The Cord Noble grill on the EUREF site in Schöneberg district

A vegetarian pea tortellini with herbed oyster, organic egg yolk, primal carrot and mushroom broth, and a vegan grilled pointed cabbage with an incomparable celery tea - this is summer umami soul food, the kind you want in a steakhouse. Vegetable bliss in a steakhouse? There's something wrong with that. But The Cord proves that the culinary clock is ticking in the same way and thus heralding a new understanding of food: a very relaxed noble grill on the EUREF site in Schöneberg.

The name is well chosen. At the end of the 1930s, the elegant Cord 810/812 was the first limousine with an aerodynamically shaped body and an aircraft engine, making it a pioneer in terms of mobility. Quite appropriate for a restaurant in art deco décor on the EUREF campus, where numerous companies are committed to mobility and sustainability.

A shiny original corduroy stands in the entrance hall, enlargements of the building sketches from 1937 adorn the wall above the open kitchen. The guest room is a good seven metres high, with floor-to-ceiling windows. The Steakhouse 3.0 is flooded with light, and its counterpart in good weather is Al Fresco Dining on the beautiful terrace with a view of the listed Gasometer.

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Cremant or champagne as an aperitif? It's best to rely on Olaf Rode, the experienced and friendly sommelier and host who you might know from the Michelin-starred restaurant Hugos or the unfortunately closed trendy restaurant Alpenstück. In general, you should rely entirely on Rode for the wine accompaniment. A 2019 Pinot Blanc from Dreißigacker with a fine play of acidity or a 2015 Pauiliac from Lions de Batailley with a beautiful cherry note, these are wines that underline, contrast and harmonise.

If guests say that a menu offers something for everyone, that is generally not a seal of quality. At The Cord, however, the diversity of the demanding food creates a variety that convinces every guest. Responsible is kitchen director and ex-star chef Thomas Kammeier, who is also managing the uncomplicated lunch restaurants on the EUREF campus, and the young chef Florian Peters.

Fine dining in casual dining style and world-class optics. Both the Mediterranean pulpo with artichoke and the fjord trout with ten-year-old Kamebishi soy and Spanish Escabeche sauce make this clear. Florian Peters also has a clear attitude to seasoning. This is a matter for the chef, and he goes about his work in a spirited manner.

The key question for the main courses is: fish or meat again, as well as vegetarian or vegan? Or a bit of everything. Family style is cultivated at The Cord. Come with friends or family and order different dishes to share. Then you can discover, for example, Wagyu Navel short ribs from Nebraska that have been low-cooked for 24 hours and then caramelised in the hot Beefer. Or taste how juicy Sea Tiger prawns from the lava stone grill can be.

The side dishes also follow the sharing concept. If you treat yourself to a potpourri of béarnaise sauce, saffron-garlic mayo, chanterelles, wild broccoli, spicy chimichurri and crispy fries, you'll realise that freestyle combinations suit all the main players wonderfully.

With one of the desserts, chef Peters takes his guests back to his childhood. He and his brother had, and still have, a soft spot for banana ice cream. That's not really something for upscale gastronomy. With his encounter of the tropical fruit, dark Valrhona manjari tart and white chocolate, crunchy peanuts and, rather unexpectedly, parsley crème and deep-fried, he turns his childhood favourite into a grown-up, sweet and salty dessert for the fine dining steakhouse.

Manuela Blisse

Author Berlin