Foodies (and Furniture Buyers?) Go Global in Frankfurt

I was ecstatic to discover my Frankfurt host was also a foodie and that she recently found a gem called Chairs.

The chef maintains a basic menu with a few apps, salads and entrees; but it’s supplemented with daily/weekly specials – whatever is fresh from the market and strikes his fancy. My kind of place and reminded me of restaurants in NYC and San Fran.

Something else that reminded me of NYC (specifically a favorite tapas restaurants, Pipa, which unfortunately recently closed) was that in addition to enjoying a tasty meal, you can purchase some of the restaurant’s furnishings! At Pipa you can buy chandeliers, and at Chairs you can buy … well, the chairs!

Chuckle-worthy, the restaurant website specifically says they pride themselves on the food – not excessive service. Here’s a computer translated excerpt from their website:

The goal of our Bornheimer district premises is to offer you a pleasant evening in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere on designer chairs from the 1960s-1980s.
Friendly service, nice wines and quality food is a basic requirement.
To present you with food on a high level restaurant at reasonable prices, we waive silverware, expensive dishes, tablecloths and excessive service.
Instead, we invest in our ingredients and products. We buy largely seasonal and regional, not cheap meat. We only use quality products and never work with convenience products with taste enhancers.
All our dishes are freshly prepared – we therefore ask in advance for your patience and understanding, if a particular case should take a little longer time.

Service was slow (somehow both tables next to us turned over quickly, but it always took longer for the waitress to get to us). Service wasn’t rude at all. The waitress did tease me that I didn’t finish my entrée!

Now on to the food porn! All of our choices, except the steak and one dessert, were specials.

The amuse was essentially tuna salad on crostini. Nothing too inspiring. But then things got real.

Appetizers. 1) Parsnip, chestnut and truffle soup with a chicken medallion = AMAZING; 2) Scallops with polenta/creamed corn-type starch and chicory (good, but soup was better)

Appetizers. 1) Parsnip, chestnut and truffle soup with a chicken medallion = AMAZING; 2) Scallops with polenta/creamed corn-type starch and chicory (good, but soup was better)

Dessert was like multiple mini desserts on one plate.

Appetizers. 1) Parsnip, chestnut and truffle soup with a chicken medallion = AMAZING; 2) Scallops with polenta/creamed corn-type starch and chicory (good, but soup was better)

Desserts were tasty, but the most standout component was probably the banana nut chutney that included a liquor glaze.

Total price was 85€ and totally worth it. You’ll definitely need reservations. This place was packed almost the entire time we were there and people were turned away at the door.

Happy dining!

Emmelle

Chairs, Gronauer Straße 1 60385 Frankfurt, +49 (69) 484 469 22 (reservations highly recommended)

P.S. Check out my post on general Frankfurt here. And a post about a traditional Frankfurt restaurant.