[m]eatery & Botanist Bar occupies the ground floor of the Le Méridien on Hamburg's Außenalster — a hotel whose lakeside position gives it a calm that most city-centre hotels have to construct artificially. The bar itself is a room of composed precision: grass-green velvet bar stools at a long dark-wood counter, mirror panels behind the bottles that extend the room's perceived depth, white spring flowers (narcissus, at certain times of year) arranged without drama, a crystal chandelier that announces nothing. The botanical programme draws on seasonal and local produce in its spirit selections. The room is quieter than its quality suggests it should be — an oversight by the city that makes it excellent for conversation.
Außenalster, Hamburg, Germany