Caribbean relaxedness and hip casualness. Three round tables just fit inside, with the bar and kitchen filling the rest of the space, which has little left to remind you of its existence as a water shack.
The <link http: rootzs.de _blank>"Rootzs" at Mitscherlich-Platz in the west opened at the end of September last year and signals a trend that some Wasserhäuschen seem to be going through - in addition to the usual port of call for lunchtime beer drinkers, magazine and sour candy buyers, places for cosy get-togethers are establishing themselves not only in the Westend, but prominently in the Nordend at Matthias-Beltz-Platz, which nevertheless appeal to a very distinct clientele. The Wasserhäuschen is much-loved in Frankfurt and far more than a "dinky" kiosk -originally, the city of Frankfurt wanted to encourage the purchase of clean sparkling water from the second half of the 19th century onwards.
Clean sparkling water is still part of the standard offer of the water house <link http: www.gudes-frankfurt.de _blank>"Gudes" in the Nordend; only there is chilling music, green plants surround the small terrace and vegan lemonade is in the window. In summer, the guests spread lounge-like over the whole place. In view of the currently still rare rays of sunshine, however, guests also sit outside at lunchtime. In front of the kiosk, as befits a kiosk, residents like those in the Nordend gather - hip and cool. They obviously know each other from the neighborhood.
Also in the West End, regulars who stop by for a quick espresso mingle with office workers and newbies. Three older ladies order the menu's specialty - stuffed baked potato. "It's our first time trying it, but it's great!" one of the ladies expresses her enthusiasm for the potato concept "Kumpir", which co-operator Suat Kayas offers alongside sandwiches, quiches and strudels. Kumpir is more or less a German-Turkish joint recipe, I say in my own words, and it's available from €3.80. The terrace will be open from next week. It took six months of renovation to create the "potato kiosk" with a "cool atmosphere" as Kayas tells us. Project succeeded I think, with the small side window for street vending and the glass containers of sour sweets charmingly reminiscent of the <link http: www.frankfurt.de sixcms _blank>water shack .
Sabina Brauner is on twitter @WentoManderly and <link https: www.facebook.com _blank>FB.