Berlin election | Living utopia: two savoy cabbage rolls for three euros

The “Spumante” bistro, which has been converted into a neighborhood canteen, is very busy on Saturday. Photo: nd/Andreas Fritsche In the “Spumante” bistro at Reichenberger Straße 73, guests eat vegetarian savoy cabbage rolls on Saturday for an unbeatable three euros. Actually, lunch should cost around ten euros per portion. But the Berlin Left will pay the difference for a week until September 19th. Every day from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., the bistro becomes a test case and demonstration object for the neighborhood canteens that the Left wants to be built all over the city. There should be at least one neighborhood canteen in every district. The Senate is supposed to subsidize the meals served there with a total of 19 million euros per year.

“Hello neighbors, hello comrades,” Grete Ohlendorf greets the first guests of the converted bistro. "I'm here every day," says the young woman who is running for the district council of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in the Berlin election on September 20th. Ohlendorf lives and works in the area and knows the homeless people who ask for food. In the neighborhood canteen everyone should be fed for little money.

»This is living utopia. This shows what Berlin could be like if there were places like this everywhere.”

»This is living utopia. “This shows what Berlin could be like if there were places like this everywhere,” enthuses Left Party state chairwoman Kerstin Wolter. “Everything is becoming more and more expensive and we want Berlin to finally become affordable.”

The first portion goes to a man from the neighboring district of Neukölln who works opposite the “Spumante” bistro. He wants to vote for the Greens, as he admits, but at the same time he wants the left's leading candidate Elif Eralp to become the governing mayor of Berlin.

Eralp has been announced as a guest, but has not yet arrived. Your position is also so well known. »Not only the expensive rents, but also the high food prices put a strain on many Berliners. More and more people in our city cannot afford a warm, healthy meal every day," the top candidate explained in February when she presented her party's concept for neighborhood canteens. Loneliness is also a big issue, Eralp said at the time. »There is a lack of places where neighbors, be they students or senior citizens, can simply come together. For a meal together, for a conversation. We want to change that.”

A start was made on Saturday. There is a lot of laughing and chatting on Reichenberger Straße. There is even live music. Elections will take place on September 20th. Then it will be decided whether more can come of it.

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