For a twenty-two | »here.« in Berlin: regional cuisine without coffee and pepper

For the time after the harvest: Tomatoes are pickled in the Berlin restaurant “here.” Photo: here./Nils Hasenau The “Acht Berlin” building complex on Schönhauser Allee in Berlin, where renovated old buildings meet new buildings and offices, co-working spaces and a cinema come together under one roof, has recently become home to a restaurant that follows its own claim in the name: “here.” The motto behind it is simply: “There isn’t everything here, but everything is from here.”

Marc Schmidheiny, co-founder of “Acht Berlin”, and Chiara Strobl, who is responsible for the kitchen, are behind the project. Strobl, a native of Vorarlberg, has worked, among other things, at “Nobelhart & Dirty”, the Berlin restaurant that sees regionality not as a marketing term, but as a cooking principle with full conviction.

Food author Michael André Ankermüller eats all over the world for 20 euros.

What goes on the table is not determined by the chefs, but primarily by the producers. Vegetables from Tiny Farms and the Good Food Syndicate from Brandenburg, cheese from the Luisenhof milk factory in Velten, legumes from Gut Friedersdorf, corn products from old varieties from the organic tortilleria Tlaxcalli in Rothenklempenow. Even ginger comes from the Zielke organic farm in the region, season permitting. There is no pepper, instead there is caraway. Citrus fruits, chocolate and olive oil are also missing from the menu. There are roasted fennel, juniper, verbena, linseed oil and dried mint.

For Strobl, this limitation is not a disadvantage, but rather the actual starting point of her kitchen. And it works. She not only cooked in star restaurants, but also in the cafeteria of a Waldorf school and at Campus Cantina, a company that makes better school meals. Experiences that shaped her approach to fresh, seasonal ingredients long before it became her own restaurant.

This attitude is also evident in recurring formats such as the grain and greens salad, which varies depending on the season with changing grains, legumes and fresh vegetables. In winter, for example, baked corn semolina with mushrooms and celery, in summer the same base with fresh tomatoes. Those who cook with these ingredients have fewer options. And that's exactly what creates its own taste here.

The kitchen team cooks vegetarian and vegan dishes. The small menu changes weekly. Photo: Nils Hasenau The rest of the menu is small and changes weekly: soups, stews, fresh sandwiches, quiche with salad, hearty strudel from the oven, exclusively vegetarian and vegan. When you're full, you relax. On Wednesdays there are potatoes with quark and seasonal toppings. Coffee is completely missing from the menu, instead there is Muckefuck with oat foam, made from lupins, barley and spelled, hot or as a cold brew. If you need a caffeine kick, just go next door to the coffee roaster “The Barn”. The audience is broad: everyone who wants regional cuisine will be happy here, whether office tenants from the “Acht Berlin” or tourists who come specifically. The fact that the prices are slightly higher than what you pay for soup and sandwiches elsewhere is understandable given the origin of the products.

20 euros are more than enough here. How much exactly depends on the week. Orders and payments are made via QR code. A printed menu is also available upon request. It's a shame that this is the exception. Because “here” is a place where you like to stay a little longer.

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