At the nearby Florian (Grolmanstrasse 52; 49-30-313-9184; www.restaurant-florian.de), another holdout from the glamour days, diners can soak up a more discreetly glamorous atmosphere, eating among television presenters and film directors, while enjoying much better food.
This is never more clear than in the Maigret novels, where the inspector learns the world of the crime and its secrets by eating, inhaling the atmosphere of grubby basement bars and shabby bistros, knocking back a small glass of marc, accepting a plate of roast lamb and a few leaves bathed in a garlic dressing.
The poor acoustics, which turn conversational buzz into a dull roar, only add to the eating club atmosphere.
Ocean acidification caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is eating away at the shells of marine snails known as "sea butterflies", the researchers said.
After a few days soaking up the atmosphere and eating three curries a day in Mumbai, take a train south to Goa where you can pick a party beach, or a quieter hippy one, such as Arambol in the north.
But R-22, when released into the atmosphere, eats away at the ozone layer, which shields the earth from hazardous ultraviolet radiation.
In 1964, Philip Hamburger sent in this dispatch from the restaurant, then known as Zietz's Buckhorn, after the original owner, Henry H. (Shorty Scout) Zietz: Many residents not only enjoy dreaming about Grandpa up in the hills, prospecting, but like to eat in an atmosphere that approximates the untamed environment in which Grandpa operated.
A formerly thriving metropolis that offered endless pleasures is currently little more than a hollow string of shit flats you can't afford to live in, pop up jerk chicken carts run by smug cunts from Sussex that you can't afford to eat at and atmosphere free pubs that make a big deal of not showing football before unashamedly charging the best part of a tenner for a pint of Amstel.
But then, Martinelli's quite happy to milk all the grotesque horror he can out of her in the name of a bit of ghoulish atmosphere: she's eating with "her face struck between two armpits" while being "used by a commuter as a newspaper table" and grinning like a madwoman.
"On the ISS you have artificial lights, an artificial atmosphere and so eating a meal is one of those moments where you want that special link back to Earth and make it a special occasion," he explained.
But I also feel nostalgic for the doom and gloom, the revolving-door faculty, the dog-eat-dog atmosphere.
