Maxie Eisen doesn’t sound like the kind of butcher that you’d want to run up a huge tab with. A cohort of Al Capone in prohibition era Chicago, the German immigrant was a connected mafioso and a big figure in Hebrew food organisations – goodness only knows what kind of meat went through his slaughterhouses, but five will get you ten it wasn’t always kosher. Maxie and his fellow food finaglers liked to gather in the Hotel Sherman to thrash out deals, chow down on charcuterie and guzzle wine and cocktails, and the spirit of these clandestine meetings has been channelled by designer Etienne Descloux in Frankfurt’s red light district at the Maxie Eisen café and bar.
The streetside area is an inviting and wholesome looking place which is open all day. A giant rural mural (Wallscapes , designed by BLESS Paris) welcomes you in and furniture by Jean Prouvé keeps you there in comfort. Those in the know will head through to the adjacent bar room in the back later on, which ramps up the underworld vibe several notches through subtle lighting, dark gloss finishes and a red bar which cuts dramatically through the darkness, hovering somewhere between sexy and sleazy. Enjoy your pastrami perched on a stool or settle in for the night in one of those easy chairs by Finnish designer Ilmari Tapiovaara.
Photography, Steve Herud
