Bonvivant Cocktail Bistro

Rating: 14
Author: Gault&Millau

Hohenstaufenstraße 70, 10781 Berlin, Germany

14/20
Chef's Restaurant

BOOK

1 PHOTOS

Chef: Nikodemus Berger
Cooking: Austrian | Gastronomic | German | Japanese | Local | Vegan | Vegetarian
Services: Access for people with disabilities | Private Room | Terrace
Style: Bar | Casual | Exceptional setting | Romantic | With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2025

Restaurants that only serve vegetables are often good for surprises. In the Bonvivant Cocktail Bistro, a corner restaurant with colorful walls and a large bar in the lively part of Schöneberg, the young Austrian Nikodemus Berger cooks vegetarian, mostly even vegan fine-dining cuisine. But if you expect vegetable lightness throughout, you may well be mistaken. Berger serves full-bodied, characterful dishes, often with lots of smoke and butter, although he also knows how to use vegan substitutes. A typical Berger is his massive celery course. There are a few slices raw and flamed, a few larger pieces braised and marinated in juniper oil, plus a beurre blanc with apple and celery flavored with charcoal, a few wild herbs for freshness and roasted buckwheat for texture. A fully valid red wine intake is his potato cheese. The mashed potatoes with Austrian mountain cheese are accompanied by pickled onions, marjoram oil and grilled wild broccoli. The X-factor is the roasted yeast, which is available as a chip and as a foam. The desserts, on the other hand, are filigree and light, such as the pickled quince with Earl Grey foam and a granité from the spice tagetes. Those who like to leaf through wine lists for a long time will be happier elsewhere. The focus is on cocktails that are offered as pairings. Bar manager Elias Heintz serves an orange liqueur with a peaty-smoky whiskey spray with the celery, and an umami-rich sake with red vermouth and the Japanese spice sauce mirin with the potato cheese. In addition to the six- or seven-course menu, a few Austrian dishes are also served à la carte. For example, Berger's favorite food of his childhood: the cheese spaetzle, over which he shaves plenty of truffles.