Once in a while, you eat a dish that you can’t get out of your head. For a few weeks now, we’ve been entranced by one of the starters at Ita: the tlayuda. This pizza-like dish from the Mexican state of Oaxaca is a large, crispy corn tortilla topped with coriander cream, peas and summer vegetables. It’s a perfect snack to share on an August evening, and you’ll find yourself ordering a second one because it’s just so good. That said, at this cool, charming restaurant run by Micaela and Javier (of Remi and Bar Normal fame) every dish is good. The pair opened the Helmholtzplatz bistro in June 2023 and it became an instant classic. The décor is tasteful, the atmosphere warm and the dishes among the best in Berlin. The menu is Latin American-inspired, but blended with influences from other countries. There’s chicken in black mole and aguachile but also wonderful, freshly baked bread with miso butter. Dishes are cooked in a stone oven and employ regional, seasonal ingredients.
Then there’s the natural wine, a topic on which Micaela is happy to advise. The drinks menu includes favorites from her private collection as well as bottles from wine importers like Material. The name Ita is short for “itacate”, the Spanish word for food or provisions. It makes sense, since these are dishes you’ll want to eat today and tomorrow. This idea of being provided for reflects not just the food, but the atmosphere of the restaurant. You feel like you are in good hands, looked after by staff who seem at home. In a way, Ita is a bit like being in a living room. One which you share with your best friends and where there’s only one task: enjoying yourself.
Text: Laura Storfner & Robyn Steffen / Photos: Robyn Steffen
Ita, Lettestr.9, 10437 Berlin–Prenzlauer Berg; map
Thu–Mon 18–23h30
@ita.bistro
