Tim Raue

Local Kreuzberg lad done extremely well, Tim Raue has been extremely busy of late: his flagship picked up a second star from the bods at Michelin, he curated the Thai concept restaurant at the Adlon Kempinski hotel as well as opening La Soupe Populaire, an upmarket spin on rustic German classics. For a real splurge, head to his main restaurant near Checkpoint Charlie where the menu best showcases his fusion style: far east meets west on the former borderland of Berlin. The sleek restaurant, decorated with delicate Chinese pottery and dark wood furniture sits just 30 and while many of Berlin’s fine dining establishments follow the traditional French service dictum, here they pride themselves on informality, the front of house staff sporting jeans and trainers (the kitchen even has a TV mounted in the corner for football fans in the kitchen). None of this detracts from the exacting dishes. The 6-course ‘Unique’ tasting menu (€148) is preceded by amuse-bouche, such asspicy cashews, prawn sashimi and marinated pork-belly, moving on to main courses featuring Wagyu beef, lobster, Australian winter truffle and tofu, all flaunting Japanese technique and served with blobs, smears or foams of contrasting flavours and colour. Booking advised.