In Vienna, there’s an excellent restaurant called Mraz & Sohn — if you happen to be traveling there any time soon. Amelie and Alan met there and then moved to Berlin in the summer of 2023 — luckily for us Berliners. Here, they founded their artistic-culinary duo Studio Schmaus and offer conceptual catering, events and private dining experiences, all with regional products from small, fine producers that they know personally. Sounds fantastic? It is. We were able to find out for ourselves at our first Berlin Bites Dinner, where Amelie and Alan created a course menu for our guests. If you don’t have an occasion to book catering but you’re already working up an appetite reading this, we recommend the beer dinner they’ve organized with Schneeeule. The small Berliner Weisse brewery still brews with the yeasts of the last traditional Berliner Weisse manufactory yeasts. This small business has come under a bit of pressure in recent years. To prevent closure, there is a crowdfunding campaign and the aforementioned beer dinner: food and a toast for a good cause. All proceeds go to the small brewery and its brewer Ulrike. Amelie and Alan cook with verve and vegetarian ingredients. And if you can’t get tickets, don’t feel you’ve missed out, the pair are opening their own studio space in Kreuzberg in July 2024. A space for events, collaborations and experiments — so many more dinners will follow.  

Text: Alina Herbel / Photos: Studio Schmaus

Schneeeule x Studio Schmaus Beer Dinner, Wiener Str.18, 10999 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map

@schneeeuleberlin
@studioschmaus

We Neuköllners are a frantic bunch: all immersed in our own worlds, busy hunting for three euro Döner and trying to negotiate Hermannplatz without stopping, looking up or interacting with the world in any way, shape or form. All this leaves precious few opportunities to start a conversation with our neighbors. That’s got to change, says the local authority, and to do it they’ve come up with the Lange Tafeln, a one-day community event that takes place tomorrow (31.05.2024) all over the district. Working with local organizations, Bezirksamt Neukölln is setting up tables at 19 outdoor locations from Gropiusstadt to Richardplatz where you can have coffee and cake, meet folks from your block and get involved in fun activities. You can go to a magic show in Buckow, do some upcycling by the Kindl brewery and plant some herbs at Herrfurthplatz. Whichever location you head to, you’ll have the chance to chat to your neighbors (or non-neighbors – you don’t have to live in Neukölln to join in) and enjoy a brew. If you’d rather get busy than shoot the breeze, you are advised to head over to Tempelhofer Feld, where there’ll be tightrope walking (kids included) and a bike repair workshop. Expect friendly chat, civic participation and summer-in-the-city vibes. Neukölln, we knew you had it in you…

Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Savannah van der Niet

Lange Tafeln takes place across Neukölln tomorrow (31.05.2024).