Kink Bar & Restaurant Stylish, casual, delicious

Yes, we are late with our praise for the Kink. Last year - that very different Corona summer of 2020 - this new opening with its iconic light installation already crept onto about every capital city foodie's to-eat list. We couldn’t resist longer and finally had to test it out, too. And what can we say, we have to agree with all the previous praise. 

Founders Daniel Scheppan and Oliver Mansaray have created a light-living place here on the Pfefferberg that you will want to return to again and again. And there are plenty reasons for this. The first is the unusual and yet extremely accessible interplay of flavours that Michelin-experienced head chef Ivano Pirolo and bar chef Arun Naagenthira Puvanendran create together.

Because, let's get this straight, the word "Bar" plays just an equal role at Kink as the word "Restaurant". The bar and menu offer exciting combinations that are anything but boring to read and even less easy to categorise- and yet they reveal themselves at the first bite. After all, it's still purely about enjoyment. But enjoyment also likes a little challenge sometimes, a little culinary push now and then: asparagus ice cream and black garlic for dessert? If it comes along like it does at Kink, I will take it! 

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The term fusion would probably be the most appropriate for the inventive handling of flavours, tastes and textures. Fusion that dares to do something. Therefore, it is good to have an in-house laboratory so that you're not limited by the nature of a product or its season. Yes, really: a food-laboratory in the bar!  

The excellent wine selection by sommelier Edric Kent deserves a special mention at this point, as it cannot be pigeonholed. Natural wines alongside classics, traditional producers and "young-stars". Just like the bar and the cuisine: No dogmas, but great pleasure. And so we join in the raptures of our sommelier Max during our visit - because his recommendation for the octopus and the pigeon surround the aromas perfectly.

The former gets a welcome freshness thanks to tamarilo and chicory, while our personal star which outlines the pigeon is the chard, although everything tastes delicious anyway. Especially since we are in a truly unique place that could also be located in Los Angeles.

The historic factory building, eclectic interior, the big old lime trees and chestnuts that create a homely flair in Berlin's second-oldest beer garden, and then this fabulous 100-metre-long light installation made of red fluorescent tubes by Swiss artist Kerim Seiler. All of this creates an incomparable flair at the Kink. And then there is the really exceptionally pleasant service. Professional but friendly, as well organised as cordial, unobtrusive and yet always obliging - that's good service!

Or as owner Oliver Mansaray, who was previously engaged in the Panama Restaurant, puts it: "A waiter must have the empathy to assess the preferences of the guests. Not only in terms of food and drink choices, but also how much contact and information they want during the course of the evening." That's exactly how it is at Kink; and true to his motto, we came as strangers and left as friends (and fans). Being here is glorious.

Ronja C. Kolls

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