Michelin Guide gave one star to ten Berlin restaurants this year. The awards went to the restaurant 44, Vitrum, Facil, First Floor, Fischers Fritz, Hugos, Lorenz Adlon, Margaux, Die Quadriga and Vau. Marco Muller, at Weinbar Rutz, was named as a "hopeful."
First Floor, in Berlin's Hotel Palace (address: Budapester Str. 45), has won Michelin Guide's one star award eleven consecutive times. Chef Matthias Buchholz's octopus carpaccio with olive vinaigrette and white tomato mousse impressed the Michelin Guide testers. First Floor also won three chef's hats from Gault Millau.
Nine Berlin restaurants won three chef's hats from Gault Millau, more than any other city in Germany. Three chef hats indicate a score of 17 to 18 points out of 20 for the "highest creativity and quality" and the "best possible preparation."
Dining awards for Vitrum, Fischers Fritz, Hugos and Facil
Feinschmecker, the Varta Guide, and the Schlemmer Atlas also recommend Berlin restaurants and chefs. Thomas Kellermann, chef de cuisine at Vitrum in The Ritz-Carlton (address: Potsdamer Platz 3), for example, won awards for his creative vegetarian dishes. Another award went to Christian Lohse, at Fischers Fritz in The Regent on the Gendarmenmarkt (address: Charlottenstr. 49), for his modern French cuisine and seafood dishes.
Feinschmecker ranks Hugos, at Hotel InterContinental (address: Budapester Str. 2), and Facil at The Mandala (address: Potsdamer Platz 3), in Berlin, as two of the top three trendy restaurants. It calls Chef Thomas Kammeier, at Hugos, "unpretentious but with style." At Facil (address: Potsdamer Platz 3), Chef Michael Kempt serves light Mediterranean-style cuisine. Diners view Berlin from the landscaped glass atrium.
Vau and Shiro i Shiro restaurants
The latest dining trend combines a relaxed atmosphere with modern haute cuisine in restaurants outside high-revenue hotels. At Vau (address; Jagerstr. 54/55), for example, Chef Kolja Kleeberg prepares modern versions of regional and traditional cuisine.
Shiro i Shiro means "white castle" in Japanese. Located in Berlin's trendy Mitte district, between the Alexanderplatz and the Hackescher Markt (address: Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 11), the restaurant opened in late 2006. Gault Millau guide awarded a chef's hat to chef de cuisine Eduard Dimant, for his Japanese-European cuisine with Mediterranean accents, and desserts like maraschino cocktail with a nougat tart and spruce needle ice cream. Feinschmecker lists Shiro i Shiro in the Top Ten German Scene Restaurants.
Molecular gastronomy
Chef Cristiano Rienzner, a student of Ferran Adria, of El Bulli in Spain, creates playful, avant-garde cuisine at Goldrot, (Kurfurstendamm 64/65). He deconstructs dishes, like the classic Italian trio of tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella, into liquid-filled pads of basil jelly and ravioli folded out of transparent mango slices with sweet tomato jam in a cold mozzarella soup.
Gault Millau guide calls Goldrot the best newcomer. Other award-winning Berlin restaurants are located nearby: 44 (directly across the Neues Kranzler Eck, a popular shopping boulevard) and Daimlers and the Balthazar in the Hotel Louisa's Place (both high ranking in Feinschmecker).
E.T.A. Hoffmann, Borchardt and 44 restaurant awards
Michelin Guide gave E.T.A. Hoffmann, in the Hotel Riehmers Hofgarten (address: Yorckstr. 83) in Kreuzberg, the title "Bib Gourmand," which stands for quality cuisine at reasonable prices. E.T.A. Hoffmann serves contemporary Baden and French cuisine. In Marcellino's Restaurant Report, diners voted the restaurant into the Favorite Spots category.
Feinschmecker ranks Borchardt, in the Mitte district (address: Franzosische Str. 47), as Germany's number one scene restaurant. Its famous dishes include wienerschnitzel with slightly warm potato salad.
Marcellino's ranks Chef Tim Raue number one in the luxury restaurant price category. Gault Millau names the chef of restaurant 44, in the Swissotel (address: Augsburger Str. 44), Germany's "Chef of the Year." In spite of the awards, 44 offers an economical lunch during the day.
Best Berlin Bartenders
Schlemmer Atlas selected Maitre d' Gerhard Retter, at Berlin's Lorenz Adlon (address: Unter den Linden 77) as "Head Waiter of the Year". Gault Millau awarded the "Barkeeper of the Year" award to Nicole Bolze, at the Steigenberger Hotel's Pianobar.
Feinschmecker gave The Vox Bar, in the Grand Hyatt, second place in its ranking of Germany's best hotel bars. The Vox Bar serves more than 230 types of whiskey. Schlemmer Atlas names Andreas Lanninger, from Le Bar in the Maritim Hotel Berlin, as "Barkeeper of the Year". Gault Millau recommends Harry's New York Bar, in the Grand Hotel Esplanade, for its cosmopolitan style.
