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Domu Nosta At home in Sardinia

Wednesday, May 11 2022
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Opening Times

Monday to Friday: 6.00 – 11.30 pm
Kitchen: 6.00 – 9.30 pm

Address

Domu Nosta
Knaackstraße 45
10435 Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg
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The Sardinian restaurant Domu Nosta in Kollwitzkiez in Prenzlauer Berg is not the Italian restaurant cliché that you often find in Germany. Instead, Laura Molteni and Alessandro Saiu offer an atmosphere of cosy fine dining in their tastefully furnished dinner restaurant, accompanied by the background music from the record player. Not without reason dies Domu mean home in Sardinian language. One feels at home.

The furnishings are carefully arranged; there is a story behind every picture and object. But it is by no means minimalist but cleverly combines the light room with dark furniture and photographs by various artists, from black and white pictures to botanical sketches printed on pages of German-Italian dictionaries. Warm and cool simultaneously, one feels immediately at ease and takes pleasure in discovering small, well-thought-out details. For example, the three toilets are marked with framed playing cards, namely jack, queen, and a joker as a gender-neutral alternative. A detail that I personally find very appealing.

The cuisine can be described as sophisticated. Alessandro comes from Sardinia and can look back on twenty years of cooking experience in different parts of the world. On the other hand, Laura has a journalistic background in the design industry, is originally from Milan, and has always felt connected to Sardinia. So when the two met in Berlin, they decided to open a Sardinian restaurant with a modern touch.

Although the two are a couple, both in business and private, Domu Nosta is not a family business per se, where Italian-classic cooking is done from big pots. Instead, they serve extraordinarily tasteful and perfectionist plates that are not afraid to mix Sardinian classics with elements of other cuisines, such as black salsify or wasabi. This is also appreciated by Sardinians living in Berlin, who find their familiar cuisine combined with interesting new flavours.

We begin our culinary excursion to Sardinia with a glass of typical Sardinian sparkling wine, accompanied by a selection of bread, which is already worth mentioning, as the large loaf comes fresh from the oven, not baked on, but home-baked, and which is combined in the basket with Pane Carasau, a kind of Sardinian crispbread, wafer-thin slices of dough, baked with olive oil. These taste exquisite combined with our first starter: Tartare di Manzo - finely seasoned beef tartare with olive pate, capers, roasted peppers and truffle mayonnaise. A noble plate that makes you want more.

And that follows on its heels: in stark contrast to the dark plate, we are presented with Verdure Miste, the chef's fantasy. Although it is only a baked, grilled and marinated selection of vegetables, it is so beautifully arranged and flavoursome that it also deserves to be highlighted. Wine-wise, we have now switched to Vignaruja, a Sardinian red wine made from the typical Cannonau grape there. The wine list is extensive, but beer drinkers will also find Sardinian products at Domu Nosta.

The next course is also vegetarian and one of my favourites of Italian cuisine. The Parmigiana di Melanzane, a vegetable casserole of aubergines, tomatoes and parmesan, is topped here with a poached egg and combined with a pretty bundle of puff pastry filled with mozzarella. Very tender, spicy and again, a good interplay between soft and crispy.

While we wait for the last course, we are allowed to try an excerpt from the cocktail menu. For my companion a non-alcoholic Basil Smash, someone has to drive, and for me a Hugo. After the dinner service, you can soon visit Domu Nosta just for drinks and enjoy the cosy atmosphere there.

The last course trumps not only in taste but also visually. Fregola Sarda is a special Sardinian pasta. Consisting of lentil-sized balls of dough, it is cooked in broth like a risotto, which makes it juicy and al dente at the same time and gives it a very balanced creamy taste. Coloured with sepia ink and garnished with seafood, this dish makes you feel transported straight to Cagliari. There is a particular detail here: The dish gets its special touch from bottarga, dried fish roe from the big-headed mullet.

Too satiated for dessert, we end our journey through Sardinian cuisine here. You choose between two and five courses, each of which can be combined from starters and main courses. Our visit to Domu Nosta was refreshingly different. Those who long for a unique Italian restaurant will feel at home here. We do and will gladly come again.

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