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Chocolate for drama queens

Combining devilishly delectable treats with a wry sense of humour, Naciye Kilic's Kreuzberg sugar emporium Chocolateria Sünde shows there is more to chocolate than sweetness.

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Photo by Veronica Jonsson

“It’s called ‘sin’ because everything sinful is fun,” says Naciye Kilic, owner of Chocolateria Sünde.

Kilic may sound like a walking, talking excerpt from a women’s magazine, but there’s more than saccharine clichés to be found in this Kreuzberg candy shop. For one, the place is swimming in seemingly contradictory kitsch, from enormous paintings of the Virgin Mary to GDR memorabilia.

The daughter of Kurdish immigrants, Kilic founded the shop two years ago with no background in chocolate making, just an enthusiasm for sweets (inspired by her candy-loving yet diabetic father) and the kind of off-kilter stores that put Kreuzberg 36 on the map.

homemade cupcakes, truffles and cups of chilli-infused cocoa (€2.90), what stands out most are the mystery brown bags (€10), ranging from the “Drama-Tüte für Queens” to the “Existenz-Krisen-Tüte” for the truly desperate.

And there’s more than sugar in these sacks: one recent sampling of the ladies’ Tüte revealed a hot pink razor. “Ohne Drama macht die Liebe und das Leben keinen Spaß!” Kilic chirps. But behind the platitudes, this sweet shop’s got an edge.

Originally published in issue #126, April 2014.