Throwback Thursday: The true story about the only sushi restaurant in communist DDR (that also had a Onsen style bathhouse!)

The Japanese furo bath was a mini sensation in East Germany. Before guests at the Suhl restaurant “Waffenschmied” (Armory) sat down to a far-eastern banquet, men and women stripped off and took to the pleasantly warm water together. The traditional ritual cleansing of body and soul, helped along by a few glasses of the local tipple, meant that workers were quickly able to forget the humdrum realities of life in the Communist state.

A film, “Sushi in Suhl”, tells the story of Waffenschmied and Rolf, played by Uwe Steimle. “This is Rolf Anschütz how we remember him”, “a wonderful memorial for a man who brought fame to our town”, said glowing attendees at the premiere. In the same vein as “Goodbye, Lenin!”, this film takes a comical look behind the wall, exploring life in a society that suffered a shortage of almost everything, from freedom of opinion to daily necessities.

But the fall of the Berlin Wall led to the demise of Anschütz’s dream. Its popularity had had much to do with its exclusivity, but once the world opened to East Germans, the town of Suhl and Anschütz’s restaurant were largely forgotten.The film’s success has ignited a wave of nostalgia for the restaurant, spawning a Facebook page where former diners have posted their photographs and memories and “Rolf Anschütz” walking tours of Suhl by kimono-clad guides. A blue plaque was recently erected on the site where the now derelict restaurant stands.

You can buy the DVD here and the Blu-Ray here.

And you can now order fresh sushi in all of Berlin via the Hungr app.

Throwback Thursday: Pizza delivery in the eighties

In the eighties, we ordered pizza by phone and watched movies on VHS cassettes. One of them was Loverboy starring a young Patrick Dempsey. Here is the plot:

Randy Bodek (played by Dempsey) is a rebellious college slacker, living with his girlfriend. His father, furious over Randy’s lack of direction or work ethic, forces Randy to come back home and get a job. Randy eventually finds work as a pizza delivery boy, but his earnings will not allow him to fund college on his own and he despairs of being able to return to his girlfriend next semester. In his capacity as delivery boy, he soon makes the acquaintance of a middle-aged, wealthy Italian woman, who seduces him.

These days, we order pizza via the Hungr app.

Stay in with a great movie and great food delivered with just a few clicks

Tired from a long work day or clubbing last night? Or do you just feel like staying in? With a few clicks you can watch a great movie and get hot food delivered. Our editors handpicked a quality film you.

Rogerebert.com writes:

If we’re lucky, a few times a year we get as complete a package as “Phoenix.” We get character studies with performances as strong as Hoss and Zehrfeld are here every now and then, or we get auteur-driven films with complex visual choices and an emphasis on style. It’s uncommon to see a film so balanced that it serves as a commentary on the human need to deny war and betrayal while never losing sight of the story of a pianist and nightclub singer in 1945 Berlin. “Phoenix” works on so many levels, it’s the kind of piece that can be dissected and appreciated for decades. And I expect it will be.

International trailer:

German trailer:

You can stream the from Amazon Instant Video for just €3,99 here.

Order the food of your choice via the Hungr app here.

How to order a pizza delivery if you are just 8 years old

When it comes to pizza movies, Home Alone is the reigning king, now and forever. Pizza not only features heavily in one of the most memorable, most quoted scenes in the movie (more on that in about two seconds), but it also is the catalyst for the disastrous series of events that leads to Kevin being left “home alone” to begin with. After all, it’s the fact that Buzz ate the last of the cheese pizza that causes Kevin to lunge at him, knocking over the drinks and ruining everyone’s dinner. Then, when he refuses to apologize, Kevin is sent to the attic to sleep alone, where he is swiftly forgotten come the chaos of the “We slept in!” morning. But of course, the more famous pizza scene comes later. Kevin, home alone and excited for a whole cheese pizza just for himself, uses a gangster movie to scare the crap out of the pizza delivery boy. KEEP THE CHANGE, YA FILTHY ANIMAL! It should be illegal to watch this movie without a large cheese pizza for every person present.

Here is the German version of the famous scene:

You can order Home Alone on Blu-ray here and your cheese pizza via the Hungr app here.

Food & Movies: Hayao Miyazaki – Kiki’s Delivery Service

Everybody loves a cozy night in with takeaway food and a good movie. In a new blog series, we recommend classic and new movies that are great for a relaxing evening at home.

Kiki’s Delivery Service is a 1989 Japanese animated fantasy film written, produced and directed by Hayao Miyazaki as an adaptation of the 1985 novel of the same name by Eiko Kadono. The film tells the story of a young witch, Kiki, who moves to a new town and uses her flying ability to earn a living as a delivery service.

The movie has a 100% rating on the Tomatometer.

Here is the original trailer:

Make sure you find the original animated movie and NOT the 2014 live action “remake”!

You can buy the movie from Dussmann here and on Amazon here. The movie is also available on Netflix.