Berlin's high-end cooking has stopped behaving. The house on Torstraße with a star and a green one sets its tables close and without cloths, the starred room in the Kollwitzkiez calls itself fine dining without the stiffness, and one of the most interesting menus in the city goes without pepper, lemon and olive oil.

Thirteen addresses across the city, from Okerstraße to Kantstraße.

Oukan – vegan fine dining behind a red door

Behind the red lacquered door in a courtyard off Ackerstraße opens a room that reads as sacral: dark concrete, dimmed light, a huge bonsai in the main hall. Oukan is Berlin's vegan fine-dining house on a Japanese line, cooking out of its own fermentation lab.

The menu changes regularly and runs across five to eight courses. Wednesday to Saturday from six.

Barra – a Bib Gourmand over sharing plates

Daniel Remers runs the stove, Kerry Westhead the wine list — previously sommelier at P. Franco in London. On Okerstraße, seasonal sharing plates of regional produce come with low-intervention wines from the Jura, the Loire and Catalonia. The house has held a Bib Gourmand since 2020.

The best seat is the one at the kitchen counter. Monday to Friday from six, closed at the weekend.

aerde – no pepper, no lemon, no olive oil

Justus Will runs his research restaurant at the Lokdepot on a single rule: what does not come from Brandenburg does not go on the plate. No pepper, no lemon, no olive oil. Acidity and seasoning come from house-made garums and ferments.

The menu follows what the forests and fields are giving — six courses, with a wine or non-alcoholic pairing. Tuesday to Saturday.

stoke – one grill as the entire concept

stoke turns yakitori into a ritual. At the centre an open binchotan charcoal grill, and around it a long L-shaped counter where the kitchen team runs the evening like choreography. The look is purist: big windows, clean lines, no noise.

The menu rotates; the skewer section stays. Fridays and Saturdays until midnight.

893 Ryōtei – high-end cooking behind a graffitied façade

A graffitied façade outside like an abandoned shell, a lounge and a sushi counter within: The Duc Ngo runs a double game of hide-and-seek on Kantstraße. Ryōtei is the Japanese term for the elevated form of the kitchen, here with South American influences added.

Reservation is compulsory. Let the counter choose — the sashimi line is unusual for Berlin.

NOVEMBER Brasserie – fish straight from the market

On Husemannstraße runs a contemporary Japanese brasserie whose menu stands on fish and seafood, sourced directly from fish markets with no middleman. A long oak bar forms the centre of the room.

Tuesday to Friday from six, and from four at the weekend.

Restaurant Bricole – an hors d'oeuvre bar that became a starred house

Bricole sits on Senefelderstraße as a francophile house with a fine-dining posture — the name means small things in French, and that is what the kitchen turns on. What began as an hors d'oeuvre bar became a focused menu restaurant, holding a Michelin star since 2022.

The signature move is a tart that looks like plum cake and tastes savoury. Monday to Saturday from seven.

Matthias Restaurant – a star without the stiffness

A French-leaning gourmet restaurant on Kollwitzstraße, run by an owner duo and holding a Michelin star since 2026. The line is fine dining without the stiffness: relaxed in tone, precise on the plate, with a wine list named newcomer of the year.

Five or six courses; à la carte or fully vegetarian work too. On Saturdays it also opens for lunch.

Loumi – a dozen seats around a steel counter

Karl-Louis and Mical opened Loumi on Ritterstraße in 2023, after cooking in a Neukölln courtyard before that. Today it is an intimate room with a little over a dozen seats around a stainless steel counter, looking into the open kitchen.

A French base with Japanese precision and Nordic accents. Wednesday to Saturday from a quarter to seven.

NaNum – served on plates she throws herself

Jinok Kim opened NaNum on Lindenstraße at 66 — previously an opera singer and a ceramicist — together with her husband Dirk Eicken. The concept ties restaurant to ceramics gallery: the food arrives on plates Kim throws herself.

What you eat is what she grows in her own garden in Potsdam and ferments in house. Wednesday to Saturday from seven.

Restaurant BRIKZ – Arne Anker between brick walls

Arne Anker opened BRIKZ on Grolmanstraße at the end of 2020, four years after running the kitchen at Pauly Saal. Barely a year in, the Berliner Meisterköche named him newcomer of the year. Inside, low light between the brick walls that give the place its name.

Seasonal, detail-obsessed cooking with uncomplicated service. Tuesday to Saturday from six.

Verōnika – fourth floor of the restored Tacheles

On the fourth floor of Fotografiska on Oranienburger Straße, the Swedish photography museum inside the restored Tacheles. 180 seats across 338 square metres, designed by Werner Aisslinger: velvet-upholstered benches and an endlessly long bar at the centre. Roel Lintermans cooks in the open kitchen.

Sundays add a lunch service; Fridays and Saturdays it runs until one.

Bandol sur mer – a star above tightly set tables

The narrow room on Torstraße sets its tables close and without cloths, the kitchen is open, the light dimmed. Andreas Saul has run the stove here since 2010 and has been the leaseholder since 2018. The house has held a Michelin star since 2016, and a green one for sustainability since 2023.

A single menu is served, classical French lines thought through in a modern way, with a vegetarian version of its own. Monday to Friday from half past six.

Bottom line

In Berlin the awards now hang in rooms without tablecloths: a star above tightly set tables on Torstraße, a Bib above sharing plates on Okerstraße. And the sharpest concepts define themselves by what they leave out — no pepper, no animal product, one grill.