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

Some places are built around the table itself, where the food matters just as much as the conversations and the people gathered around it. At Solid Berlin in Kreuzberg, the table is a starting point for something bigger. Part restaurant, part neighborhood meeting spot, the space brings together seasonal cooking, community events, and a connection to local farms. Solid is closely connected to the concept of SoLaWi, short for “Solidarische Landwirtschaft”, or community-supported agriculture. It’s a model where people in the city support nearby farms and receive seasonal produce in return, creating a direct link between the city and surrounding countryside. Initiated by Viviana, together with Robert and Herbie, and shaped by a wider collective rooted in gardening, community organizing, and food systems, the space feels inherently collaborative. Walking into the space, the atmosphere immediately feels warm and inviting. Thoughtfully decorated with wine-bottle candle holders, vases of flowers, posters on the walls, comfy couches scattered around the room, and shelves of local wines and gardening seeds, it sits somewhere between a restaurant and a living room for the neighborhood. Near the entrance is an elevated wooden structure with a staircase, like a small tree house. Inside sits a radio booth for RBL Radio, a web community radio station, another layer to the space’s role as a cultural and community hub – a unique blend of radio and dining.

The menu changes weekly depending on what produce farms and collectives provide, with a focus on seasonal, mostly vegetarian dishes and ingredients sourced from producers such as SoLaWi Waldgarten, Plantage, and Urstrom Käse. On our visit, this translated into a flavorful bratwurst made with Apfelschwein, served with purée, gravy, and parsley, as well as gnocchetti in a pumpkin sauce topped with kale and pangrattato. For dessert, a hazelnut financier with ice cream and pear rounded things off. Beyond the restaurant, Solid hosts a regular program — talks, workshops, and community gatherings, shifting throughout the day from a lunch spot into an evening space for events in Kreuzberg, bringing neighbors, farmers, and curious visitors together around food and conversation. Still relatively new, having opened in October 2025, the space has already begun to establish itself as a place to meet, exchange, and return to.

Text: Stefania Basano / Photos: Mohit Amlani

Solid, Graefestr.18, 10967 Berlin–Neukölln; map

@solid.berlin