RiCE UP onigiri | Healthy Fast Food

Onigiri are rice snacks originating from Japan and Korea. They usually consist of a seaweed leaf, sushi rice and a savory filling. Now, onigiris are meant to conquer the hearts of Berliners, at least according to Arev Karpert, a cinematographer, and Thorsten Reuter, a cultural scientist. Karpert and Reuter own RiCE UP, the first Onigiri snack bar in Berlin, that fits perfectly into the still underdeveloped niche of healthy food on-the-go. RiCE UP draws its ingredients primarily from regional suppliers and everything on the menu is free of artificial additives and gluten. “And we got our bio certificate two weeks ago” says Thorsten Reuter cheerfully.

The food is made in a rented kitchen in Alt-Treptow. Soon, Karpert and Reuter would like to deliver Onigiri not only to their stand at the U8 station Schönleinstraße, but also to cafeterias, wholefood stores and hostels. “We are currently launching a mobile stand that will sell food at weekly markets and festival” says Reuter when asked about the project's future. “We want to tell a story: Take over the city from the underground” say the onigiri merchants.

Underground seems to be the catchword. Why open up a bio-snack bar in an U-Bahn station of all places? “We just wanted to create a paradoxon. We thought, where's the last place that you'd expect something bio? And since we both live in Kreuzberg, we immediately thought of the U8 and there happened to be a free space at Schönleinstraße” says Reuter.

Even if the concept might have prospered faster in other parts of the city, the feedback at Schönleinstraße has been overwhelmingly positive. But we're sure that this is only the beginning.

(ihe)