Berlin’s longest-running vegetarian restaurant has a new chef (and a Michelin star)…
The first challenge for any visit to Berlin’s slickest vegetarian restaurant Cookies Cream is finding it. Run by Cookie, veteran party promoter and founder of the popular club that until 2014 was located below it, the restaurant adheres to a ‘underground/anonymous’ ethic that chimes with Berlin’s world-famous house and techno scene.
The restaurant has a completely separate entrance, hidden away in a delivery yard around the back of the Westin Grand hotel. Dimly lit, eerily silent and festooned with wooden palettes and rubbish bins, it feels more like the kind of place you’d come to inject hard drugs than feast on fresh produce.
The incongruous chandelier dangling from concrete struts is the big give-away. It guides you to a door decorated with designer light bulbs: ring the buzzer, announce your reservation and you’ll find yourself in the small but dapper ground-floor bar, where you can enjoy an aperitif before ascending to the restaurant one floor above.
With exposed brick walls, soft lighting and low concrete ceilings, Cookies Cream has a loft-like vibe that remains pretty much unchanged since its opening in 2007. The artwork that provocatively riffs on a famous credit card symbol still hangs on the wall, and tasteful club-friendly tunes still spill from the speakers.
Simple white tablecloths contrast with dark red chairs and banquettes, and the wait staff remain casually-dressed and friendly in a further bid to do away with the dull formality that fine-dining restaurants so often insist on. This open-minded aesthetic is even more impressive, perhaps, when you consider the restaurant has been the proud owner of a Michelin star since 2018.
The food concept hasn’t changed much, either. Originally opened to satisfy the culinary (and entrepreneurial) wishes of Cookie, a long-term vegetarian tired of his city’s lack of meat-free dining options, it is still one of the few restaurants in the city committed to high-end vegetarian food. In fact the only thing that has changed, and only recently, is the chef.
The head chef for fifteen years was Stephan Hentschel but since 2023 it has been Nicholas Hahn, who brings his own strong focus on seasonality. His ability to incorporate modern, creative vegetarian and vegan dishes was showcased in his previous role at Berlin’s Restaurant am Steinplatz.
“I was thrilled at the chance to return to cooking in a gourmet restaurant,” says Hahn, “especially to execute my own concepts on a plate within a vegetarian and vegan context. I viewed this role as an opportunity to infuse Cookies Cream with my distinct style, defined by its simplicity, modernity, seasonality and creativity.”
Since joining, Nicholas has certainly influenced the menu with his own vision. Around eighty-percent vegan nowadays, it reflects an even deeper commitment to plant-based cuisine. Dishes now rotate approximately every six weeks to heighten the focus on seasonal produce, and Nicholas has introduced innovative preservation techniques.
The restaurant still thrives on collaborations with local farms and high-quality suppliers. These include Farmer Peter from Krielow, Brandenburg, who provides a variety of vegetables and herbs between March and October, including a unique ‘Cookie Tomato’ named in honour of the restaurant. Massimo Ferradino, hailing from a Swiss-Italian background but based in Berlin, brings top-quality fresh truffles sourced from Italy, Spain and France. Kreuzberg’s Markthalle Neun is well-known for its array of fresh vegetables, oils, and herbs, while Beba Baxter makes exquisite vegan cheeses from cashews and almonds, as featured in sauces like the miso beurre blanc.
Signature Hentschel dishes such as the parmesan dumplings, Onsen egg, and miso cucumber with seaweed caviar remain on the menu, joined by Hahn’s own creations: kohlrabi, pea and tomato, bell pepper with jalapeno and capers, celeriac, macadamia and yuzu. As to whether these dishes match the prowess of yesteryear—let’s just say the Michelin guide didn’t hesitate in giving Hahn his very first star for 2024.
Such high quality food doesn’t come cheap but it’s still far from outrageously priced for a Michelin experience; a five-course menu is 115 euros. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink pairings are also available, but if you feel like a drink afterwards, pop back down the stairs to Crackers; housed in the space that once held Cookies, it offers a suitably club-savvy edge with DJs at weekends and a killer cocktail list.