Photo: Vkthorp
Things we know about Berlin institution Henne: (1) there is only one thing on the menu, and that's milk-fed, organic, deep-fried chicken halves and (2) JFK was meant to go there for a meal on his whistlestop tour of the city in 1963, but he couldn't make it so he sent a letter of apology that hangs over the bar. At least, that's what I'd gathered from the guidebooks and a friend who's a long-term resident. Turns out they're both urban myths. Not that it matters, because I had a great night at Henne swapping stories, eating chicken with my fingers and building pyramids with beer mats.
Photo: Kean Wong
OK, so the menu isn't much longer than "hühn", but you can get boulette (meatball-burgers) and currywurst, and there's a choice of two salads: sauerkraut or potato. And that letter from JFK isn't from JFK at all. The true story (as explained in Henne's own history book) is that the enterprising owner sent an invitation to Kennedy suggesting that he dropped by this typical Kneipe for a quick snack and a beer, and Kennedy's Public Affairs Advisor wrote a gracious note back saying alas, it wouldn't be possible, but here was a photo. That photo is still framed and on display, and John Fitzgerald is currently sporting a little santa hat, just to keep things festive.
I'd call the interior "extreme gemütlichkeit" and it hasn't changed since 1905: red tartan cloths on heavy wooden tables, enough antlers mounted on the walls to decorate a presidential log cabin, and black-and-white shots of the Wall, which ran just a few metres from Henne's doorway.
They prefer it if you drink a dense, fruity Fränkisches Landbier, almost like a Belgian brew, served with a frothy head in a chipped stein. The chicken was salty and crispy, and garnished with a plain hunk of bread, a single paper napkin and no cutlery. You just pick away at it, getting thirstier and thirstier until there's only bones left, and then you choose a fruit brandy (quince? pear?) or a traditional Berliner cinnamon liquor to follow.
HENNE; Leuschnerdamm 25; Kreuzberg, Berlin
