Dinner at Bonvivant Here the chef still harvests himself

Oh, Bonvivant. The Schöneberger Cocktail Bistro always lures us back to its colourful premises, after all, it has many facets. We have already had the pleasure of reporting on several occasions, including the brunch. Now we turn our attention to the evening's casual fine dining from the hands of chef Nikodemus Berger. It's about time, because the young Austrian already took over the kitchen a year and a half ago, having previously worked with Sebastian Leyer at Le Faubourg.

"When I started, they said I could do whatever I wanted as long as it remained vegetarian," Nikodemus enlightens us. It all started with brunch and a small team. Since then, the kitchen team has expanded, and the Bonvivant has become a safe bank for fine vegetarian dining.

But the Bonvivant offers another special feature: it is equally known for its creative cocktail creations from the hands of bar manager Elias Heintz. They usually accompany the menu with drinks and are precisely matched in taste to the individual courses.

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The full Bonvivant experience awaits us on our visit: the six-course menu (81 euros) with the corresponding accompaniment (53 euros). The first course of two creams - roasted apple cream with black garlic and yoghurt flavoured with pine needle and pine, served with kohlrabi soup - already deliciously demonstrates Bonvivant's kitchen philosophy.

Nikodemus, who grew up in Vienna, spent a lot of time with his grandmother in the forest in his childhood, where they collected everything edible. This has developed into Nikodemus' passion for picking his own ingredients, which he pursues alone, with the team and, on special occasions, together with the guests. In spring and summer, there are special tours on which he introduces the guests to his hotspots for wild herbs within Berlin by bike and later uses what he has picked directly in the menu.

The glazed brown cabbage with smoked beluga lentils, in the middle of which a Beurre Blanc with sauerkraut is poured, is particularly beautiful to look at, and with the confit egg yolk on the side, it resembles a fried egg. The cocktail of apricot, hibiscus and wild cherry, topped with a beer foam, rounds off the whole thing ideally in terms of taste.

However, not "only" cocktails accompany the dinner here. The obligatory bread course, incidentally with sourdough bread from Johann, is accompanied by a Knärzje, zero waste beer from Frankfurt. The very light beer is made from leftover bread from the bakeries surrounding the brewery and is an excellent way to ground yourself a little in taste between cocktails.

The crowning glory is a dessert that is truly worthy of ending the menu sequence. Pannacotta made from parsnips sounds unusual at first. But the taste delights us and is nevertheless difficult to describe. You simply have to taste it for yourself. It is accompanied by a cream of white chocolate and sweet pickled pine cones - collected by Nikodemus himself, of course. And so the circle closes.

As we sip the last drink of jenever, mandarin and carrot, we hope to be taken on such a herbal tour one day too. Until then, we are happy to continue tasting what we have collected from Nikodemus' hands at Bonvivant.  

Maximilian Zeh

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