If you are looking for a boundary-pushing brunch or a decadent dinner, Berlin has a raft of options. But what about the humble lunch? Enter Sorrel, the cafe-restaurant in Kreuzkölln offering an innovative update to midday meals with a seasonal menu of genre-busting dishes. Located on the south-facing corner of Pflügerstraße and Pannierstraße, the eatery’s mainly glass frontage lets light flood into the whitewashed brick and polished concrete interior. While the cuisine rightly qualifies it as a restaurant, the layout of the place remains relaxed, with lots of open space and a large oak-panelled coffee bar in the center. This focus on coffee is no accident: the project was dreamt up in part by Silo co-founder Morgan Love who, having established his Friedrichshain cafe as a coffee and brunch institution, was itching to start a new venture.
Morgan opened Sorrel with co-founder Paul Bangerter in September 2020, before Corona forced the pair to close over the winter. Now the guys are back on weekends with a pared-down takeaway menu of seasonal, moderately-priced dishes that are a step up from the avo-based staples you get at Silo. Expect food that draws on all kinds of cultures and cuisines, like the mushroom tempura sando, a chunky battered mushroom sandwich that comes served with beer-soaked daikon pickles – a nod to Paul’s Japanese roots. The potato galette, meanwhile, comes straight out of rural France, yet is topped with smoked salmon and a horseradish labneh for a Mid-Eastern twist. The pair hope to serve a full menu on their large streetside terrace in the summer, but until then you can get the dishes to go along with a flat white courtesy of in-house roasters Fjord Coffee. We’ll be first in line.
Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Merle Büttner
Sorrel, Pannierstr.40, 12047 Berlin–Neukölln; map
Currently open for takeaway Sat & Sun, 10–16 (to be extended when conditions allow)
@sorrel.berlin
