Three trending Berlin restaurants give dining in the German capital a contemporary spin
Glass, Ora and Mrs Robinson’s are three restaurants that epitomise Berlin’s dining scene – passionate, fun and vibrant. They serve exciting, well-presented dishes in relaxed settings with an emphasis on techniques and flavours
The rain is torrential on a cold and miserable March evening in Berlin, but inside the compact space of Mrs Robinson’s, one of the city’s most talked about restaurants, the welcome is warm and the champagne chilled. The laconic Australian manager Hamish Sullivan says, “Some bubbles on a Monday night – it’s what we do in Berlin.”
The young international trio embody all that’s good about the Berlin dining scene. Vibrant, international, passionate – but most of all, fun. Fun in an irreverent sense, mixing and matching ingredients and cuisines with unexpected but successful abandon, but also in marking a move away from the city’s somewhat staid former culinary image.
Zviel came to Berlin after working in places such as WD~50 from Wylie Dufresne in New York. In Hong Kong, the food at Ho Lee Fook maybe comes closest to his approach.
In common with many exciting global chefs, Zviel was drawn by the much cheaper rents and costs in the German capital. It’s a city he loves, with certain pros and cons, he says.
“The Berlin food scene requires a chef to be produce-focused in a more extreme way because it takes an extra effort to get high quality produce here. On the other hand, colleagues are really open and friendly; the industry culture is one of sharing ideas and inspiration, and I feel very at home here.”
