By Nicole Franceschini
Berlin is known worldwide for its unique cultural environment in which Germans live together with expats from all over the world. In the past years Berlin’s expat community has been exponentially rising in number and the foreigners coming to live and work in Berlin are more and more every day. In all this I am also part of this expat group as one of the over 20 000 Italians living in the German capital.
As we probably all know, la Cucina Italiana (Italian Kitchen) is worldwide appreciated for its delicious recipes and its immortal masterpieces used all over the planet (yes, pasta and pizza are two of them!). As an Italian I love cooking homemade dishes but sometimes I do not have that 8-12 hours required to cook that special dish following the traditional grandma´s or mom´s recipes! So one day I decided to start cruising around, looking for a good restaurant in which to enjoy original tasteful Italian food. And so here they are: the two best restaurants I found in Neukölln!
LA PECORA NERA: HOSTARIA VENETA
(The Black Sheep)
This is absolutely the best place in Berlin where you can taste the real Northern (Italian) flavors! The restaurant´s decoration reminds me of the traditional north-Italian tavern (so called, osteria from the Venetian “hostaria”) wich are typical for the Venetian region. The old black and white family photos, the hanging copper cooking tools, the red and white chessboard tablecloth and the soft lights give the visitor the chance to travel back in time, living an almost-real (well, we are still in Berlin!) Italian atmosphere. The food is simply outstanding. The kitchen offers a variety of traditional northern dishes prepared with ingredients from Italy and the menu is constantly changed depending on the season and the availability of fresh ingredients! A must-eat is the antipasto (starter): il Tagliere Veneto offers a mix of cheese, salami and ham with home backed break and breadsticks.
Suggestion: Don’t leave without drinking a little shot (cicchetto) of their grappa!
The restaurant is not very big and it is very often completely booked, for this reason reservations are a must (per telephone or email).
Website: http://www.pecoraberlin.de/
Telephone: 030-68832676
ZIO FELIX
Zio Felix offers a completely different style of dishes coming mostly from the Mediterranean regions. The dishes are not fully traditional Italian but they are absolutely tasteful! In particular my suggestion is to try their amazing pizza and their desserts (very eye-appealing and with a quite delicate taste). Everything is prepared with the maximum attention and the staff is very welcoming. The overall atmosphere is convivial and the furnishing is simple but very cozy. In addition Zio Felix offer the possibility to eat gluten-free dishes!
Also in this case the restaurant is not very big and I suggest to make a reservation in advance (per telephone).
Website: https://www.facebook.com/ZioFelixGlutenfreiEssenBerlin
(Have a look at the restaurant: http://goo.gl/WlEj63)
Telephone: 0176 59948695
