Nobelhart & Schmutzig

At Nobelhart & Schmutzig on Friedrichstrasse nothing reaches the plate that does not grow in and around Berlin, and nobody eats at a table for two: guests sit at a counter around the open kitchen. Six courses start at 120 euros and eight at 200 euros, filtered water included, and every course names its producer on the card.

An inconspicuous house on Friedrichstrasse

Nobelhart & Schmutzig sits at Friedrichstrasse 218 in Kreuzberg, in a building that promises nothing from outside: whoever wants to come in rings the bell. Kochstrasse station and Checkpoint Charlie are within walking distance, and during the day the area is full of visitors who notice nothing of the restaurant. It opened in February 2015, and the Michelin star arrived as early as the 2016 edition, which it has held ever since. Two names stand behind the house: Micha Schaefer as head chef and Billy Wagner as host and owner. Inside there are no tables for two. Around forty-five seats lie at a U-shaped wooden counter and at one large oval table, both with a view into the open kitchen, and each of those seats is filled only once in an evening. The house calls itself a Speiselokal, a plain eating house, which for a starred restaurant is an unusually modest piece of self-description. A purely vegan menu has not been on the programme since the beginning of 2020.

Brutally local, with three or four ingredients per dish

The principle of Nobelhart & Schmutzig is caught in a single sentence of the houses own: what does not grow in and around Berlin is not served here. It calls this stance its brutally local concept, and with it the house gives up everything that usually defines top-level cooking, from citrus fruit to spices from far away. Only local agriculture counts. The dishes accordingly arrive spare, with at most three or four ingredients that are meant to speak for themselves, and on the card each course names the person who grew or raised the produce. There is a choice of two lengths: six courses from 120 euros or eight courses from 200 euros, each including filtered water. There is no flat rate for drinks; instead they are charged as they are consumed, and each course comes with a recommendation, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. For the booking guests leave credit card details. In 2017 the house was a co-founder of the association Die Gemeinschaft, together with Horváth.