Berlin

Great Danes

There's a little bit of Scandinavia in Mitte at East & Eden, the new Danish-owned café on Torstraße. Ulla Skaaning Mathiesen and Orla Damgaard partnered up with Berlin brands to serve delicious coffee, tea, quiche and sweets.

Image for Great Danes
Photo by Francesca Torricelli

It might be the next step in Mitte’s inevitable transformation into Little Scandinavia, but at least new café East & Eden isn’t run by the usual too-cool-for-school Nordic twentysomethings – at age 47 and 52 respectively, Danish owners Ulla Skaaning Mathiesen and Orla Damgaard left behind established careers as architects and interior decorators in Copenhagen to fulfill a lifelong dream of working abroad.

On arriving, they immediately set up partnerships with the locals: Bonanza coffee roasters, recent tea startup TeaTales and a certain tarte baker whose name they won’t reveal (only that he’s based out of Moabit). He’s the one behind the delicious quiche (€6.90 with a side salad), served in generous rounds with a moist interior and crisp crust. The meat version comes with Serrano ham, sun-dried tomatoes, leek and parmesan, but we preferred the less orthodox, sweet-salty vegetarian one with Asian-spiced feta cheese, spinach and dates.

If you’re craving a real Danish experience, end your lunch by picking up some fancy liquorice from high-end manufacturer Johan Bülow (€7-12/150-170g) and – truly a rarity for a Berlin café – swiping your EC or credit card.

East & Eden, Torstr. 141, Mitte, U-Bhf Rosenthaler Platz, Mon-Fri 8-18