EXBERLINER Issue 153, October 2016

BEST OF BERLIN — October 2016
BY THE EXBERLINER
EDITORIAL TEAM
Cafés
BEST KOTTI
COFFEE
Kottbusser Tor – yes, Berlin’s
most hyped crime hotspot – is
now gaining an improbable
rep as a coffee hub. Just in the past
several months, two shiny new cafés
have opened in courtyards off the scuzzy
main drag of Adalbertstraße. First, a
second branch of decade-old Penzlauer
Berg caffeine scene staple BONANZA.
It’s a bigger, grander location: less neighbourhood
hang, more coffee temple.
Here, refurbished vintage roasters lightly
toast the (ethically sourced) beans for
both cafés (and all the other businesses
around town that sell Bonanza coffee),
giving them that acidic, fruity flavour
profile we’ve come to expect, like in the
€5 bottomless drip. But Bonanza looks
positively antiquated next to THE VISIT
(photo), a newbie roaster down the
street opened by Berliner Cihan Kocak
(also of Mitte coffee shop The Refinery)
and Polish Bonanza alumnus Damian
Durda. Picture an Apple store dedicated
to coffee: polished, white, filled with
futuristic gizmos that gauge the colour
of each roast and help conduct water
through grounds in a million different
ways. The speciality here is “nitro coffee”:
cold-brew coffee treated with nitrogen
and served out of a tap. The result is a
Guinness-like concoction, refreshing and
creamy whether served black or white.
At €3.50 it isn’t exactly cheap, but then
again, caffeine’s still the least expensive
drug sold in the area. — KP
Bonanza Kreuzberg Adalbertstr. 70,
Kreuzberg, Mon-Fri 9-17, Sat-Sun 10-17
The Visit Adalbertstr. 9, Kreuzberg,
Mon-Sun 8-20
Karolina Spolniewski
Frank-Michael Arndt
Science
BEST TREK TO THE STARS
At the newly renovated ZEISS
PLANETARIUM, every show
begins with a rousing overture
of classical music as the moon rises
and sets in a field of 3500 stars. These
stars are really just small streams of
light projected onto a giant, 23-metre
dome, but as you recline your seat and
stare at the simulated sky, you start
wondering: Why are we here? Are we
alone in the universe? And, if you don’t
speak German: What the hell are they
saying? Yes, the two-year, €12.8 million
makeover of the futuristic, GDR-era
sphere on Prenzlauer Allee included a
metal screen laser-perforated to form
a perfect dome and a state-of-the-art
HD projector to display the stars that
were previously poked out by hand,
but no English subtitles. An app with
simultaneous translation should be
available this month, so bring your cell
fully charged and a pair of headphones.
Or skip the comprehensive galaxy tour
(€8/6 reduced) for the rockin’ laser
show “Queen Heaven” (€9.50/7.50).
With a movie theatre and restaurant
(menu by “star chef” Tim Raue) to
open this winter, the latest incarnation
of the planetarium hopes to be more
of a cultural centre than a grade school
field trip destination – maybe even a
place you’d bring a date. Which might
be why the new credo is “to teach AND
entertain”, although we’re still unsure
of how Queen fulfils either. — KP
Zeiss-Großplanetarium
Prenzlauer Allee 80, Prenzlauer Berg,
programme at stdb.de
4 EXBERLINER 153