A block of the Berlin Wall is part of the decor

Restaurant Tim Raue

October 5, 2017

Background:

Tim Raue is broadly considered to be the best chef in Germany. He had a hard upbringing ; he was abused by his dad, and raised by his mom and grandmother who had little money. Raue joined a gang when he was young, he describes himself as angry and violent. After being unsuccessful at school, he was given three career paths at a vocational school --a gardener, painter, or chef. He chose chef, and it is lucky for us and the culinary world that he did. Raue was talented at school, but couldn't get hired because he was from the wrong part of town. He was given at chance at Chalet Suisse, where he honed his craft and learned the basics. He eventually wound up at Schloss Glienicke under the tutelage of Johannes Klapdohr. He first became a head Chef in 1998 at Kaiserstuben. In 2005, he was named "Rising Star of the Year,” while head chef at Swissotel, where he earned his first Michelin Star. He was also named Gault Millau Chef of the Year, the highest award for a chef in Germany.

Raue opened up his first restaurant in 2008 called Ma Tim Raue, which was heavily influenced by his previous trip to Asian a few years prior. He loves the ying and yang that Asian flavors bring to dishes. He opened up Restaurant Tim Raue in 2010, quickly earning two Michelin Stars and at one time the restaurant was as high as #36 in the world rankings. The restaurant is currently ranked #48 in the world.

Eat This:

We went to Tim Raue for lunch. We appreciated that you could order a tasting menu or a la carte, and you could mix and match these options for the table. Yvonne did a four course tasting, and I did the Signature six course tasting menu.

**Picked Ginger, cucumber and garlic, and red pepper marshmallows**

**Spicy Cashews**

**Dance for your spicy cashews**

When you arrive, they immediately start putting little dishes in front of you—eight in total, because this is the luckiest number in Chinese culture. These dishes included spicy cashews, pickled ginger, cucumber & garlic, red pepper marshmallows, and smoked trout. Our favorites were the spicy cashews. We were off to a, dare we say, spicy start.

**Wasabi Langoustine**

**We both ordered the Wasabi Langoustine, because this is Tim Raue's signature dish and my favorite dish in the entire world. We first tried this dish at** **In Situ** **in San Francisco, and we specifically wanted to come to Tim Raue to try this original.**
In many ways, Tim Raue is our Mecca, and this dish did not disappoint. The spiciness of the Wasabi mixed with the butteriness of the langoustine, as well as the sweet, spicy, and crunchy mango sauce beneath adds up to something incredible. It's perfection, and gave us more faith that there is a god. I almost ordered another one at the end—it's that good.

**PikePerch**

**with kamebishi soy ten year, leek, and ginger**
**Next up was the pikeperch. This was brought out in a steamed bamboo box and served over the ten year soy. After the wasabi langoustine, this dish seemed pretty average.**

**Suckling Pig**

**with Japanese mustard and pickled ginger.**
This was my second favorite after the wasabi langoustine. The pork was cooked perfectly and paired nicely with the spicy Japanese mustard—again, the ying and yang Raue loves. Pork is hard to cook right and is often served overcooked and tough. What made this nice was the crunchiness of the skin and the tenderness of the center.

**Dim Sum**

**Pork, green pepper, and mayonnaise**
**Raue is known for his modern take on dim sum. The pork dumplings were cooked perfectly and the green pepper added a nice flavor.**

**Chicken egg**

**with morning glory and black truffle.**
Talk about an explosion of flavor in your mouth! The delicate black truffle with the egg combines in your mouth like two lineman clashing at the line of scrimmage (sports reference). The presentation seemed to be almost a play on Dr. Suess' green eggs and ham.

**Peking Duck**

Raue's other signature dish is peking duck. He uses the entire duck, serving it in three separate dishes. The main dish is the fried duck breast with leeks, apple, and a duck feet sauce. The second dish is duck liver mousse with cucumber, leek and crispy skin. Finally, you are presented with a duck broth containing the tongue, heart, and gizzards.

**Duck Liver Mouse**

**If it ain't chocolate mouse, we'll take duck liver mouse**

**Duck Gizzards**

**Gizzards for dayzz**

**yuzu Cheesecake**

How cute is this little guy? A chocolate and caramel coated koi yuzu cheesecake with yuzu ice cream. The koi had a really nice crunch to offset the creaminess of the cheesecake. The yuzu ice cream added a nice acidity to compliment the dish as well.

Drink:
Tim Raue has an extensive wine list and cocktail list—over 1,200 wines in total. This was lunch, so we didn't partake in any alcoholic beverages; however, I did get a sparking grape juice from South Africa that was very nice. Yvonne enjoyed tea and coffee.

Atmosphere:
Tim Raue feels mid-century modern, with brown wood and different shades of blue chairs. Raue describes Berlin as a Blue city. I'm not sure what that means, but it seems super German. There is really interesting modern graffiti art and bird cages with fake birds. Yvonne's favorite piece of art was the painting of trash bags you see pictured below. This painting should not work in a dining room setting, and yet, it totally does. There are table clothes on the tables, but they don't cover the whole table, which I think plays to Raue's edgy style. For a nice restaurant, it has a really relaxed, comforting, approachable vibe.

The Chicken Egg was served with cute, colorful cuttlery (say that 3 times fast)

German Hospitality:
The wait staff couldn't have been nicer, but they definitely gave off the stern German vibe. Basically they didn't laugh at my jokes, and I don’t like that. Other than that the service was exactly what you would expect it to be for a restaurant of this caliber— everyone was knowledgable and the service was exceptional.

Frankie's Notes:
Frankie is an East Berlin pug with West Berlin dreams; We are only stocking our next kitchen with bright green plastic spoons; Is it weird I ate the koi's head first so it wouldn't suffer a painful death?; After four tasting menus in four days on this trip, all we ate after this were kebobs and salad—we're still professional eaters though.