The crown jewel of Ku’damm (as locals called Kurfurstendamm) was the KaDeWe, which was an abbreviation for Kaufhaus des Westens (Department Store of the West). With “60,000 square meters of sales space,” it is continental Europe’s largest store. On its 6th floor, I strolled in its legendary food hall, comparable with the Harrods’ basement in London. I sat at the sea-food counter for dinner and shared a conversation with a man visiting from the suburbs.