Reinstoff Offers Sliced Peas, Fire-Station Cool: Berlin Dining
Reinstoff
Reinstoff via Bloomberg
Reinstoff in Berlin Germany. The restaurant, which was founded last year in Berlin, was started by three young business partners who won their first Michelin star in 2009.
Reinstoff in Berlin Germany. The restaurant, which was founded last year in Berlin, was started by three young business partners who won their first Michelin star in 2009. Source: Reinstoff via Bloomberg
Daniel Achilles
Goetz Schleser/Restaurant Reinstoff via Bloomberg
Daniel Achilles, the chef of the Berlin restaurant Reinstoff. Reinstoff won its first Michelin star in 2009, the year it was founded.
Daniel Achilles, the chef of the Berlin restaurant Reinstoff. Reinstoff won its first Michelin star in 2009, the year it was founded. Photographer: Goetz Schleser/Restaurant Reinstoff via Bloomberg
A couple of mouthfuls into an exquisite dish of satiny, lightly marinated tuna, pea puree and pomelo, it dawned on me that someone had cut my peas in half.
Not just anyhow -- they were bisected with precision. It was one of many examples of the attention to detail that makes Reinstoff Berlin’s classiest new restaurant and a worthy winner of a Michelin star in 2009, the year it opened.
It’s housed in the former fire station of the factory where AEG made the first mass-produced light bulbs. The old warehouses are now populated by a film company, an art gallery, an advertising agency and technology and software firms. Strains of French, Russian and English drifted past my table in the courtyard as jeans-clad workers clocked out after a long day.
The young team at Reinstoff (the name means pure substance) met while working at Juan Amador’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant Amador, in Langen, near Frankfurt. Amador cites Ferran Adria of El Bulli in Spain as an inspiration. Adria’s experimental approach has filtered through to Daniel Achilles, the talented chef at Reinstoff. Sommelier Ivo Ebert serves Spanish as well as German wines.
You might expect people who split peas to be overly fussy and formal, not the most comfortable company. Yet the beauty of the Reinstoff experience is that there is nothing to distract from the food, without doubt the main reason to go there.
Exposed Brickwork
The decor is cool, dark and understated with exposed brickwork and broad metal pipes. The focal point is a metallic grid hung with silver spheres on the ceiling. The atmosphere is calm and relaxed, as are the customers.
The service is unobtrusively choreographed. Diners choose from two menus: “Ganz Nah” (Quite Near) serves local produce; “Weiter Draussen” (Far Away) has more exotic fare. Six courses (and they are small) cost 89 euros ($115) on each menu. We opted for the accompanying wines by the glass, at 46 euros. This kind of quality doesn’t come cheap.
Scouring the “Quite Near” menu, which my guest chose, I was impressed by the treats to be found in the wilds of the Brandenburg countryside, the flat, under populated and relatively poor region surrounding Berlin that always appears an expanse of not much when you go through it on the train: Great for swimming in the lakes and riding bikes, not known as a gourmet paradise.
Brandenburg Buffalos
I learned that a farm in Jueterbog, 70 kilometers south of Berlin, produces organic mozzarella and ricotta from a herd of water buffalos. And that “navettes” (a white turnip variety) from Teltow, between Berlin and Potsdam, are a delicacy when lightly steamed and served with thin slices of marinated beef.
A selection of amuse-bouche included a mouth-watering quail’s egg in a mustard sauce, a sliver of eel on a beetroot biscuit and a chocolatey duck’s liver with mango. Ebert served a refreshing aperitif of rhubarb and white-currant essence mixed with Cava.
The most memorable dishes were raw trout in a vichyssoise sauce; the tuna with the pea; venison with creamy avocado and sweet-corn; and a carrot-and-orange ice cream on a stick. A desert of wild berries came with cotton candy. I haven’t even mentioned the melting suckling pork -- or the mint chocolates.
Letting the sommelier select wines proved a good idea. He opted for some bold pairings we never would have chosen. A German pinot noir was served with plaice; cheese came with a Spanish Muscadet.
Dining at Reinstoff should be treated like an evening at the theater. It’s almost a shame to go if you have business to discuss that might divert attention from the food. It’s best to sit back, soak up the performances, anticipate each scene change and let the evening unfold.
The pea-cutting sous-chef can take a bow.
Reinstoff is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Address: Edison Hoefe Berlin Mitte, Schlegelstrasse 26c, 10115 Berlin. For more information, http://www.reinstoff.eu or call +49-30-3088-1214.
Bloomberg Questions
Cost? About 140 euros per person including wine.
Sound level? Low.
Date place? Yes.
Special features? Understated perfectionism.
Private room? No.
Will I be back? Yes.
Rating: ***1/2
What the Stars Mean **** Incomparable food, service, ambience. *** First-class of its kind. ** Good, reliable. * Fair. 0 (no stars) Poor.
(Catherine Hickley is a writer for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are her own.)
To contact the writer on the story: Catherine Hickley in Berlin at chickley@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Beech at mbeech@bloomberg.net.
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