The wall says it all.
It is a vertical treasure chest in the form of a gigantic letter case that dominates the entire restaurant with its unpretentious minimalism of walnut tables, linen curtains and black lacquered columns, filled with 144 glass containers in which the quintessence of Marco Müller's cuisine is stored: fermented roots and herbs, pickles Blossoms and buds, concentrates from larch wood and oils from oak leaves, whole beef hearts and the Berlin-Brandenburg variant of the Roman seasoning sauce Garum.
Jakob Strobel and Serra
deputy head of the feature section.
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Throughout the evening, the treasures from this effectively illuminated alchemist's cabinet find their way onto our plates, where they join the most German cuisine that can be eaten not only in the German capital, but throughout Germany - a cuisine that defies all chauvinism is not suspicious and wants nothing more than to cook as German as the French cook French, the Italians cook Italian and the Spaniards Spanish.
Role model for a whole cohort of young chefs
It probably requires a man who is the only one of the nine German three-star chefs who has not experienced the slightest socialization in classic haute cuisine.
Marco Müller grew up in Potsdam, was sent to the stove instead of to study by the state and party leadership as punishment for his rebellious spirit and made the best of it when the wall fell and the whole world was suddenly open to the 19-year-old.
With the exception of a short episode in the Black Forest, however, he spent his entire career in Berlin's top kitchens. In 2004 he became head of the "Rutz" restaurant, cooked his way there within sixteen years and has long since become a role model for a whole cohort of young top chefs in the capital and does not see himself at the end of his path.
Like a manic treasure hunter, Müller is constantly on the hunt for new ingredients that meet his radical quality standards and allow him to cook German, but not dogmatically nationalistic - Norway lobster from Denmark and even caviar from Tibet are just as welcome to him as carp from the Müritz or Deichlamm from Husum, if there is no adequate replacement at home.
Most of the time, however, he stays close by, sends us on a walk through the forest of the palate with pine needle dust and cucumber essence in the morning dew of the Mark, lets us sniff the local sea air with North Sea herring, apple and dill granité, dried and grated pickles and homemade sour cream or serves us a carp, like we have never eaten before - as a highly complex dish composed of carp tartare with enormous effort,