Food
Brisgavi Wine Restaurant a pearl on Schlachtensee Lake
Brisgavi I Foto Ole Zimmermann, Creme Guides
Map
Opening Times
Monday to Saturday: 3:00pm - 11:00pm
Address
Brisgavi
Breisgauer Str. 3
14129 Berlin-Zehlendorf
.How to get there
price level
Spring fever is finally here for me as a foodie. The first asparagus has been eaten. "Where?" could be the question. Or even: "With what accompaniment in the glass?" The straw-yellow Chardonnay one-to-one from Weingut Diehl. Papaya and pineapple on the nose, green peppers on the palate, a fine drop.
However, it has to harmonise not only with the king's vegetables, which adorn the plate in white and green but also with, at first glance, quirky companions such as guacamole and North Sea prawns. But the first encounter on the palate makes it clear: what comes out of the kitchen and the bottle at Brisgavi is creative, daring and wonderfully understandable. Just like the restaurant at Schlachtensee S-Bahn station itself.
I must confess, before my visit, I had never heard of Brisgavi. An Italian wine bar? No. Wine, yes, and in a comprehensive selection of 100 positions from established and definitely to-be-discovered winemakers from Germany, Austria, Italy and France.
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Brisgavi is the Latin word for the former inhabitants of Breisgau, a long way from Italy. You enter a wonderful cosmos here. The terrace, which does not yet have seats, gives you a glimpse of wonderful mild summer evenings.
Then there's the dining room: bold blue walls, green and white floor tiles from Spain, blue counter tiles from Portugal, radiators from France, and lamps from Belgium. The blue velvet bench, the tables for two, the high table, and the long table in the middle are handmade unique pieces by a Potsdam carpenter. An interior created by someone with a lot of sense for style.
Meike Mörtzsch is behind the Brisgavi. A well-travelled professional with tremendous wine knowledge. The trained restaurant specialist has worked for the luxury cruise ship MS Europa and the Grand Hotel Esplanade in Berlin. With the Brisgavi, she fulfilled her dream of a wine restaurant five and a half years ago, a culinary place missing in the gastronomically quiet Schlachtensee.
Meike Mörtzsch is a busy and charming hostess. Greeting regulars and warmly welcoming newcomers, it doesn't look like duty but freestyle. Another guest is Thomas Pechmann. If the name sounds familiar, he was the boss of Hardy's guter Stube in Schmargendorf for over 20 years.
We sit at the high table, in front of the wall-sized wine rack, with everything in sight. This evening presents itself as if on a stage. Guests and service in convivial, choreographed togetherness, the "stage set" worked out down to the last detail and the culinary presentations on the tables.
As a passionate hobby cook, it was clear to the likeable chef that the cuisine in her personal wine restaurant (including wine sales) had to be correspondingly good. As far as possible, the products are regional and organic, but you will also find some international gems. The fact that she is a fan of South Tyrol is reflected in dishes like the homemade Schlutzkrapfen with spinach and ricotta filling, in addition to the beautiful wines from this northern Italian region.
With summer in mind, our prelude smells like Asia. Not because Brisgavi tries to combine all kinds of national cuisines on the menu. Rather, because there are dishes that go together regardless of the country, bringing a (distinct) thread to the menu.
In the coconut-lemongrass soup with guinea fowl fillet skewer, ginger adds a special piquancy. Thomas Pechmann's accompanying Pinot Blanc from Rheinhessen from the Braunewell winery, which was awarded "Winemaker of the Year" last year, makes the soup melt even more.
The Etageres are a speciality at Brisgavi. Three beautiful, grey-blue speckled plates on top of each other with seafood salad, merguez on red lentil salad and red beetroot and sheep's cheese from the oven. Three very independent dishes that all give an insight into the primarily Mediterranean cuisine. The "triple prawn" étagère, which is served at Brisgavi on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, has become a classic. 45 euros for two, top price, which does not stand for cheap, but, like everything here, for very reasonable value for money.
With the classic pike-perch fillet on dill cream pickles with horseradish potato mash, I pass the word on to my companion: the skin crispy, the fillet glazed, one of the best fried pike-perch she has ever eaten and only the mash. Moreover, she doesn't miss any cream in the chocolate sorbet with mango shavings, as would be the case with cream ice cream - translation: she is thrilled.
It is this pleasant lightness and the underlying ability to want to give the guest a wonderful evening (incidentally, also a great address for an aperitif), depending on the mood and occasion, that makes Brisgavi so unique for me. A pearl was finally discovered.
