Tim Raue | WeltklasseWorld-Class

The Raues have created an impressive space at their new restaurant: Clear-cut definition, a dominating blue color with a wine-red colored highlight of the chef's table in the back that radiates an exclusive aura. Dinner guests sit comfortably, but not too close to one another. Most of the waiting staff has been under Marie-Anne Raue's supervision for years, they're well attuned to each other, professional, relaxed, cheerful and polite. Tim Raue's kitchen team works as precisely as a clockwork on unconventional interpretations of Asian cuisine that have paved the way into the league of the best of the best for Raue.

One small tip: Ordering à la carte is more complicated and somewhat pricier, so ordering a fixed menu is a more lucrative option. You'll be emerged in full flavor intoxication and tread on new, sometimes challenging paths of taste. Our first course, the red beet macarons, bore multiple layers of sweet, salty and spicey components that were constantly interacting with each other. The codfish in jade sauce is a fruity-velvety experience, the chin of pork was buttery soft, with a rich flavor produced by gingeng and grapes. The bison filet was nothing less than a piece of heaven – there is truly nothing to nag about when it comes to Raue's cooking style. Quite the contrary: His personal signature is always (pleasantly) perceivable, like a golden thread running through the individual dishes, even his interpretation of a Peking duck. Not only connoisseurs of the Chinese capital and its poultry specialty will be able to appreciate Raue's talent to diverge from conventional routes. With an almost anarchistical spirit, he's able to create culinary inventions that will linger in many a dinner guest's mind for years.

It seems almost obsolete to point to the excellent selection of wines and how they are finely attuned to each meal. The restaurant is located in Berlin Kreuzberg, at a corner where the city's contradictions come together coincide like nowhere else.

(emh)