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As an Italian living abroad, I’ve learned that wherever we go, our cuisine tends to follow, and Berlin is one place that’s truly gotten it right. But now and then, you stumble across a spot that goes beyond good pasta and wine. Talea is one of those places. Tucked under a Ring station in Schöneberg, Talea is the kind of project that makes you think, why didn’t anyone do this sooner? The concept is refreshingly straightforward: high-quality Italian food, a thoughtfully curated wine list, and a botanical shop selling hydroponic plants, dried flowers and air plants, all under one roof. Behind Talea are Mauro and Francesca, two Italians who have made Berlin their home for well over a decade. Mauro has years in the gastronomy scene, including running Sala da Mangiare in Neukölln, while participating in street food markets and festivals. Francesca arrived as a fashion designer, but gradually found her calling in botanical design, crafting green walls, plant installations, and curating unique plant selections. Her love for gastronomy, wine and cocktails was always there, too. When you enter Talea, every corner of the space has something to look at. The bar, lights, decorations, and the old school tables were all selected from antique and vintage shops in Italy. The menu shifts with the seasons. So does the wine list. And the plant selection. Nothing is fixed, as Mauro and Francesca prefer to navigate intuitively, always shifting and evolving.
For the food, we had a creamy Vitello tonnato, a typical Piedmontese cold dish featuring thinly sliced veal topped with a tuna mayonnaise-style sauce that transported me back to my childhood. Along with that, we had crispy grilled octopus with kai-lan Chinese broccoli, which was almost too beautiful to eat. Then, as mains, we had a squid ink pasta with prawn and green asparagus (ideal for those who wait all year for asparagus season), and hand-rolled Strozzapreti with sausage, mascarpone and saffron — the perfect balance of creaminess and bite. This was paired with white and orange wine, but for dessert, we switched to a perfectly foamed espresso martini and one of the best tiramisus I’ve had in Berlin. Just that made the visit to Talea worth it.
Text: Stefania Basano / Photos: Isabelle Marten
Talea, Ebersstr.27a, 10827 Berlin–Schöneberg; map
@talea.botanischesbistro
Want to make your smile shine even brighter? Visit Gemmed by Olive, where Olivia takes sparkles seriously. Tooth gems are tiny crystals that are semi-permanently attached to the surface of your teeth using a special adhesive. If you want to understand the look, research beyond the nearest Pinterest board. Tooth jewelry isn’t a trend born out of the white fashion industry — it’s cultural heritage. From the jade inlays of the Maya to the Black community, which popularized tooth gems in the 80s and 90s as a statement of empowerment and identity. Today, Olivia brings that sparkle to Kreuzberg. What began in 2022 as a creative outlet alongside her marketing studies has evolved into a full-time career thanks to growing demand. The vibe in the studio is relaxed, but the execution is highly professional. The process begins with a consultation where the two of you discuss what suits you best, which can be difficult because the options are endless. Gems come in countless shapes, colors and sizes — from subtle little stars to bold statement pieces. The treatment takes place while lying down. Once you’ve chosen your favorites, Olivia carefully positions the gems and lets you check their placement in the mirror before the adhesive is cured under UV light. On average, the gems last around a year and a half. (I’ve actually been wearing mine for twice as long.) The gems become part of your personal expression, catching the light every time you smile. A small, semi-permanent confidence boost that lets you shine.
Text: Susi Churas / Photos: Mohit Amlani
Gemmed by Olive, Solmsstr.30, 10961 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map
@gemmed.byolive
We all know those evenings when all you want is a quiet night at home. You settle in, ready to relax and order something to eat. But where from? From 12.-27.05.2026, that decision gets a little easier, because Wolt is launching something special: an exclusive collaboration with The Duc Ngo. Together, they are offering a six-course omakase menu built around Japanese specialties, available to order directly through Wolt. Created by The Duc Ngo and Japanese chef Masao Watari, the limited bento box brings a carefully composed omakase experience straight to your door. The Duc Ngo hardly needs an introduction. With restaurants across Kantstraße, Mitte and beyond, he has long become a fixture on Berlin’s food scene. Wolt, meanwhile, the Finland-based delivery platform founded in 2014, connects people ordering food online with the local restaurants and businesses that make those meals possible. Together, The Duc Ngo and Masao Watari have designed a six-course menu of finely balanced, high-quality components. The result is Japanese culinary craftsmanship in the form of a bento box delivered straight to your home.
The menu moves from light to rich to sweet. It begins with flambéed sea bream sashimi accompanied by yuzu chili paste, shiso leaf and radish, followed by futo maki featuring tuna tartare, spring onions and pickled daikon. Then come kamaboko, tamago and ika, fish cake, squid, omelet and roasted seaweed sheets, as well as Miyazaki wagyu tataki with beech mushrooms, seaweed, rice and chives. Black cod with miso rounds things out on the savory side. For dessert, there is daifuku: mochi with red bean, matcha mascarpone, and strawberries. Make yourself comfortable, order the box from Wolt, and turn your home into a Japanese omakase moment for the evening. There are only 700 boxes available, so better be quick!
Text: Isabelle Marten / Photos: Wolt
The Duc Ngo x Wolt
An exclusive six-course omakase menu is available as a limited-edition bento box through 27.05.2026.
@wolt.deutschland
@the_duc_ngo
Disappearing! But where to? Into exhibitions with aftereffects, playful festivals, dark cinema halls and picturesque landscapes. Here are CC’s Calendar tips for diving in and tuning out. At Acud Galerie, Echo Alliances brings works by Jordan Deal, Kasra Jalilipour and Dina El Kaisy Friemuth, exploring voice, sound, memory, and how people are connected through shared rituals. Here, echo is understood as a political and feminist form of resonance and solidarity. The exhibition runs until the end of June 2026. Leave reality behind at the A Maze Festival (13–16.05.2026), spread across the city, bringing together games, art and experimental media. Tomorrow (15.05.) strange worlds emerge, with talks, performances and the interactive sound installation “Samples” at Panke Gallery, before nighttime gaming begins. Disappear at Kino Arsenal, as part of the Magical History Tour, a series on directorial debuts is currently running — fitting for the reopening of the venue at its new location. Early works by filmmakers who later made film history are being shown. On Friday (15.05.), Agnès Varda’s La Pointe Courte is screening — a low-budget film, shot with near-documentary closeness, balancing a relationship story with the everyday life of fishermen, later considered a precursor to the French New Wave. Further out, picturesque landscapes are calling. At Skulpturenpark Schlossgut Schwante, celebrate the season opening on Saturday (16.05.). Spend half the day walking through the green park with music and enjoying wagyu burgers from the grill, or exploring the 2026 exhibition.
A public guided tour where director Marcus Boxler presents new works in the park, including pieces by Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg and Karl Karner. Admission is free! Finally, onto food. Between street food and visions of the city’s future, the Bites & Bikes Festival rolls into Jules B-Part this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday (16–17.05), more than fifteen international food vendors — including small artisanal producers and vegan and gluten-free kitchens — meet cargo bikes as urban infrastructure. Not just as a means of transport, but as part of a local circular economy. There will also be music and a few additional program items. At Stoke on Sunday (17.05), Food Technique Berlin is taking over with a ramen pop-up. Food Technique is a culinary project by Christoph Selig, who has been dedicated to precise craftsmanship and Japanese culinary traditions (especially ramen) since 2020. His ramen kits are delivered via red bucket from the window of his apartment in Mitte. At Stoke, there’s a set menu with clear broths and handmade noodles — meaty or vegetarian, with optional grilled dishes from the Stoke kitchen. Reservations recommended. If hunger is better shared, the Thai’d Up Sundays at The Rad might be a better fit. Moyo and Tartak have come together for mezze with a Thai twist. Expect Thai-inspired, Middle Eastern–leaning mezze — vegan, vegetarian, made for sharing, dipping, and tasting through. For those who prefer to eat solo, there are individual dishes and a mezze platter to make sure nothing is missed.
Text: Emma Zylla / Photos: Agnès Varda, Jens Keiner, Bites & Bikes, Moyo, GetVoila, Stoke
Acud Macht Neu, Veteranenstr.21, 10119 Berlin–Mitte; map
Echo Alliances 30.04.–28.06.2026
@acudmachtneu
@acudgalerie
Amaze Festival
13.–16.05.2026. Find the locations and full program here.
@a_mazefest
Arsenal, Plantagenstr.30, 13347 Berlin–Wedding; map
La pointe courte 15.05.2026 17h30. Get tickets here.
@arsenalberlin
Schlossgut Schwante, Schloßpl.1–3, 16727 Oberkrämer; map
Season Opening 16.05.2026 12–18h
@schlossgut.schwante
@boxlerer
@hannahsophiedunkelberg
@karnerkarl
Jules B-Part, Luckenwalder Str.6b, 10963 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map
Bites & Bikes 16.–17.05.2026 11–22h
@bitesnbikesberlin
@jules_community
Stoke, Lindenstr.34–35 via Feilnerstr., 10969 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map
Ramen Pop-up 17.05.2026 13–19h. Reserve your table here.
@stoke.berlin
@foodtechniqueberlin
The Rad, Friedelstr.30, 12047 Berlin–Neukölln; map
Thai’d up Sundays 17.05.2026 from 14h. Reserve your table here.
@moyo.berlin
@tartak.cooks
@therad.berlin
There are plenty of them, these in-between spaces. Places in Berlin that feel off-putting at first because they don’t quite explain themselves. Can I just walk in here? Is co-working possible without endlessly consuming? One in-between place that feels effortlessly accessible is the Amano. Between a hotel lobby, café and cozy rooftop terrace, boundaries blur on Auguststraße. Not least because of the €5 Aperol Spritz, which you can grab to go through the window. A recent addition is Café Amano on the ground floor, open directly to the street, offering specialty coffee, refreshing drinks and a surprising, bold 24-hour opening time. People sit in the co-working area with laptops, drink complimentary drip coffee, or slip briefly into the “Silent Garden”. With the first warm evenings, rooftop season has also begun. This year, the terrace is animated in collaboration with Whispering Angel, the Château d’Esclans rosé. All summer long, it becomes the house’s pink-hued meeting point, with drinks and DJ sets in the evenings. A place without thresholds, designed to be entered.
Text: Emma Zylla / Photos: Amano Group, Jens Bösenberg
Amano Bar, Auguststr.43, 10119 Berlin–Mitte; map
Rooftop season from the 30.04.2026, weather permitting.
@amano.berlin
@amanobar
@amanogroup
ANMELDUNG