Places

I kept hearing about this new place Volta in Wedding now for the past few months and was very eager to check it out as it’s only a few blocks up my street. Located near the U8 subway stop Voltastraße it’s conveniently close to Mitte. Even though the super huge district Wedding still hasn’t found the type of Kiez infrastructure that we are all familiar with from Neukölln, Kreuzberg and Mitte, it still is developing quite nicely and offers more and more interesting places spread over its entirety.
The restraurant and bar Volta is the latest addition and quite an impressive one. No wonder, as it’s run by Cookies-chef Stephan Hentschel. The menu is quite diverse and very creative. Most of the dishes have the size of startes, so I recommend ordering at least two to get a taste of the variety. With prices between 5 and 7 EUR I think this is pretty fair, especially considering the great quality, refined look and awesome taste. My favorites are the red beet slices on yoghurt and the entrecôte on sticks. Delicious! The dessert is also quite exceptional, you have to try it! And what made the whole visit even better was the service which was super friendly and charming. This might very well become my new favorite place! Have a look at my impressions and the details after the jump.
by Frank
on May 13th, 2013
in Restaurants, Wedding
1 Comment

Even though I am a big fan of Spain I have to admit that I have never really gotten used to the Spanish cuisine. There hasn’t been one Spanish restaurant here in Berlin yet, that I truly enjoyed eating at. Gladly this has changed now. Let me introduce you to Feliu. It’s a brand new Spanish restaurant in the Kreuzkölln area that I was lucky to try out last week. And it was quite delightful!
The place is located at Pflüger, quite close to the subway stop Schönleinstaße. The candle-lit interior has the typical urban-rustic style of Neukölln and Kreuzberg, with lots of little details and antiques, think of Das Hotel. We felt quite comfortable in the place and were warmly welcomed. We tried out as many things as possible on the menu including vegetarian and fish starters, meaty main courses and chocolaty desserts. Unlike most of the Spanish dishes that I have been served so far everything was really arranged with a good sense of style and love to details. Some of the courses almost looked Asian, which was quite unusual.
The baked egg plant with cheese was really good, so was the pork main course. But the absolute hightlight was the chocolate cake, very rich in taste! And to our big surprise everything was unusually inexpensive for the area. No main course was over 13 EUR. I’ll definately dine here again soon and will probably try out the duck. We also heard they have an amazing Paella for brunch on Sundays. Enjoy our impressions and the details after the jump!
by Frank
on March 27th, 2013
in Neukölln, Restaurants
Comments Off

I’ve been hearing lots of good things about the Mogg & Melzer deli at the former Jewish girls school at Auguststraße since it opened and always wanted to check it out. Last night I finally made that happen. Even though this place is probably mostly frequented for breakfast and lunch by all the agency folks in its Mitte neighborhood I actually went there for dinner. As it’s a deli they mostly offers simple dishes like sandwiches, salades, soups and platters. But if you are looking for a light meal, this also works quite well in the evening. On a quest for a low-carb experience me and my friend both opted for two different variations of goat cheese salade with a side of Pastrami. Both were really delicious and starting at 6 EUR not even that expensive. I also couldn’t resist to try out the NY cheesecake and I was stunned as it’s the best one I’ve had here in Berlin for a long time. We were also a fan of the wines they offered - and that comes from someone who normally doesn’t drink wine. On top of that the service was really good and super charming. You should definately check this out if you can! More after the jump.
by Frank
on March 11th, 2013
in Mitte, Restaurants
Comments Off

We’ve been following the pop-up restaurant Pret A Diner now for a few years already. They have been opening up in Berlin during Berlin Fashion Week for the last couple of seasons, but also had pop-ups in other cities all over the world. I always liked their interesting set-ups and creative menues, but I must say, this time, they have out-done themselves. The location, the old Opera workshop at Zinnowitzer Str. in Mitte is absolutely stunning and the set-up is especially nice this time. They teamed up with Circle Culture Gallery who have a very good urban and contemporary art exhibition going on there. They also have cute little thrift-store-esque shop that features items from all the places in the world they have opened up in. It’s really charming.
And now to the food. Wow! They offer a 3 course menue for 55 EUR with lots of options. They seperate courses start are 15-20 EUR which is really fair considering the style and quality of the dishes. The US filet steak is the best steak I had in Berlin so far, it’s so good you will be out of words. I also enjoyed the ox cheeks and the cod, they are amazing (and I normally don’t eat fish!). The best dessert is the “Zimtblüte”, at the opening I ate like 4 of them, so good.
In addition to the amazing location, exhibition, shop and food they also offer an entertainment program with live music on Thursdays and special events and parties on the weekend. Next week they will host the 1st anniversary of the Berlin Film Society with a special screening and dinner. More on that in our eventguide.
If you like good food and want to enjoy it in a very unique and impressive set-up you should definately make a reservation at the current edition of Pret A Diner. You will love it! It’s still going on until the end of Febuary. Enjoy my impressions after the jump.
by Frank
on February 8th, 2013
in Galleries, Mitte, Restaurants, Shops
1 Comment

Mark your calendars, kids, on January 24th 2013 Berlin will get a new playground for experimental and excentric ideas and events. The Aktionsforum Shift will officially open its doors at the Kraftwerk Mitte, the same building that is also home to the Tresor Club and the big event space where the Show And Order fashion trade show takes place during Berlin Fashion Week. Shift will not just be another random club, it will be a space for performances and theatre, music, exhibitions, workshops, film screenings and much more. The preview event of the space during NYE already presented a very eclectic event with a live performance by Aerea Negrot (former vocalist of Hercules & Love Affair) and an experimental video installation which you can see part of after the jump. Stay tuned to our event guide for everything going on at Shift!
by Frank
on January 2nd, 2013
in Art, Clubs, Galleries, Mitte, Places, Theatre
Comments Off

I love it when a new place near your home brings a lot of creative energy into the neighborhood. The sweet Serigraffeur Gallery is one of them. It is a new gallery/shop in Friedrichshain that opened in Spring and that offers a large collection of art prints like posters and handcrafted books. Thanks to a really simple way of showing the whole range of artists in poster displays, the small but pretty place changes its look almost every two weeks, and invites to events called “Accrochages” on Saturdays, with performances and/or concerts. The core of the collection mostly consists of the work of silkscreeners from Berlin. It’s already grown into a huge collective that gets bigger every single week with new local and international artists. This Saturday they will have a really spectacular art event called Japarade that sounds like real blast. Check out some images of the shop and the address after the jump.
by Claudio
on November 1st, 2012
in Art, Friedrichshain, Galleries
Comments Off

Why should we travel far away from our normal kiez to eat good? In Berlin we sometimes tend to avoid long trips to restaurants, simply because it’s inconvenient. It would be like missing out on Italy just because you are afraid of flying if you would never try to go to Da Baffi. This little culinary pearl at Leopoldplatz in Wedding has one of the best Italian kitchens in town. The address and the menu of the week after the jump.
by Claudio
on October 26th, 2012
in Restaurants
Comments Off

Vintage Galore is a brand new vintage furniture store at Sanderstraße a few doors down from Sing Blackbird. It’s not like any of those cramped and dusty second hand furniture shops with cheap knock-offs and granny’s old stuff. It feels more like a high-end design boutique. The specialty here are 60s Scandinavian design furniture in teak wood and lamps. They also have a small but great vintage clothes section with a lot of menswear. The amazing thing about the store is the quality of the products. Many of them are refurbished by hand which makes them look as good as new. Owner Erik told me, that teak wood pieces from the 60s have always been a passion for him and with this store he turned his hobby into a profession. Well done! Some more impressions and details after the jump.
by Frank
on October 19th, 2012
in Fashion, Neukölln, Places, Shops
1 Comment

photos: Nils Krüger
On Wednesday evening Patrick Mohr opened his own pop-up store at Münzstraße 20 with a party with music by his buddy DJ Hell. In the shop you can get his previous seasons on sale as well as the current summer season. Have a look at the impressions of the opening night after the jump on 2 pages.
by Frank
on August 31st, 2012
in Fashion, Mitte, Party, Photos, Places, Shops
Comments Off

Whenever I see some new business setting itself up in my neighborhood I think: pleeease let it be something practical for me and of good quality. So once I noticed a group of young people starting to fiddle around the empty shop a few doors down from my house at Brunnenstraße I was all too curious of what they would be working on. In an almost stalkerish manner I pressed my nose against the glass window when they weren’t looking – excited that it would not be another agency office or gallery but definately something to eat.
A week ago it finally opened and I must say, I’m very pleased. Joris a.k.a. Jonas and Flori sell freshly made salads, soups and baked potatoes, as well as coffee and freshly pressed juices made of local ingredients and lots of love. The soups, sauces and the big selection of toppings are always changing depending on what’s in season at the moment so you can always expect something new when you come here in your lunchbreak or after work. For the early birds you might be lucky to grab one of their freshly baked muffins. So far I’ve tried a soup and a baked potatoe with bolognese and goat cheese and I really enjoyed both – very natural and pure in taste, no fancy experiments, but real food. I’ll definately be here more often! Get a preview of the place and the details after the jump.
by Frank
on August 14th, 2012
in Mitte, Restaurants
2 Comments