einsunternull, Berlin

A view that you can only experience at lunch. In the evening, einsunternull lives up to its name and takes guests to the lower basement. A ten-course menu is then served there; at lunchtime, the spectrum ranges from three to five courses. Needless to say, which variant I chose….

Almost exactly one year ago, the culinary project of Ivo Ebert, Andreas Rieger and Benjamin Becker opened. And it was precisely at this noon that the first information leaked out: The einsunternull now bears a Michelin star. As the only newcomer to the capital. Reason enough to toast with another glass from the good wine list.

Andreas Rieger’s cuisine is often mentioned in the same breath as friendly Berlin restaurants. For example, Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Sebastian Frank’s Horvárth, and Dylan Watson’s Ernst, which will be launched in 2017, all have similarities. At the last Berlin Cooktank under the motto natural cuisine you could convince yourself of this. Nevertheless, the style is of course quite unique, as far as one could see at this lunch.

The event kicked off with a dish entitled Radish, Heart and Cress. Whereas the heart here in cured, dried and finely shaved texture only lightly accents, gives depth of flavor and wonderfully combines the sour cream and radish.

It is followed by mushroom bread, onion plants and goldlein oil. The paper-thin mushrooms are bedded on two kinds of cream. One is a mushroom cream, the other is a delicate bread cream. Above the linseed oil and flowers of wild garlic and onion. Not only visually a beautiful and at first glance very simple plate, but also full of earthy flavors and aromas. Very exciting.
No less exciting the char with ash and rapeseed oil. Marinated in brine for 24 hours, it arrives at the table only slightly warmed. The scent of burnt leek gives the fish an intense aroma and light bitter notes and a pleasant aromatic complexity. This can be further enhanced with the surprisingly thickened canola oil carrot sauce. A great fish dish.

In the main course, Ivo Ebert serves a thickening of lamb with sour potatoes and chamomile. With vegetables, the style of mushroom bread continues. Wafer-thin potato slices on a light cream, topped with a delicate powder from the potato peel. At first, the fragrance evokes associations with cocoa and chocolate. The belly flap is worked as a rolled roast and, in the context of the small lunch menu, is almost considered a foreign body. A very tasty, crispy and strong foreign body though.

For dessert, two variations find their way onto our table. First, a beet cooked for three days with aronia berry and rose. Beet juice is the first thing that comes to mind for someone with a childhood in Westphalia. Not entirely wrong, probably. The light sorbet of chokeberry and rose takes away some of the heaviness of this course.

Blueberries and milk are said to bring back childhood memories. This is also partially successful. But regardless, this is a light, uncomplicated, yet finely crafted dessert. The milk here has an almost snow-like consistency and harmonizes perfectly with the pickled, sweet and tart fruity berries, of course. Close in taste to the Mizu Shingen Mochi that Andreas Rieger recently introduced at Cooktank. Similarly light, cool and characterized by strong fruit notes.

I am really pleased that the friendly team with this modern, fresh and at the same time so pleasantly undogmatic cuisine was so quickly and highly awarded. I think the supposed reduction on the plates is great. A few protagonists, always clearly recognizable and yet often of great aromatic depth and surprising complexity.

I am already very excited about the big evening menu, because that’s what we have to try now in the short term…