Culinary Highlights

Read our press release "Berlin is Germany's Culinary Capital" (September 2022) here.

• Berlin shines in the "50 Best" ranking with two restaurants and the title of the best patissier in the world

• Exciting new openings enrich the gourmet metropolis

When it comes to culinary arts, Berlin is at the forefront

Whether domestic or international cuisine, Berlin's culinary scene has achieved a top position in the world of enjoyment. From avant-garde to home-style Berlin, from vegetables to maturated meat, from star chefs to culinary newcomers – Berlin's dining contrasts simply make for an ever-increasing appetite! The numbers speak for themselves: the hospitality industry – including hotels – generates an annual revenue of 5.6 billion euros. In its new edition, the Michelin restaurant guide has once again named Berlin the gourmet capital of Germany: Berlin currently has 30 Michelin stars in 23 restaurants, including the three-star restaurant "Rutz," the five two-star restaurants "Horvath," "Coda," "Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer," "Facil" and "Tim Raue," and 17 restaurants with one star. Newly awarded with one star in 2023 were the restaurants "The NOname" in Mitte and the purely vegan "Bonvivant" in Schöneberg.

The avant-garde plays an important role in Berlin 

These are the chefs who, together with their teams, have not only dedicated themselves to regional cuisine, but also provide their guests with a performance. They are creative lateral entrants to the scene, who, with their pop-ups or street food stands, enhance their so-called fast food by using only the best products, or by re-interpreting Berlin classics like boulettes (meatballs), currywurst, knuckle of pork, and the like. And so, the street food market “Streetfood auf Achse" (“ Streetfood On the Road") is held every Sunday in the Kulturbrauerei. Here, trendy food trucks from Berlin and the surrounding area are given a platform. For those who prefer it a little more refined, Nobelhart & Schmutzig is the perfect destination. Here, a uniform ten-course menu is exclusively served to everyone. Only products from Berlin and the surrounding area are used. The restaurant einsunternull also provides the highest level of sustainability and craftsmanship. Their motto: extracting the special from the simple.

Expats bring their own local cuisine to Berlin

It's expatriates who bring the cuisine of their homelands here. Some are Israelis who, with their fresh oriental cuisine, bring cosmopolitanism to life. From snack to high class, NENI in Bikini Berlin offers a mix of Mediterranean, Persian, and Austrian influences. The view over the city does the rest. Hummus fans will not be able to pass up a visit to Hummus & Friends. They offer homemade, vegetarian, and kosher dishes. In Berlin, pioneers are at work bringing forgotten places and overlooked corners into focus, restoring them to life with their culinary skills. You can find this happening on Kantstraße – also affectionately called Chinatown – at 893 Ryotei or Lo Men´s Noodle House as well as just at the edge of Moabit at Patio, the extraordinary restaurant ship.

Berlin cuisine – a unique style

Over the past several years, it has undergone innovation and enjoyed great attention. Be it the famous currywurst, which can be had these days in every imaginable quality and variation, or knuckle of pork, which has found its way into star cuisine, or local home cooking that has been elaborately refined. Classic curry sausage can be found at Curry 36 in Kreuzberg, in the Konnopke snack bar. For those with a more sophisticated palate, a visit to Kreuz und Kümmel is advised. 

Vegetables are the stars of the show

In Berlin, the plates are increasingly full of vegetables – they are the stars of the capital city’s cuisine. Berlin –  the vegan capital of Europe? In any case, vegetables not only play a leading role on the plates of the restaurants, they are also prepared in a wide variety of ways. Because of the regional origins of the products, the city is establishing an increasingly close relationship with the rural areas and the region. Vegan dishes can be found at Kopps, Lucky Leek, and Brammibal´s Donuts.

... and meat, too – but good!

Meat is coming into focus at the same time. When prepared to a high standard, it is equal in standing to vegetables. With the newly-arising nutritional consciousness and demands, the role of the animal as supplier has become increasingly important. This is not only centered around animal husbandry, but the butcher's trade is experiencing a renaissance as well, as are perfected cooking and grilling methods. At the Kumpel und Keule butcher shop, their work is therefore focused on transparency, artisan production, the origin of the meat, and, above all, taste. At The Brooklyn Berlin, an original New York-style steak temple and luxury restaurant, you will only find meat of the highest quality.

Star chefs are presented from many sides in Berlin's culinary scene

Along with the variety and complexity of the most diverse cuisines and signatures, they represent the best side of this city. Each of these twenty chefs works strictly according to his or her own credo. Whether haute cuisine, new Asian routes, vegetarian, deconstructive Austrian, or Nordic – the star chefs demonstrate a rare culinary complexity. This, by the way, is constantly being rediscovered by the local food critics, who annually award the title of Berlin's Master Chef. This year, two of Berlin's top chefs have made another move up the most important British ranking "World's 50 Best Restaurants": chef from Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Micha Schäfer, jumped from 45th to 17th place, Tim Raue moved up to 26th - previously he was at 31.
Rutz is the first 3-star restaurant in Berlin. 

Berlin's two-star restaurants include Facil, Horváth, and the Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer. Bandol sur Mer, Bieberbau, and Restaurant Richard are among the capital's fifteen one-star restaurants. 

Here and now, fine dining means: eating, dancing, partying!  

It is thanks to numerous lateral newcomers, you could say, lateral thinkers, that the once world-famous club scene is still a place where music and good food are celebrated today. The scene-famous club Cookie has thus established itself in its former club, Crackers, next to the vegetarian one-star restaurant Cookies Cream. At Spindler & Klatt, culinary artistry and parties are also combined. Bar, music, food – that's what you'll find in the Cantina at the bar Tausend Berlin. Here, dishes from Lima and Berlin are served up, with an Asian twist. 

More information and tips about Berlin's culinary scene can be found here: http://bit.ly/2Fk8xvq  
or in our infographic „Culinary Berlin“
Our movies #Foodspots_Berlin also recommend great restaurants in Berlin

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