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
