Tupac Restaurant Delicious food from the Inca empire in an unagitated setting

First of all, I have to disclose myself at this point: Tupac, that awakens associations with the West Coast, California Love and deadly shootings - please forgive me.

In case of this Kreuzberg restaurant, Tupac of course alludes to the great revolutionary leader and last Inca king Tupac Amaru (the naming of the US rapper, who was shot in 1996, is no coincidence, as his civil rights activist mother named him after this very king). Indeed, the team at Tupac Restaurant comes from all corners of South America and brings together a wide spectrum of those flavors and tastes from the Andes to the Amazon in this charmingly pretty Kreuzberg corner.

In his open kitchen, Chef Ariel Peralta from northern Peru conjures up Latin American-inspired delicacies to share. As far as the products are concerned, attention is paid to local producers wherever possible, and nose-to-tail is also a matter of course.

Tupac's menu features simple but excellently executed classics such as a ceviche alongside innovative and creative combinations that not only tickle our taste buds. "Cocina libre" - free cooking - is what Ariel calls his and the Tupac team's cooking style. He says it's all about creative freedom, interpreting and changing traditional recipes.

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But first we start with drinks, which are equally imaginative and top-notch at Tupac Restaurant. A tasty Chicha Morada Sour finds its way to us, and so does a Mezcal Old Fashioned, whose strong smoky aromas are in no way inferior to the whiskey equivalent.

Food is served tapas-style, meaning everything comes when it's ready. Wonderful bread from Keit in Schöneberg with differently colored butter, for example. Or the ceviche just mentioned, which is hidden behind the name Agua Chile. Wonderfully clean, no frills, instead fiery sharp acidity and an authenticity that transports you for a brief moment from cold Berlin to completely different realms.

Also extremely fine are the razor clams, draped up the side of a bowl with the help of some cassava puree. An emulsion from the mussel broth adds flavor to the puree at the bottom of the bowl, as one of the cooks calmly explains to us at the table. The collagen emulsion from the pig viscously wets the lips and brings everything together in a delicate way - almost like ramen soup. 

Super-crispy buñuelos are served in a stone pot that hints at the distant Andes. The deep-fried corn balls combined with a rather spicy rocoto jam unite home and faraway places as only deep-fried carbohydrates can do. To dig in.

While we find oca, the root bulb of sorrel reminiscent of potatoes, taste-wise unexciting, the added spicy duck hearts in combination with pickled onions and Brussels sprouts convince us all the more. Nose-to-tail par excellence, because we find the duck fillet on the plate next to it, arranged with Chinese cabbage and an aromatic mole.

The crowning glory of our wonderful evening in South American climes, however, is the piña colada in a completely different way: while visually it is less impressive than the rest of our dinner, the flavor combination of pineapple grilled on a skewer and thus caramelized, a snow of coconut, rum syrup and algarrobina crumbles (algarrobina is a syrup from the black carob tree) convinces us beyond measure.

More piña colada for the world, you want to chant, especially when it's presented the way it is at Tupac Restaurant. We will definitely never forget who Tupac Amaru was - the kitchen team took care of that perfectly. That's why we plan to come back soon. The best time to do so is when we can take a seat on the enchanting terrace when the temperatures are milder. Until then, however, the wonderful food will certainly comfort you over Berlin's winter gray.

Ronja C. Kolls

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