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exploring taste – Spring/Summer 2016 places – Lens on Berlin

Berlin at the table

Berlin is a very democratic city, down to its food and wine culture. Here,
both experimental foodies and comfort eaters will find something suitable
for their taste. Street food stalls are very popular, thanks to the multicultural Frühsammers flinsberger platz 8
nature of the city, but there is also a wide range of extra-European cuisines
available in their most sophisticated incarnations. Berliner restaurateurs like Surrounded by nature and not far from the lake district, Frühsammers is
to reinterpret the most popular dishes of the European tradition: brunch is one of the very few Michelin-starred restaurants in Berlin. Its rich dishes,
the one meal where the German capital finds its true culinary expression. such as the dove with poppy, are counterbalanced by the chef’s dedication in
The secret isn’t out yet, but Berlin will soon make it to the very top of any selecting the best seasonal and exotic vegetables.
true food tourist list of destinations. www. fruehsammers-restaurant.jimdo.com

is Kottbusser Tor): it is one of the few public venues where tasting like it was magically plucked straight out of Bologna.
German and Turkish Berliners truly come together. The Just a little to the south, you’ll find a place that is rarely
nearby Oranienstraße still bears evidence of the political advertised in tourist guides – it is the Rixdorf, a small
activism the area was once famous for, it now houses two Bohemian-style village that has survived wartime destruction
important institutions: the Museum der Dinge (literally and is miraculously preserved pretty much intact. From there,
“museum of things”, dedicated to modern design) and the heading west, we have one of the city’s most memorable sites:
nGbK, a center that champions emerging contemporary art. If the Tempelhof, an airport which was kept in use up until
you get hungry after all this culture, you can always stop for a 1998 and has been repurposed, transformed into a giant park
rösti at the Swiss restaurant Helvetia or have yourself the best with no trees. Crossing it is quite a surreal experience, fortify Skykitchen landsberger allee 106 Van Loon carl-herz-ufer 5
chicken kebab with a side of hummus in the nearby Görlitzer yourself sipping a cup of (organic) coffee to go, picked up from
Park, which offers fairy-tale like scenery and quite a bit of one of the many hip coffee-bars in Schillerkiez. There’s hardly another chef with as much experience as Alexander Koppe Looking for top quality seafood, with a side of citruses and crisp vegetables?
illegal drug selling as well. This immense green flat-land serves as a divider between in Berlin. You can taste the best specialties of his German cuisine in his Or a vegan alternative? Look no further. Van Loon isn’t just a great restaurant,
If you have managed to disengage yourself from the drug- the vibrant, multicultural part of Berlin and its rather more restaurant on the top floor of Hotel Andel, right in the heart of Friedrichstein. it is also a boat that cuts across Kreuzberg sailing along the Landwehr Canal.
dealers, then you are ready for Neukölln. It can rightly be institutional Western side. It would be a mistake to dismiss The glittering city skyline makes for a fine dinner fellow indeed. Make sure to check your route before booking!
called the Turkish Berlin, and in recent years it has bloomed. it, both Schöneberg and Charlottenburg deserve a visit. The www.skykitchen.berlin www.vanloon.de
A seemingly never-ending sequence of shisha bars and tobacco first has for a long time been a strong-hold of the local gay
shops open 24/7 crowds the busy parallel streets of Sonnenallee, community and is best known for its art galleries. If you fancy
Karl-Marx Straße and Hermannstraße. It is in the tiny cobble- immersing yourself in the city’s traditional Thursday evening
stoned alleys inside, however, that you grasp the energetic vibe gallery-opening parties, start from Kurfursterstraße (the big
of this area and also, the effects of such a sudden development. players here are Supportico Lopez, at 14b, and Tanya Leighton,
A few words of advice to get the most out of your visit – begin at 156) and then move along the Landwehr Canal near the Neue
with a tour of the best bars in Weserstraße, starting from the Ä Nationalgalerie and head for Isabella Bortolozzi or the Future
(a pioneering example of Berlin-style bar). Wine lovers should Gallery. Charlottenburg is where Berlin’s well-heeled live, and it
look no further than Vin Aqua Vin (They serve German labels is not hard to figure out why. Leave behind the busy Kudamm (a
too and they are very good) and if Vodka is your poison, try place of unbridled capitalist ostentation back in the days when
Kuschlowski (the Polish labels stand out). There are two high the city was divided), by walking in the opposite direction to
quality restaurants holding their own amidst the sprawl of the Gedächtniskirche and Zoo station (the one immortalized Brasserie Desbrosses potsdamer platz 3 Sage Restaurant köpenicker strasse 18-20
popular kebab joints: one is Industry Standard, co-owned by Christiane F., still an unexpectedly fascinating place) and
by a Norwegian/Mexican duo (despite this unlikely pairing follow the Fasanenstraße: the Literaturhaus restaurant-café French cuisine has partly influenced German cooking (we’d like to believe Sage is set inside a Kreuzberg ex-factory, converted to a luxury venue. It has
the menu is actually Anglo-French) and the other is Sala da will redefine your concept of “posh”. End your visit with an ice- the reverse is also true). However, if you are a traditionalist with a soft spot for outdoor seating in the summer and indoor during the winter, but its menu is
Mangiare, the place where you’ll eat fresh homemade pasta cream from Savigny Platz: you have made it back to Germany. a classic brasserie, you should check out Brasserie Desbrosses at Ritz-Carlton. made-up of everlasting classics; a hip Berliner’s diet – only much, much better.
www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/germany/berlin/dining www.sage-restaurant.de

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