Don’t judge a restaurant by its kinky mural. When theNOname opened in spring 2019, the one thing I knew about it was that it had an oversized depiction of a scantily clad, tied-up woman on its back wall. The installation, painted by local artist Anne Bengard, struck me as a cynical attempt to exploit the fetish scene in order to spice up yet another Mitte casual fine dining venture.
When you’re watching a guy string up his willing husband from a coat rack, you’d expect to be slurping oysters, not munching on al dente Jerusalem artichokes with shredded kombu.
Only recently, when I was invited to a six-course, €199 ‘Dinner and bondage performance’ hosted by the restaurant as part of the ‘Eat! Berlin festival’, did I realise I was wrong. Speaking with the German couple that owns theNOname (as well as the adjoining Heckmann-Höfe), I learned that the rope artist they’d invited was a good friend. These aren’t food people capitalising off BDSM imagery; they’re BDSM people capitalising off food. To me, this is somehow more acceptable. It might also explain the lack of culinary direction. Until recently, when the restaurant settled into a groove with Tim Tannenberger, a Berliner who honed his modern-German chops at Neukölln’s Eins44.
Tannenberger’s veggie-forward locavore cuisine, served as a tasting menu only, would appear at odds with theNOname’s hedonistic ethos. When you’re watching a guy string up his willing husband from a coat rack, you’d expect to be slurping oysters, not munching on al dente Jerusalem artichokes with shredded kombu. But there’s admittedly something sensual about the food here. Asked about his cooking, Tannenberg stressed the importance of fat – that’s probably it. A slick of sunflower cream beneath those sunchokes added unctuousness and body to what would otherwise have been an austere Nordic-style dish. Sweet cured pike perch came in a rapeseed oil emulsion with ground bay leaf on top, a swerve from the bright, acidic crudos we’re all used to. A glob of cheese-coated mayo as an amuse-bouche? No limits, no boundaries, as the restaurant’s motto goes.
These aren’t food people capitalising off BDSM imagery; they’re BDSM people capitalising off food.
Tannenberg’s signature lamb ribs weren’t on the night’s menu, but a perfectly moist, crisp-skinned bite of French squab hinted at his facility with meat, just as a char-grilled carrot with black garlic signalled his lack of dependence on it. All in all, very solid cooking with just enough frisson to titillate the Oranienburger Straße tourist crowd, similar to the ‘KitKat 101’ leather harnesses worn over the waitstaff’s modest black uniforms. Or the wine list, which combines edgy natural stuff with safer French and Austrian picks.
Or, for that matter, the bondage demo itself, which was as technically impressive as it was PG-13. While you won’t be able to witness a rope-assisted recreation of the ‘Fidgety Phillip’ scene from Der Struwwelpeter at every meal, the owners hope to repeat the event soon. (In the meantime, a normal dinner runs up to €125 for eight courses, with a €59, four-course ‘pre-theatre’ menu available early in the evening.) Can we anticipate similar shenanigans at The Knast, their soon-to-come boutique hotel, restaurant and queer art space in Lichterfelde? Let’s hope they don’t leave us hanging.
- TheNoName, Oranienburger Str. 32, Mitte, visit their website here (the website’s homepage is definitely a must-see!).
