Holly Gastrobar Regional French cuisine with heart

There are restaurants where you feel so comfortable and secure that even the currently non-existent Berlin summer can be endured. Holly Gastrobar is just such a restaurant. It's not just the excellent cuisine and wine selection that impresses, but also the warm manner of the owners. A complete package that provided us with a successful evening and did so not for the first time.

Holly Gastrobar near Boddinstraße is run by Fernanda and Simon - partners both privately and professionally - who opened the restaurant in 2021. Their son is a frequent guest in the restaurant, which creates a friendly family atmosphere. Fernanda is the good soul in service, a wine and beer sommelier and mum. Partner Simon is the chef and, together with his team, creates excellent dishes from local products.

French himself, Simon's plates not only show the classic French craftsmanship but also that he has travelled the world and knows how to create delicious dishes with the products that Berlin and the surrounding area have to offer. 95 per cent of the products come from the surrounding area to reduce the ecological footprint. "We don't use any spices that don't grow here." So chilli replaces pepper for a spicy kick, and verjus replaces lemon for acidity.

1 | 8

The menu changes seasonally and is continually reinvented - with a few constant classics in changing variations. We start our menu with one of these. Tartare with fermented chilli, cured egg yolk and fermented mayonnaise. Simon is a fan of fermentation and pickling and makes many things himself with his two chefs, from fermented potato bread to miso.

We taste our way through the colourful starters, which couldn't be more different and delicious. A particular highlight, both visually and taste-wise, is the beetroot gazpachuelo with roasted nuts and black persimmon, whose combination of colours and flavours creates a work of art for all the senses, not least because of the hand-pottery plates made by Fernanda's mother.

A particular highlight awaits us in the main course, a 50-day matured Dry Aged Côte de Boeuf. The French cut from local production is served with wild broccoli, miso butter, buttered corn and blueberry ketchup and is a highlight for meat fans.

With the meal, we enjoy Fernanda's beer and wine selection, especially delicious: the sparkling Vin de Soda Brut from Weingut Scheuermann. But you shouldn't forget the water at Holly. The socially minded Fernanda and Simon not only hold regular charity events in the restaurant but also donate one euro per bottle of water sold to charitable organisations such as the Berlin Homeless Aid.

So the concept of Holly Gastrobar is truly warm and familiar in every respect.

Maximilian Zeh

Marketing & PR