überlin

Somerset House is always such a great backdrop for taking pictures. I saw these two walking away and it looked like a scene from a movie!

Man we’re late to this party. It’s testament to our supreme lack of organisation that we’ve only just made it to Little Otik, despite living just around the corner for nearly half a year, while reading a bunch of recommendations from Berlin’s bloggerati. (As ever, Foodie in Berlin is the place to go for the expert opinion – she even includes links to all the other bloggers’ glowing reviews.) The fact this is one of expat producer Ewan Pearson’s favourite restaurants should have had us in there a long time ago…

Aaaanyway, we made it to Little Otik eventually – on the happy occasion of Zo’s mum’s birthday. We toasted with killer cocktails (amazing Gin Gimlet), the best Sauvignon Blanc we’ve ever tasted (a Polz, from Austria) and some mind-blowing schnapps! Soaking all that up was refined rustic fare made with seasonal, local ingredients, the highlights being the cream of zucchini soup with fennel flowers and the 300g ribeye with a side of corn on the cob. Putting the om on our omnomnom was, well, all the deserts on the menu!

As you can see from the photos, Little Otik is warm and homely, but what you can’t see are the friendly, fun and knowledgable staff or the tables full of hipsters keeping the place nice and buzzy. We’ll be back soon, and not just to stalk Herr Pearson. Oh, fancy seeing you here!

The Berlin Festival kicks off on Saturday! And PUBLIC ENEMY are playing! I’m so excited about seeing the hip hop legends again (*smugface*) that when I used the Festival’s nifty running order tool to plan the bands I want to see it just spat out: Public Enemy, 1am, Sontag. Of course, I’ll try to see some other acts – oh, you know, like Mogwai, Battles, LFO, Primal Scream doing Screamadelica etc. – but I’m going to make sure I’m good and ready come PE time. You might even see me giving it the one-man-circle-pit like Herr Scott Ian 2:40 into this classic clip. BRING THE NOISE!

This article originally appeared on Bang Bang Berlin.