Berlin

They said Gorki Apartments would be just like a second home. But my first home isn’t surrounded by the world’s funkiest bars, restaurants, boutiques or art galleries. And the gourmet kitchen doesn’t look anything like my 0.95m2 kitchenette at home, either. Nor are there miniature, handmade, lavender-scented bars of soap! I tell you, Gorki Apartments is even better than a second home.

I love baking and I love cheese. So of course, I love cheesecake! And the best place to try a variety of NY cheesecakes and everything else a brunch lover's heart could desire, is Barcomi's. Cynthia Barcomi opened her first bakery in 1994 in Berlin Kreuzberg. Another location in Berlin Mitte (as well as three book publications) soon followed.

I recommend you to head for the top and work your way down. Mainly because the 6th and 7th floor are devoted entirely to food; 110 cooks, 40 bakers and confectioners, 30 gourmet counters and a panoramic penthouse winter garden-slash-restaurant offering a view over the Wittenbergplatz. It‘s almost worth coming here just for the Wittenbergplatz U-Bahn station, one of the oldest in Berlin, I’m always amazed by its incredible Art Nouveau entrance hall!

This place is pretty special to me. It used to be a Jewish girls school (maedchenschule.org) before the Nazi regime put a horrible end to all that. Which is why it’s so great to see a little Jewish flavor return to this stirring bing, albeit this time with unmistakably New York overtones! Mogg & Melzer is definitely the place to be for a pastrami on rye, matseball soup or barbecued brisket! Served in a grilled sandwich or cold with salad. And yes, even the salt is kosher!

I visited this place for the first time in the early 90s. It was a perfect pit-stop to warm up and unwind and leave the cold, dark winter to wait for you outside. Since then it has moved to the KunstHof, where you can still enjoy a variety of Chinese or Japanese teas or just relax on big seat cushions amongst hand-carved sandalwood pillars. One of my favorite haunts these days.

For a stirring glimpse of the country’s more turbulent history, I’d recommend a look through the lens of one of its most celebrated press photographers. Barbara Klemm worked for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for 45 years, more than enough time to document events like the 1969 student riots in Frankfurt, anti-nuclear protests in 1983, and of course the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Drop in for a look, you won’t regret it!

Looking for ways to mix it with the locals? Do as I do and just smooch up next to them at the long wooden table of this hip Torstrasse eatery! Thanks to the open kitchen you can enjoy the hypnotic process of live sushi preparation.

Time to get loose? Head on over to Berghain. This place used to be a power plant that divided East from West. Now it’s a powerhouse of a nightclub doing its best to bring them together. Starting with the name, which is a composite of the two city districts that border it: Kreuzberg (former West Berlin) and Friedrichshain (former East Berlin). Make sure you check out the upstairs Panorama Bar with an amazing view over East Berlin!