The essential ingredients for a Friday night in: candles, wine, music – and Michelin-starred cuisine. Now if you’re wondering how you are going to create a world-class meal in your own kitchen, not to worry. Like everything else these days, you can simply get it brought to your door – in this case courtesy of Voilà. Launched in 2021 by former Foodora employee Julius Wiesenhuetter and business partner Florian Berg, the Berlin start-up has partnered with dozens of top restaurants to bring haute cuisine home. The concept of fine dining to-go is nothing new in Berlin: since the pandemic, leading eateries like Restaurant Tim Raue and Einsunternull have experimented with high-end food delivery. What makes Voilà different is that you can sample cuisine from restaurants all over Germany and beyond. And so while you can order dinner from local legends like Cookies Cream and Zenkichi, you can also taste two-star cuisine from restaurants further afield like Ox & Klee in Cologne and Opus V in Mannheim. The founding pair expect the restaurant line-up – which currently extends to Parisian eatery Sola – to expand further.

This being the festive season, a number of the restaurants are serving up Christmas specials including Hamburg’s Dim Sum Haus, who are shipping out their showstopping Peking duck (some say it’s the best in Germany) for festive dinners at home. Delivery of the food is via post: once you place your order, your meal is prepared and partially cooked by the chefs before being packed in smart sealed containers to keep it fresh and juicy. At home, all you need to do is reheat the dishes according to the instructions and serve. As to whether you reveal to your guests that their dinner came in the post: well, we’ll leave that up to you…

Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Voilà (r) & Cottonbro (l)

To get the full story on Voilà – including an interview with the founders – listen to episode #15 of Teller Stories, available on Podigee, Spotify and all major podcast platforms.

Voilà deliveries are fulfilled in time for Friday dinnertime. Deadline for orders is Wednesday at 20h.

Teller Stories is on Podigee, Spotify and all major podcast platforms.
New episodes of the current season are released every Thursday.
 
@getvoila
@tellerstories

No, they didn’t actually meet under a baobab tree. Victor Matekole, originally from Manchester, arrived in Berlin after stints in the Netherlands, France and Ukraine. It was here that he met Hungarian-born Györgyi Bòka at Adidas, where they both worked, and today they are married and live with their two sons. Their third baby is the restaurant Meet me by the Baobab tree, which opened in 2017. Although there aren’t that many baobab trees in Matekole’s parents’ homeland of Ghana, according to Ghanaian folk tales, the baobab is a place where people meet. It’s fitting for this spot on Wedding’s Soldiner Straße, where neighbors come to chat and eat, and a large space behind the dining room hosts concerts and events (when there’s not a lockdown, that is). The interior is lovingly designed and, like Wedding, is funky, creative and completely unpretentious.

The dishes originate only indirectly from West Africa: Matekole and Bòka were schooled on the cuisine by their Ghanaian neighbor in Berlin. Baobab serves many vegan and vegetarian dishes you’d find in Accra today like the authentic jollof with sweet potatoes and cassava which lend rich flavor and spice to the rice. Hungarian cuisine rounds out the menu, with cheesy scone-like Pogača breads. While Berlin is surely not the first place you’d think to go for African cuisine, things have improved a lot in the last five years, according to Matekole. And Baobab, close to the African quarter, is a welcome addition. Wedding reminds him of the city of Salford near Manchester: down-to-earth and residential. There are few frills at Baobab but it’s authentic, and like the baobab tree, it has put down healthy roots and is becoming an integral part of the neighborhood.

Text: Johannes Paetzold / Photos: Jonas Michel

For more culinary highlights in Wedding, check out Episode #13 of the Teller Stories podcast:

Meet me by the Baobab tree, Soldiner Str.41 13359 Berlin–Gesundbrunnen; map
Mon–Sat 12–19h, closed Sun

@meetmebythebaobabtree

Poke bowls are well and truly established in Berlin, but in October 2021 a new address for this delicious dish arrived on the scene: Jigi Poke. Despite Poke’s Hawaiian origins, you won’t find surfboards or a potted plant jungle at this Rosenthaler Platz eatery. Instead you’re greeted by an elegant, high-quality interior with a light, earthy color palette. Nonetheless, the designers at Vaust Studio who did the interior were keen to recall the origins of Poke, with the likes of photographs of Hawaiian fishermen. The sturdy granite stools you sit on are surprisingly accommodating, thanks to their specially hand-carved surface. As for the food itself, you can either ask the team to recommend their favorite bowl or construct your own as you like it.

My go-to is the Real Salmon Bowl with sashimi salmon, cucumber and pomegranate seeds, though if you don’t eat fish there’s a wide range of vegan options. Whatever you go for, expect an accompaniment of lime, coriander and sushi ginger. Owner Daniel has a Michelin background, something that shows in the quality and regionality of the ingredients used. While this is a difficult task when it comes to fish, the restaurant works with Deutsche See to source more sustainable and responsible catches. The two long concrete tables are particularly impressive and provide a great contrast to the vibrant food. Whether it’s for a quiet work lunch or a feast with friends, this sleek eatery should definitely be on your list.

Text & Photos: Jonas Michel

Jigi Poke, Rosenthalerstr.69, 10119 Berlin–Mitte; map
Mon–Sat, 11h30–21h30

@jigipoke