06/15/2020
FvSpee
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Colonia instead of Corona, No. 19: Marcello, Peppino and Michele
In a somewhat inconspicuous corner of Berlin-Schöneberg was Marcello's pizzeria for a long time. Marcello is a rascal; whether he is likeable, I am not sure. But he had a knack for business and the talent to surround himself with the right people. The choice of pizzas was highly original: with a Sardinian touch and many personal ideas. The preparation was perfect and the atmosphere was just right in every respect. The business seemed to be going quite well. Then Marcello probably had some personal problems and sold to his pizza baker.
That was Peppino, a soul of man. I was really happy for him that he finally had his own pizzeria. But his re-furnishing of the place was completely uncomfortable, the great delicatessen counter was painted and the service was fussy. The guests became less and after a short time the restaurant was closed. I don't know what happened to Peppino, the charcoal-burner's carajan. Anyway, Mrs. von Spee and I have already shed several tears for Peppino and his ingenious pizza
Now Michele has moved in. L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele is a pizzeria from Naples, which is said to date back to 1870. It has cult status there and has successfully managed to spread this to the rest of the world through clever franchising. If I understand the concept correctly, in every exciting country exactly one restaurant gets permission to call itself "da Michele". Besides the one shop in Naples, there is, for example, exactly one in New York, Paris and Toronto, and the German Michele has now landed in Schöneberg. The whole thing is advertised in a pushy and unobtrusive way via Instagram and Facebook, the very nice and very hip waiters only speak Italian and English. Of course the pizza is not even half as good as Peppino's. But it is so crowded that you never get a table, the Kärtnerkiez has become the Little Italy of Berlin and probably Michele will soon have the highest score in the Lonely Planet.
Business success is not always first and foremost about the quality of the product; and so Chanel No 5 has become what Chanel No 5 is today, Harry Lehmann's Sminta is just Harry Lehmann's Sminta, and a third fragrance, which was perhaps as good as the two, was perhaps discontinued before the outbreak of war.
As far as the "Gold Drop", the "Gotas de Oro" from the "Instituto Espanol" is concerned, everyone may decide what is more strange: That the fragrance has apparently been a huge success in Spain since 1933 (perhaps even since 1903, the source is somewhat unclear), or that it is so unknown in this country that there is no comment or statement so far. They are certainly not an exceptional cologne, but a nice, a little bit angular and rugged orange fresh water, which I really like.
The company with the strange name Insituto Espanol is not the Spanish counterpart of the Goethe Institute (this is the Insituto Cervantes), but a medium-sized Andalusian perfume and cosmetics house that is probably very successful in Spain. The website offers nice insights into the company archives with great pictures of the tasting cases from a hundred years ago and of the gentlemen with moustache and suit and sleeve protectors in the accounting department and the ladies wrapping flacons in tissue paper for transport. Three colognes belong to the permanent favourites from the beginnings to the present day, the "Gotas Frescas", "Gotas de Oro" and "Anfora de Oro", i.e. the fresh drops, the gold drops and the gold amphora.
The gold drops no longer look golden, the water is now purely clear, the current bottle (there is only a 600 ml variant) is in the extremely un-golden colours of France and is more angular than drop-round (see my current photo posted here). This (while retaining the designation "gold drop") is a marketing disaster worthy of a Peppino.
I hope, however, that the fragrance itself will be spared Peppino's business fate, as the gold has been preserved in a very beneficial way. Gotas de Ora scents after a third of the classic 4711 mixed with two thirds of a very tart, slightly edgy, rustic, slightly sparkling in the opening, and overall also has a nice tangerine peel essence with a nice green tinge. That's why the fragrance notes here on Parfumo convince me almost more than those on the official Spanish company homepage, where it says: top note: lemon, orange, rosemary. Heart note: petitgrain, lavender. Base: Woody notes. Anyway, for me Petitgrain is close to Mandarin anyway. Durability and sillage are what you'd expect from a Splash-Cologne, but a pleasant mandarin (yes, I'm defiant) freshness stays on the skin for two to three hours.
I have spontaneous sympathies for the fragrance and the company (as I do for Peppino), which is why I round up from 7.75 to 8 in the rating. For the name, there are only 7 points, which seems like a fair compromise to me.
For those who want to buy the trump of the bottle (for the price of not much more than a bottle of orange lemonade): According to my research, there is only one way to get it from Germany. In the past I would have named this one impartially, but in the meantime I have become more cautious out of fear of accusations of surreptitious advertising, but I like to share my knowledge in a direct way.
Finally, two comparison scents, both also very inexpensive and both official mandarin scents: Bodrum Mandalinasi by Eyüp Sabri Tuncer (briefly mentioned as No. 10d in the appendix to episode 10 of this series; of similar quality as this one, perhaps a little softer and more polished) and Mandarine Sanguine by Comptoir Cologne (for me one of the weaker scents of this interesting French cheap brand, was and is not discussed in this series).
The topic of colognes fascinates me even more than at the beginning of this series! I will stay connected to the colognes and colonyas in the future, in wearing them and in commenting on them, but this series will end with the next episode...
That was Peppino, a soul of man. I was really happy for him that he finally had his own pizzeria. But his re-furnishing of the place was completely uncomfortable, the great delicatessen counter was painted and the service was fussy. The guests became less and after a short time the restaurant was closed. I don't know what happened to Peppino, the charcoal-burner's carajan. Anyway, Mrs. von Spee and I have already shed several tears for Peppino and his ingenious pizza
Now Michele has moved in. L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele is a pizzeria from Naples, which is said to date back to 1870. It has cult status there and has successfully managed to spread this to the rest of the world through clever franchising. If I understand the concept correctly, in every exciting country exactly one restaurant gets permission to call itself "da Michele". Besides the one shop in Naples, there is, for example, exactly one in New York, Paris and Toronto, and the German Michele has now landed in Schöneberg. The whole thing is advertised in a pushy and unobtrusive way via Instagram and Facebook, the very nice and very hip waiters only speak Italian and English. Of course the pizza is not even half as good as Peppino's. But it is so crowded that you never get a table, the Kärtnerkiez has become the Little Italy of Berlin and probably Michele will soon have the highest score in the Lonely Planet.
Business success is not always first and foremost about the quality of the product; and so Chanel No 5 has become what Chanel No 5 is today, Harry Lehmann's Sminta is just Harry Lehmann's Sminta, and a third fragrance, which was perhaps as good as the two, was perhaps discontinued before the outbreak of war.
As far as the "Gold Drop", the "Gotas de Oro" from the "Instituto Espanol" is concerned, everyone may decide what is more strange: That the fragrance has apparently been a huge success in Spain since 1933 (perhaps even since 1903, the source is somewhat unclear), or that it is so unknown in this country that there is no comment or statement so far. They are certainly not an exceptional cologne, but a nice, a little bit angular and rugged orange fresh water, which I really like.
The company with the strange name Insituto Espanol is not the Spanish counterpart of the Goethe Institute (this is the Insituto Cervantes), but a medium-sized Andalusian perfume and cosmetics house that is probably very successful in Spain. The website offers nice insights into the company archives with great pictures of the tasting cases from a hundred years ago and of the gentlemen with moustache and suit and sleeve protectors in the accounting department and the ladies wrapping flacons in tissue paper for transport. Three colognes belong to the permanent favourites from the beginnings to the present day, the "Gotas Frescas", "Gotas de Oro" and "Anfora de Oro", i.e. the fresh drops, the gold drops and the gold amphora.
The gold drops no longer look golden, the water is now purely clear, the current bottle (there is only a 600 ml variant) is in the extremely un-golden colours of France and is more angular than drop-round (see my current photo posted here). This (while retaining the designation "gold drop") is a marketing disaster worthy of a Peppino.
I hope, however, that the fragrance itself will be spared Peppino's business fate, as the gold has been preserved in a very beneficial way. Gotas de Ora scents after a third of the classic 4711 mixed with two thirds of a very tart, slightly edgy, rustic, slightly sparkling in the opening, and overall also has a nice tangerine peel essence with a nice green tinge. That's why the fragrance notes here on Parfumo convince me almost more than those on the official Spanish company homepage, where it says: top note: lemon, orange, rosemary. Heart note: petitgrain, lavender. Base: Woody notes. Anyway, for me Petitgrain is close to Mandarin anyway. Durability and sillage are what you'd expect from a Splash-Cologne, but a pleasant mandarin (yes, I'm defiant) freshness stays on the skin for two to three hours.
I have spontaneous sympathies for the fragrance and the company (as I do for Peppino), which is why I round up from 7.75 to 8 in the rating. For the name, there are only 7 points, which seems like a fair compromise to me.
For those who want to buy the trump of the bottle (for the price of not much more than a bottle of orange lemonade): According to my research, there is only one way to get it from Germany. In the past I would have named this one impartially, but in the meantime I have become more cautious out of fear of accusations of surreptitious advertising, but I like to share my knowledge in a direct way.
Finally, two comparison scents, both also very inexpensive and both official mandarin scents: Bodrum Mandalinasi by Eyüp Sabri Tuncer (briefly mentioned as No. 10d in the appendix to episode 10 of this series; of similar quality as this one, perhaps a little softer and more polished) and Mandarine Sanguine by Comptoir Cologne (for me one of the weaker scents of this interesting French cheap brand, was and is not discussed in this series).
The topic of colognes fascinates me even more than at the beginning of this series! I will stay connected to the colognes and colonyas in the future, in wearing them and in commenting on them, but this series will end with the next episode...
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