The Best Concept Stores for Gift Shopping in Berlin

The Best Concept Stores for Gift Shopping in Berlin

If you are looking for a cute thing as a gift for a friend, loved one or even just for yourself it’s sometimes not so easy to know where to start looking, right? But don’t worry, that’s what we are here for. We went through our mental archive of all the shops in Berlin to find those that would fit the bill for this very purpose and came up with a cute little list of the best concept stores in Berlin that are perfect for gift shopping.

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The Latest Brunch & Breakfast Spots in Berlin

The Latest Brunch & Breakfast Spots in Berlin

It’s time for our annual guide of new and newish breakfast and brunch cafes in Berlin! It’s been a wild 2 years and it was quite the challenge for Berlin’s gastronomy scene who had to keep its places shut during several lockdowns. But nonetheless, there are some courageous entrepreneurs who decided to open their places despite the global pandemic. Chapeau!

In our new guide, we included a variety of places that we discovered all over the city that offer a delicious slice of breakfast and contemporary brunch dishes that will have your mouth water and belly rejoice in anticipation. Now without further ado, here are the places we selected for you.

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How to be More Sustainable in Berlin

How to be More Sustainable in Berlin

As far as sustainability goes, we’re super lucky to be living in Berlin. I’m reminded of this every time I speak to friends and family back home. Often marketed as trendy, time-consuming, and expensive, a lot of people assume you have to completely overhaul your lifestyle to be more sustainable…but that’s simply not true.  Being more sustainable is about figuring out what you use the most, and then finding a way to get those same products in a way that doesn’t have such a negative impact on our planet.  

There are some fantastic unpackaged stores to choose from in Berlin that not only enable us to support local businesses and encourage innovation but also give us the power to refuse —  to send a clear message that we don’t want our products wrapped in plastic.  And because we live in Berlin, we can achieve this without too much extra effort on our part, and without breaking the bank.  

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15 Fantastic Projects & Places by Talented BIPoC in Berlin

15 Fantastic Projects & Places by Talented BIPoC in Berlin

La Case Paulette. photo: Vitaly Soroka. 

Celebrating and empowering Black communities should not just be limited to Black History month, but this is a good time for us to reflect on how we as individuals can help dismantle institutionalized racism in the spaces we occupy. 

To keep the conversations surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement from 2020 alive, it’s important to continue to do our part in uplifting BIPOC communities going forward. One way you can do so from your own home is by supporting Black-owned businesses and donating to community organizations. Needless to say, any contribution is particularly valuable during these times due to the negative financial impact of the ongoing pandemic.

To get you started, here is our curated list of Black-owned shops, restaurants, and organizations for you to get to know. Make a donation, share their pages on your social networks, enjoy a delicious takeaway meal or find your next favorite clothing item from our guide below.

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11 Exciting New Restaurants in Berlin to Try Out This Year

11 Exciting New Restaurants in Berlin to Try Out This Year

KINK. photo: Robert Rieger. 

An annual selection of new restaurant openings is a staple of iHeartBerlin. Unsurprisingly, this year our list is a bit delayed and doesn’t showcase quite as many places as usual. But even in spite of all the challenges brought on by the pandemic, there are some new restaurant openings to celebrate and support. 

Every single one of the eleven restaurants listed below offers something different. You’ll find such diverse offerings as Nepalese dumplings, Neapolitan pizza, Vietnamese rice porridge, or Swedish meatballs, along with many vegan versions available! Most of the places are relatively affordable, but make no mistake: those looking to elevate their restaurant experience should not be disappointed. 

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These Awesome Berlin Restaurants Offer Home Deliveries

These Awesome Berlin Restaurants Offer Home Deliveries

photo: Cookies Show. 

Normally around this time of the year, we would offer you a guide of the newest restaurants in Berlin. Well, things went a little differently this year and now we found ourselves scouting through various websites, Instagram accounts and Facebook pages to find out which of our favorite Berlin joints is actually still open and cooking during the current lockdown and – more importantly – who is doing home deliveries so we can avoid leaving our quarantine. We put together a quite eclectic mix of different styles of restaurants from fine dining to street food, and we also tried to cover places across the city.

Keep in mind some of these restaurants are only making their first experiences with deliveries, so be patient with them. It’s a tough situation for the entire gastronomic scene. It might be worth keeping tuned to their channels for any changes in regards to times and delivery terms. We’ve linked the most helpful website or social media account of each place in the texts below. Guten Appetit!

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A Guide to Berlin’s Best Urban Parks

A Guide to Berlin’s Best Urban Parks

photos: Liz Ketcham. 

One of the things that people who come to Berlin quickly notice is the amount of green all over the city. So many streets are lined with trees and every district has at least one if not several parks, some of which are gigantic and take up entire neighborhoods. The city has multiple green lungs which greatly contribute to the quality of life we have here in Berlin.

But a park is never just a park in Berlin. We have big green forests like Tiergarten, but don’t be surprised if you discover some gentlemen in the nude fooling around in the bushes. We have Görlitzer park which might very well be the least attractive park, but it certainly has the greenest “grass” in all of the city. There is the Park in Marzahn that feels like a trip around the world. And we have the hot mess that is Mauerpark that basically transforms into an open-air festival on every Sunday during the summer.

To give you an overview of the most interesting parks to visit we selected some of our favorites.

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A Comprehensive Guide for Plant Lovers in Berlin

A Comprehensive Guide for Plant Lovers in Berlin

photo: Liz Ketcham. 

I think for the longest time of my adult life I assumed I would not have a thing for plants because I had a hard time keeping them alive. It wasn’t until I started living with my former flatmate Sandra who brought a whole bunch of plants into our house that I started to take an interest. And this is really what made the difference: Once I took an actual interest in them, the plants started to thrive. A plant dad was born!

By now I’ve developed a bit into a plant nerd, even started my own plant-themed Instagram account @frankyfolia to indulge in my green obsession. The plant community online is pretty big already and the enthusiasm for plants is quite infectious. Be warned 😉

I thought it was about time to bring my new passion here to iHeartBerlin in the form of a new guide showing you the best places for plant enthusiasts. If you’re not into plants yet, you might just be after reading this…

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