A Guide to Italian Lifestyle in Berlin

The best thing about Berlin is, how it consists of cultural pieces from every part of the world. Some further some closer. Italian culture is most definitely one of the most established ones here. Our friends from  Berlino Magazine, a Blog run by – and written for Italians in Berlin, decided to create an event that lets you enjoy the wonders of italian cuisine and culture for 72 hours, which is called True Italian and it happens this week Wednesday bringing you all these Italian goodies to your tastebuds. We got inspired by this and thought it is about time, we created a guide to true Italian lifestyle in Berlin just for you.

There is so much more to it than Pizza and Pasta (don’t get us wrong, they will always be our best friends). Find your way into art, music, food and fashion from Italy in Berlin.

Food

Deli’s

Shopping Italian groceries can be just a treat as going to a restaurant. There are many little delicacy stores in Berlin, but these ones are special.  A place to get amazing products straight from Italy is Heide’s Deli. She has a whole variety of delicious things that also always make great gifts.  If you are not satisfied yet, go and look for Amore Store. They also sell all of those nicely packed things from Italian delicacies, but also decorative things and gifts that’ll make your heart race.

photo: Amore Store

Café’s

A great place in the area of Neukölln is Barettino. Apart from vegan pastries, they sell all kinds of sandwiches and light, fast and fast, but thought-through Bistro cuisine. Yum! If you want something absolutely vegan, we recommend Alge Officine Berlino. This place has made it their goal to serve original Italian food, but all raw and vegan, which makes it even healthier. If you crave for some Italian Antipasti, a good vibe, and a nice crowd, you can always go to Café Futuro and will never be disappointed.

photo: Anna Agliardi

Restaurants

When thinking of Italy one of the first things that come to mind is the extraordinary cuisine, both simple and fancy. Since there is a list of Italian restaurants in Berlin that seems to be never-ending, we tried to extract only the finest and most authentic ones for you here. The first one that came to mind is Facciola, a place that not only specializes in extraordinary wines but also offers food á la carte with homemade Gnocchi, traditional Bresaola and of course Pasta. Vino & Basilico is a place that doesn’t only serve great food but also functions as a meeting place for Italians in Berlin. They organize gatherings and events, all in their cozy atmosphere with their delicious authentic, but modern kitchen.

La Pecora Nera is a place, where go to when you want to treat yourself to something not only delicious but also healthy. They offer homemade polenta, pasta and pizza and Friday is fish-day here, with fresh ingredients from the fish-market. Yum! At Nudo you will get a 4-course menu every night and they always have a vegetarian alternative for you, which won’t disappoint.

Nudo, photo: Finding Berlin

A place that is not big on advertising, but even more so into their cooking and hosting skills is Centopassi. They borrowed their name from a movie about a Mafia victim and apart from being a restaurant with an authentic kitchen, they specialize in selling Italian products from regions that used to be Mafia-owned and are now in the hands of coops.

photo: La Pecora Nera

Pizza (to go)

Most of the restaurants and Café’s that we’ve mentioned so far, serve incredible Pizza. Nonetheless sometimes you are in a hurry, but need a slice. For this case you will be pleased with Zerostress Pizza, for classics and modernized Pizza. Vadoli is perfect for those days, when you don’t even want to leave the house, but want really good Pizza delivered (real Pizza, not the typical delivery kind) and Monella, which serve Neapolitan fried Pizza. So delicious!

photo: Zerostress Pizza

Cooking Class

After all this restaurant-hopping, you sometimes wonder, if you could somehow learn to cook like this yourself? You are in luck, since there is an amazing cooking-class in town. At Academia Pizzaioli you will learn how to make a perfect authentic Pizza that will make your friends invite themselves for dinner at your place!

photo: Academia Pizzaioli

Bars

After all those culinary adventures our bodies might ask for a drink. If you are into beer, you mustn’t miss out on Birra. They brew their own Italian craft beer and serve it with soccer screenings, really traditional and homey. For something a bit more sophisticated you can always go to Parma di Vini Bernedetti, which offers a variety of Italian pastries and a modern cuisine, but they will serve you exquisite wines. And not to miss our favorite Aperitivo bar: Bar Milano.

photos: iHeartBerlin

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Festivals

Coffi Festival

Coffi Festival has its origins in Angri, Italy, and is now set in Berlin to connect Italian artists and people from other parts of the world and create a space for exchange, creativity, networking and sharing knowledge about science and art.

photo: Coffi Festival

Italian Film Festival

Movies are an art form with tradition and history in Italy, but they can be subversive and innovative at the same time. The Italian Film Festival in Berlin will show them all. The sad, the funny, the tragic and the life-changing ones. When the weather turns cold again and cinema is the perfect option anyway, this Festival will be time spent well.

Find the Italian Film Festival on Facebook. In October at Babylon.

photo: Italian Film Festival

True Italian

This is the Festival that inspired us to create this guide for you. Founded by Italians, living in Berlin, True Italian is meant to be a network for all the businesses in Berlin that are run by Italians to bring authentic Italian lifestyle and to this city. Their Festival is all about those places in Berlin opening their doors for you to serve you only the real stuff in one 72 hours long happy-hour. The next edition is already kicking off in mid-September with many more great Italian restaurants taking part with special True Italian offers during 72h.

photo: Berlino Magazine

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Illustrators

Nicola Napoli

He captures the weird and the sexy: Illustrator Nicola Napoli is an important part of Berlin’s queer art scene. His frisky works about club culture, sexual nightmare and dreams, taboos and playful encounters are always worth a look. His designs are not only to be seen online, but as well as flyers for events such as the Pornceptual in Berlin. Take a look at his NSFW portfolio and try not to blush!

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photo: Nicola Napoli

Cosimo Miorelli

One of our favourite italian artists in Berlin is Cosimo Miorelli. We have featured his work before, because we are in love with his enchanting illustrations of the city we live in. He captures the vibe of the city in his surreal, dreamy illustrations and give the whole city a new dimension. We always knew, Berlin was a magical place, but Miorelli proves it in his art.

photo: Cosimo Miorelli

Gabriele Benefico

Another illustrator that enchants us with surreal creatures that he brings to live in landscapes of Berlin is Gabriele Benefico. We have featured his work before and still enjoy his fantastic view of the city of Berlin.

photo: Claudia D’alo & Gabriele Benefico

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Photographers

Guido Castagnoli

Photography always gives the viewer an insight into the way the one, who takes the pictures, sees the world. Guido Castagnoli’s way to capture places in Berlin many different places during his travels, made him become a contributor of Monocle Magazine and furthermore got him a Sony Award for Photography.

Maria Silvano

Another very talented photographer is Marina Silvano. Many of her photos have a timeless aesthetic, other works have a contemporary look and capture the spirit and atmosphere of events and art spaces perfectly.

photo: Maria Silvano

Anna Agliardi

This is another name, you should remember: Anna Agliardi is a photographer we love to collaborate with. She has a unique view and specializes in stage photos of theatre and dance shows, which are both powerful and aesthetic. She creates images in which space, architecture and the human body interact, often shot from a big distance to the object, which makes the photos recreate the feeling of extent and grandness of Berlin.

photo: Anna Agliardi

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Music

Missincat

Caterina Barbieri goes by the name Missincat since 2007, which is the year she started making music. Born and raised in Italy, she took her things and came to Berlin, where she proved to be a talented autodidact and recorded her first Album all on her own. Since then she has had Chart hits, traveled as supporting tour act for the one and only Amy Winehouse and worked on several collaborations with her sometimes dreamy, sometimes danceable Alternative Pop.

Lucy

If you need to get inspired first, you can check out Lucy’s soundcloud. The Berlin-based italian producer is well-known for his gigs at Berghain with a passion for intertwining analog sounds such as classical music with the digital, which makes for a unique style.

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Italian Blogs

We are aware that we are passionate lovers on Italian lifestyle, but there is no one better to write about it in an authentic way than Italians, who are based in Berlin, themselves. So, if you are interested in reading more regularly about events, parties, food and the life of Italians in this city, keep an eye on IlMitte and Berlino Magazine. They are both established online magazines, with very talented content creators, who will serve you with everything you need to know.

photo:Linda Paggi/Berlino Magazine

Since we are aware that it is close to impossible for us to include all things nice and Italian in this guide, we would like to ask you, to give us our best hints and ideas about Italian lifestyle in Berlin in the comments section!

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<a href="https://www.iheartberlin.de/author/valerie/" target="_self">Valerie</a>

Valerie

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