Every year Berlin gets so many new restaurants that it has become a custom for us to make a round-up of all that’s new in the gastronomic scene in the past months. This year it was in fact so much, that we decided to split up our annual new restaurant guide in two and we’ll start with one particularly trendy genre: Asian fusion. Here’s our pick of the most interesting ones:
Who would have thought in the mid 2000s that a tiny shack of scrap wood on an abandoned lot at the river Spree would ever become the quirky urban oasis that is the Holzmarkt today?
It was in the year 2004 when I stepped into the so-called Bar25 for the first time. At the time it was a tiny improvised bar made of recycled wood at the end of an overgrown footpath in the wastelands of the Spree riverbanks in Friedrichshain. There was no techno party going on there, just the comfort of a worn out couch and some beers. I was on a date then that I hardly remember now, but I remember the place because it became of one the most legendary international techno clubs and a hub for youth culture of the post-millennium era.
Over the course of the next 7 years the buzz around this inconspicuous little place became louder and louder. I dropped by every now an then observing their journey to techno heaven and international fame. The bar grew bigger ever year, adding a small circus arena, a pizza parlor, a restaurant, a spa, a pool, a hostel and more cute little things to its world making it a little paradise that you never wanted or needed to leave. They started the whole cult of going to a place and not leaving it for 5 days straight. You didn’t have to, because there was everything you needed – plus a swing with a lovely view of the sunset over the Berlin city silhouette. There was a lot of feathers, confetti and glitter involved, something that set the Bar25 apart from it’s more understated neighbor Berghain that opened around the same time as them.
Parma di Vinibenedetti, Wedding
You know, there is pizza and than there is original Italian pizza! When it comes to this beloved comfort food I am totally loyal to the people who invented the dish sometime in the 18th century. I actually live right on top of a regular pizza delivery shop, so the temptation is so near, but to be honest I would rather order in a real Italian pizza from further away before I eat even a bite of that globalized crap (sorry) from downstairs.
Berlin is full of pizza places, but how do you know where to find the real deal? A lot of great places are actually really low key in their appearance, so you can’t judge those kind of books by their covers. Luckily our friends from Berlino Magazine found a solution for this dilemma. With their True Italian food festivals they are promoting the best and most authentic Italian restaurants in Berlin. The next edition that takes place in 2018 is dedicated to Pizza. We thought the True Italian Pizza Week is a great opportunity to extract our first True Italian Pizza guide from their list of participating restaurants. If you want to try out some of the best pizzas in town you should follow their map and get a taste of some special pizzas in each of the places marked on it.
To wet your appetite we selected our favorite pizza place per district in our new guide!
photos by Tang Yi and Jacob Schickler
Some people need to travel far to make different memories all over the world. I sometimes just need to travel inside the inner ring of Berlin to collect the same amount of crazy experiences somebody could get from a trip to another continent. And there is a simple reason for that: the Berlin inhabitants are a bunch of curious people, traveling the world and exploring different cultures and bringing their findings back to our city to share it with the other Berliners.
To make an example: I have never been to China and still I got the chance to discover the variety and sophistication of Chinese cuisine right in the middle of Berlin. This happened more by coincidence than by choice. My friend Jacob Schickler who used to live in China for many years started a pop-up restaurant called That Woo together with Yuhang Wu, originally from China but professionally trained chef as a Chef in Germany.
photos: Tabea Mathern
Let’s start with an incredible and really shocking fact: about 18 million tons of edible food are thrown away every year in Germany. And with the large number of restaurants and supermarket in Berlin, I guess our beloved city is not doing any better. The impact of the food waste on our economy and environment is huge, affecting people’s and animal’s lives all over the planet.
To understand from where waste comes from, how this affects your life and our lives in general, and to get input for changing this horrible food waste the Guerilla Architects, the Entretempo Kitchen Gallery and the visual artist Tabea Mathern decided to created a unique project together.
Right in the middle of Prenzlauer Berg inside a gallery space near Senefelder Platz they started the project Mehrwert, a fast food diner completely made of recycled materials and only serving responsibly sourced food. But this place is not only an artistic pop-up restaurant. The aim is to create awareness and to share opinions and ideas to make our food consumption a bit less harmful for our world and our future. This happened for instance during several workshops and events during the last weeks.
If you want to check out this place, it’s open during the week from 10h to 16h and sometimes for special dinner events on the weekend (such as this Sunday). The closing party is going to take place on March 18th 2017.
photo: Jason Leung
You’ve seen us posting guides on clean eating and vegan lifestyle alternatives. In truth, there’s plenty of these options in Berlin and although we’re happy to embrace the gastronomical diversity, the time has come that we give some more love to those of you who are declared carnivores, ranging from my beloved Angry Chicken to super fancy Katz Orange. Enjoy our guide for all the meat lovers out there and make sure to add your top spots in the comments! read more…
Esther Perbandt is Berlin’s number one avant-garde designer and with her label operating way over 10 years now she leads one of the most established fashion brands in Berlin. The sophisticated, androgynous style of her designs is unique – worldwide – and has gained her a fanbase that includes not only international avant-garde lovers but also the local creatives from the worlds of theater, cinema, art and music.
In anticipation for her next big show that will happen in the coming week at the impressive Volksbühne theater we met with Esther to speak with her about her favorite places in Berlin. If you want to be part of the big celebration of her 13th collection on January 17th you should join us for drinks (kindly supplied by World Class and Belsazar Vermouth) at the official after show party that starts at 21h in the Sternenfoyer of Volksbühne.
Berlin is blessed with culinary delights of lands near and far. A mélange de tout, the Hauptstadt has something to offer to everyone. While the influence of Middle Eastern flavors is felt on every corner in form of Döners, Falafel, and kebabs, the Iranian cuisine is still heavily underrepresented. Few restaurants are trying to inject some of the exotic East into Germany’s beating heart and few people too. Among such people is Anahita, an Iranian girl whose Sabzi and Coucou are bringing in the Persian flavors with an added twist.
The holidays are coming up and those of you who will spend them here in Berlin might wonder: What restaurants should I go to for Christmas, New Year’s Eve or other festive holidays? Because obviously your typical burger joint or sushi place does not really fit the atmosphere here. And of course: Since these are all official holidays which places are even open, or offer a special menu for those special days? We compiled a list of our favorite restaurants – newbies and classics – that will serve you delicious food in the perfect holiday spirit. (Make sure to make your reservations early though as they might be booked out soon and keep in mind that some places will have set menus and special prices during the holidays.)
There are certain streets in Berlin-Schöneberg that are mostly known for representing gay culture from the 70s to the 90s. Still, the Motzstraßen-Kiez attracts gay tourism and leather lovers from all over the world, especially to certain events like Folsom.
But what took me by surprise last week, was that exactly there, in the middle of the heart of gay Schöneberg, there was a culinary pearl that would teach me new secrets and wonders of the Italian cuisine. Located on Fuggerstraße 27, Trattoria a’ Muntagnola run by Pino and his wise mother Angela is a true Italian classic in Berlin.
Even though the interior is truly inspired by Italian exaggeration the food you will taste there can easily beat that of many star restaurants. Thanks to the True Italian food festival that is currently happening in Berlin for 72h we had the chance to try out some gems of their incredible menu.