Sehnsucht (Longing), a cosy 50-seater cantina in the German capital's leafy Tiergarten district, is the idea of a former anorexic, employs a bulimic waitress and has an anorexic chef presiding over a menu that deliberately distances dishes from the ingredients they contain. Developed with the help of a nutritionist, the menu will list non-food names such as Hallo (in reality a lobster bisque), Heisshunger (Ravenous Hunger, a rack of lamb), and Seele (Soul, a cappuccino cre'me dessert).

"The concept has been especially created with an anorexic in mind," said Sehnsucht's manager, Katja Eichbaum, 32, who battled with her own disorder for 15 years. "Anorexics have to be taught that eating out can be fun." Portions will be "normal sized" and the restaurant, also attached to an advice centre, will be open to non-anorexics as well.

Sehnsucht is the latest to feed Berlin's seemingly unending appetite for curiously themed restaurants. The city already has two highly successful "blind" restaurants where guests eat in pitch darkness, served by blind waiters. There is a café for the deaf and an ultra-trendy establishment where you eat what you're given, then pay what you think the meal is worth."

"Hand-feeding a hungry elephant is an unnerving experience. At the first whiff of a banana, its leathery grey trunk snakes out, probes the air and sucks it from your hand with a squelch. It is like shoving fruit into a wet vacuum cleaner nozzle. It may be unpleasant, but if you're about to plunge into the jungles of northern Thailand perched on an elephant's neck, you have to get your vehicle on your side..."