These are the Berlin Master Chefs 2024

The Berlin Master Chefs 2024 show once again this year that Berlin’s cuisine never loses its excitement. The city’s gastronomy scene is bold and inventive, sophisticated, internationally oriented and at the same time firmly rooted in the region. This year reflects a particularly wide variety of culinary approaches.

At the festive gala ceremony in the urban ambience of the former C&A building in Neukölln, the CANK, the brightest minds in Berlin’s gastronomy were honoured for their outstanding achievements in the following categories: “Berlin Master Chef”, “Rising Star of the Year”, “Berlin Host”, “Berlin Scene Restaurant”, “Berlin Kiezmeister”, “Berlin Bar Culture” and “Gastronomic Innovator”.

The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner: “Berlin celebrates its Master Chefs. In recent years, top gastronomy in our city has developed successfully and has long been able to stand up to national and international comparison. This year’s awards for Master Chefs once again reflect the quality and diversity of Berlin’s gastronomy scene. Innovation, creativity and sustainability, which are so important in restaurant culture, are also honoured. I would like to congratulate all the prizewinners and thank everyone on the jury and in the organisation who contributed to the success of this year’s competition.”

Dr. Stefan Franzke, Managing director of Partner für Berlin: “The Berlin gastronomy scene is a reflection of the diversity and creativity of our city. It combines different cultures, traditions and culinary innovations in a unique way. This diversity is not only a cultural wealth, but also an economic driver that creates jobs, attracts international guests and strengthens Berlin’s global reputation as a cosmopolitan metropolis. The winners of the Berlin Master Chefs 2024 award embody this innovative and multicultural spirit that makes Berlin one of the most exciting food destinations in Europe.”

The award winners:
 

The “Berlin Master Chef 2024” award goes to Max Strohe from the restaurant “tulus lotrek”.

The jury stated in its decision: It’s a good thing Max Strohe exists. Otherwise he would have to be invented. And that would be anything but easy. Strohe is a rather unique mix. Not only can he prepare unrivalled scallops and grill pigeons, but he can also write captivatingly about smash burgers and club sandwiches. He entertains on television and campaigns against the right. Tulus Lotrek, the Kreuzberg restaurant that he runs with Ilona Scholl, is one of those strokes of luck where guests always leave with a smile. Here, fine dining is combined with feisty pleasures. Batman would eat here – claims Strohe. Who would contradict him?

Karl-Louis Kömmler from the “Loumi” restaurant was awarded the title of “Rising star of the Year 2024”.   

The jury stated in its decision: The story of Loumi began in 2017 as a supper club in a backyard flat in Neukölln. Just six guests per evening were able to enjoy the unpretentious fine dining experience with a seasonal approach on selected dates. With the opening of the restaurant of the same name in Kreuzberg at the end of 2023, the circle has expanded and the concept has grown up - and that’s a stroke of luck for Berlin! Karl-Louis Kömmler’s cooking style is based on a French foundation with Japanese flavours and Nordic influences, interspersed with a common thread of spiciness and citrus notes. Kömmler puts the high-quality basic product centre stage and frames it with sauces full of character that lend every dish a new intensity. The fact that a self-taught artist is at work here makes his ability effortlessly to combine creativity and precision all the more impressive.     

In the category “Berlin Host 2024”, the jury chose the sisters

Dr. Sahar Sodoudi & Dr. Forough Sodoudi from „DR & DR Middle Eastern Culture and Food Lab”.

The jury stated in its decision: “Good food often connects people more than words can,” says Sahar Sodoudi. And good hospitality is the crowning glory of the culinary experience.  Just like her sister Forough, she was not trained to host, the twins with Iranian roots come from a scientific background, but it is a matter close to their hearts.

In 2019, they opened the “Culture and Food Lab” in Kreuzberg as “Dr & Dr”, where they give cookery courses, organise dinners and offer catering. Their message is calligraphed on the wall of the studio: Love flows here – and that’s precisely the name of their first cookery book.

From the moment they enter until they leave, the focus is on the guest.

The sisters see themselves as ambassadors of Persian culture, whose narrative is determined by politics and religion. They set an example for the culinary arts and hospitality of Persian culture – in their own unique way.         

This year's “Berlin Scene Restaurant 2024” goes to the restaurant “Verōnika Berlin”.

The jury stated in its decision: The imperial-era façade is battered by bomb splinters, peace signs surround impact holes, and the graffiti-coloured stairwell has retained the flair of the post-reunification era. On the fourth floor, sophisticated, lively Berlin! Our Scene restaurant 2024, Berlin’s current No. 1 hotspot, has been created as the enjoyable centrepiece of “Fotografiska Berlin”, Berlin’s new museum for photography, art and culture, in the former Friedrichstrassen-Passage, a war ruin that was converted with foresight and understanding and which also housed the Tacheles. Honey-yellow upholstered furniture stands around elegantly white-covered tables. The service staff is cosmopolitan and international. The stars in the kitchen are Executive Chef Roel Lintermans and his head chef Philipp Tröbs. The cooking is skilfully classic, creative and seasonal. The pumpkin gnocchi were wonderfully aromatic, with nicely crisp cubes of Hokkaido pumpkin, vegan bacon, borlotti beans, candied walnuts, and a tangy, fresh verjus. Anyone eating here can also stroll through the exhibition rooms free of charge and until 22:00 via a separate entrance. For a nightcap, head to Bar Clara in the futuristic, pyramid-shaped roof dome with a far-reaching view over Mitte. More Berlin is not possible!

The “Berlin Kiezmeister 2024” is the “Domäne Dahlem” in Steglitz-Zehlendorf.     

The jury stated in its decision: With Domäne Dahlem, we have a “sleeping beauty” whose potential and reputation needs to be shaken up more vigorously. That is exactly what we are doing with this award! Many people have probably already eaten a whole variety of vegetables from Asian lettuce to pumpkin and wax beans to onions. After all, many restaurants source regional products from there: 60 types of vegetables, 30 herbs as well as flowers, soft fruit, meat from seven types of livestock and home-produced eggs are cultivated here, but the domain is more than just a country estate with an underground railway connection in Berlin-Steglitz. It is a living museum where day-care children, school classes and other interested parties can find answers to questions such as: How was agricultural land worked in the past? Or: What does sustainable consumption mean today? 
And that leads us to what Domäne is actually all about: It is a publicly accessible, lively place where we city dwellers can relive the development of our food from the field to the plate in the country inn, from the pasture to the shopping bag in the farm shop. And experiencing here also means taking part! Be it the potato harvest on Domäne’s fields or workshops such as “Keeping chickens for beginners”, “Working with draft animals” or even a “scythe course”.
We at Berlin’s Master Chefs agree: Domäne Dahlem is unique and a very special place for Berlin, as this estate looks back on over 800 years of history. In 2024, it has finally become the Berlin Kiezmeister.  It took a long time – but better late than never!

The award for “Berlin Bar Culture 2024” goes to “Wax On”.  

The jury stated in its decision: The reason why the Wax On Bar was chosen as “Berlin Bar Culture 2024” is twofold. Firstly: It is a relaxed, typical Neukölln neighbourhood cocktail bar. With a pleasant atmosphere and cool customers. Trendy, hip, but not exclusive in the sense of excluding. You just want a good drink? Wax On. Have a good time with friends? Wax On. Let yourself be introduced to the world of home-made drinks? Wax On! And best of all: Sam Orrock and his team’s bar offers high quality at a very fair, neighbourhood-conscious price.
And secondly? Wax On Bar has earned an international reputation  - through exchange: Guest shifts for the team in other European bars in one direction, and guest bartenders who mix here in the Reuterkiez in the other. Berlin’s entire bar culture benefits from this international attention, which has long been at the global top level, but sometimes hasn’t really recognised it yet. With this in mind, Thanks and cheers, Wax On Bar.

And in the category “Gastronomic Innovator 2024”, the jury chose the visionaries Nadine and Tom Michelberger, whose family business is constantly evolving like a lifelong experiment and is looking for sustainable paths and models. The jury stated in its decision: Nadine and Tom Michelberger like to think big. Only on a small scale, in specific terms. Especially regarding the community. The two hoteliers from Warschauer Brücke in Friedrichshain don’t do projects, they do things with people. With Gerhard, the distiller at Preussische Spirituosenmanufaktur, which would no longer exist if the Michelbergers had not joined the traditional business from Wedding two and a half years ago. With Alan, the chef from the Michelberger restaurant, who wanted a contemporary brasserie for Berlin. So they took part in the wonderful Brasserie Ora on Oranienplatz. With Denise, Nadine Michelberger’s sister, who has become a farmer like her parents. At the Michelberger Farm in Naun-dorf in the Spreewald, a perma-garden whose harvest is now served in the Michelberger Restaurant. With Sam, who preferred to cook during the day. Which is why the Theke, the most delicious lunch in town, has been available in Wedding since this spring.

It is often said that successful gastronomic models must be scaled. Nothing is further from the minds of Nadine and Tom Michelberger than that. They are not scaling operations, they are scaling the spirit and heart of the Michelberger idea. This has recently brought many delicious and welcoming places to the city and the surrounding area.

“Shine & Dine” was the motto of this year’s award ceremony in the raw, industrial-architectural design of the former C&A building in Neukölln. 300 invited guests and the award winners were cooked for by the winning restaurants from the previous year, including the Michelin-starred restaurants Rutz, Hallmann & Klee and Coda.

The expert jury consists of the following jurors:

• Dr. Stefan Elfenbein, Chair of the jury, author for the magazines “Der Feinschmecker” and “Foodie”
• Tina Hüttl, Chair of the jury, Berliner Zeitung
• Felix Denk, Editor of the Tagesspiegel
• Prof. Dr. Dieter Grossklaus, “Chaîne des Rôtisseurs” (Honorary president)
• Lorraine Haist, freelance journalist and author for various newspapers and magazines
• Stefanie Hofeditz, freelance journalist, B.Z
• Alexandra Laubrinus, Managing director of Berlin Food Week
• Clemens Niedenthal, Editor of Tip & Ressortleitung Food
• Nikolas Rechenberg, Gourmetwelten
• Annika Schönstädt, freelance author for Tagesspiegel, Zeit online, Feinschmecker
• Dr. Erwin Seitz, freelance journalist, book author and gastronomy critic
• Jan-Peter Wulf, specialist journalist and founder of nomyblog

The winners up to now of the Berlin Master Chefs since the award ceremony began in 1997 are communicated in a timeline. For more information on the Berlin Master Chefs project and the history, please go to: www.berliner-meisterkoeche.de. The Berlin Master Chefs can also be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BerlinerMeisterkoeche and on Instagram @berlinermeisterkoeche.

Current photos (these will be posted online by noon on Friday, 22.11.2024) can be found here under Impressions. Please note the copyright of the photos: © Berlin Partner / eventfotografen.berlin

The Berlin Master Chefs
Berlin Partner has been honouring the capital’s best chefs every year since 1997. With the award for Berlin Master Chefs, Berlin Partner distinguishes the capital’s sophisticated restaurant culture and gastronomic scene as an import and economic factor and flagship of the city.

More than 160 chefs and restaurateurs have been honoured so far in the various categories of the Berlin Master Chefs. Former award winners include Sonja Frühsammer, Tim Raue, Daniel Achilles and Sebastian Frank.

The jury of the Berlin Master Chefs
The independent jury, made up of Berlin’s leading food journalists and connoisseurs, not only evaluates the quality of the culinary art, but also the originality of the creations, the presentation of the dishes, the service and the ambience. By honouring Berlin’s Master Chefs, the sophisticated restaurant culture in the capital is positioned as the city’s flagship and the diverse gastronomy in Berlin is made visible as an important economic factor for Berlin Partner