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Cookies Cream

MITTE

Some might say deliberately concealing your restaurant at the back of a dimly lit delivery yard festooned with garbage bins isn’t the smartest of business moves. But this is Berlin, a city that thrives on conceptual novelties, and the fact that Cookies Cream is hidden behind a hotel – the Westin Grand to be precise – and has to be hunted down via subtle ‘clues’ (an incongruous chandelier; designer lights above the anonymous door), rather than obvious signposts, has only enhanced its reputation.

Set up by Cookie, one of Berlin’s veteran party promoters and lifestyle entrepreneurs, the restaurant is actually positioned right above the most recent incarnation of the eponymous club he first opened back in 1994, which uses a separate (normal) entrance on Friedrichstrasse. In keeping with the club’s smart-trendy aesthetic, the restaurant interior is reminiscent of a New York loft: exposed brick walls dotted with contemporary artworks, low, concrete ceilings and simple, white-clothed tables.

Attractive as all this is – and yes, that includes the young, casually-attired male and female waitstaff – the food is the real star here. Head chef Stephan Hentschel was one of the first in Berlin to transform the somewhat-humdrum image of vegetarian food into something dynamic and adventurous. Time spent working in various high-end restaurants in the city (Noi Quatro, Renger-Patzsch and Facil, where he trained under Michelin-starred chef Michael Kempf) has given Hentschel’s cooking a daring streak that is evident in the menu, which banishes lazy staples like pasta, tofu and rice in favour of parmesan dumplings, beluga lentils and spinach tartlets.

Most ingredients are seasonal and sourced from regional farms and farming collectives (in winter the restaurant uses around half German and half Mediterranean products), and everything is prepared fresh in the open kitchen on the other side of the restaurant. Vegans can request that their dishes be prepared without dairy, and if you dine here on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday, entrance to the club is free. PS

Behrenstr. 55, 10117; U Französische Str.; www.cookiescream.com

Map: East B1