Review: Restaurant Ernst in Berlin Exclusive Counter-Dining Experience

Restaurant Ernst is the most exclusive and difficult-to-book dinner in Berlin at the moment. A counter-dining experience that seats only 12 people every night and serves between 35 and 40 small bites at a rapid pace. Produce-driven gets a new meaning as the young Canadian chef Dylan Watson-Brawn and his team aim to serve only the freshest, most high-quality ingredients that they source from select farmers they work closely with. Not hyperlocal at all – just the best of what’s in season. The restaurant was recently awarded its first Michelin-star.

Ring the bell
Ring the bell

I discovered this hidden gem thanks to the city’s best food writer – Berlin Food Stories. Ernst was probably my most anticipated meal when I went to the German capital last summer to make my foodie map of Berlin. As different of an experience as you can get from my other highlight of the trip – restaurant Tim Raue – but what the two have in common is the inspiration from Asia. While Raue found his culinary path in life through the contemporary Chinese kitchen and South-East Asian street food, Watson-Brawn is mostly influenced by his time working in Japan at the three-Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant Ryugin. Where Tim screams at you with spices and pungent flavors, Dylan whispers softly in your ear and presents each ingredient almost naked, just ever so slightly enhanced by salt, acidity, or umami, typically in the form of shoyu, dashi, or miso.

Grilled peach from Sicily & shaved kombu seaweed
Grilled peach from Sicily & shaved kombu seaweed
Fresh cheese made from just one cow's milk & mirabelle plum umeboshi
Fresh cheese made from just one cow’s milk & mirabelle plum umeboshi

It’s All About the People

At restaurant Ernst, they visit all the farmers and winemakers they work with. Literally. For that reason alone, there was no sake on the menu when I visited. Not because they didn’t want to serve sake, but simply because they hadn’t been to any producers yet. Shishito peppers, plums, onions, apples and herbs come from their main gardener Branca, who runs a small farm in Beeskow, about two hours outside Berlin. Besides that, the ingredient sourcing has nothing to do with the current trend of using hyperlocal produce.

– Our relationship with the farmer is the most important to us because we want to secure the quality while also making sure they make a decent living, explains head chef Dylan Watson-Brawn.

I learn that all of the dairy products come from a guy called David who’s raising Angler Rotvieh cattle close to the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte in north-eastern Germany. Melons and peaches are from their friend Angelo, a farmer from Sicily in Italy who is located at Mount Etna. Zucchinis and chards come from the more than 30-year-old biodynamic Gärtnerhof Staudenmüller in Uckermark in Germany, where a lady called Sieglinde also picks wild blueberries. This is the kind of information that the team at Ernst are conveying to all guests throughout the night.

Emmer tart, homemade sour cream, caviar & herb stems
Emmer tart, homemade sour cream, caviar & herb stems
Domaine Belluard, Les Perles du Mont Blanc – what a beautiful name for a wine
Domaine Belluard, Les Perles du Mont Blanc – what a beautiful name for a wine
Young peas and broth made from the peapods with smoked butter
Young peas and broth made from the peapods with smoked butter

The 26-year-old chef Watson-Brawn also has experience from restaurant Noma. In Copenhagen, he got tired of seeing cooks who didn’t work hard enough and who just wanted the famous restaurants on their resumé. That’s why the hiring process at Ernst is a long one. If you wanna work here, you really have to prove it.

– You can’t just send one e-mail and expect an answer. We will ignore the two first, and, maybe, reply to the third, explains Dylan.

One guy just showed up at the door, having sent multiple e-mails with no reply, after traveling six hours from his home. That showed some dedication. He got the job eventually.

Cucumber & Angelo's melon
Cucumber & Angelo’s melon
Grilled salad heart, chicken fat & buckwheat emulsion
Grilled salad heart, chicken fat & buckwheat emulsion
Chef Dylan Watson-Brawn
Chef Dylan Watson-Brawn

An Exclusive Japanese-Inspired Counter Dining Experience

I arrived by taxi to the quiet district of Wedding and found myself on Gerichtstraße 54 facing Ernst. A grey, slightly yellow-washed, concrete wall. An aluminum door bathing in the last rays of sunlight this July afternoon, and an equally shiny doorbell imprinted with the letters ernst. I rang the buzzer and, soon, chef Dylan Watson-Brawn himself came to open the door for me. I was the last of the twelve men and women to arrive this evening. I might even have been the thirteenth, I’m not sure, as it looked like I was kinda squeezed into the dinner party on the far end of the counter, and I can’t remember any other single diners. Everyone was seated around the same bar, facing the kitchen, and watching the chefs work.

The show started immediately, and once it did – never stopped. In fact, the pacing at Ernst is quite unique and rather impressive. Since every one of the 37 courses I would be served this night was basically of snack size, the entire meal seemed to be given the usual pacing that snacks are given in a tasting menu. The moment I finished a dish, down to seconds after, a chef would clean my plate and cutlery. Due to its small size, Ernst hires no waiters apart from a sommelier. New cutlery came quickly from a second chef, sometimes a new wine glass if the sommelier was changing the pairing, and before I could finish my notes from the previous dish – the new one arrived. On average, I had a new course every 5 minutes over the course of 3 hours. Thus, I can’t recommend anyone the task of shooting photos, video, Instagram story, and trying to make sense of this meal all in one night. Just go and enjoy it.

The exclusive counter dining experience at Ernst
The exclusive counter dining experience at Ernst
Potatoe chips, goat's butter & lemon verbena
Potatoe chips, goat’s butter & lemon verbena
2016 Trossen, Lay Purus, Riesling
2016 Trossen, Lay Purus, Riesling
Young grilled onions & tama (egg) miso emulsion
Young grilled onions & tama (egg) miso emulsion

I didn’t love every dish at Ernst, but I don’t intend to go through the meal course by course. This is not a restaurant that creates signatures. Instead, it’s all about the fresh, daily available produce and the pure flavors that can be extracted from such high-quality ingredients. Some dishes were a bit dull and bland, while other bites bordered to genius. Among my favorites this particular night was a peach from Sicily, carefully touched down on the grill, served with shaved kombu seaweed. An elegant and well-balanced serving where the sweetness of the peach is enhanced and in focus. Grilled salad heart with chicken fat and a buckwheat emulsion was also packed with saliva-inducing flavors. A grilled brioche could not have been more perfect there it lay lonely on a plate, simply with a spread of butter – freshly made the same afternoon – and trimmings of crown dill. It leaves you wanting more, and that’s the point, you’re not getting any. Just that one bite. Close your eyes and enjoy it.

What impressed me the most, perhaps, was Watson-Brawn’s clever use of salt (in different forms) throughout the meal. Especially in the desserts, and, particularly, my favorite course of the meal which was a salted milk ice cream with raspberries from 35 year-old raspberry bushes. Tiny salt particles gave the dish a crunchy element, while also lifting the flavors of the subtle milk ice cream. A dish that made it to fourth place on my top list of best dishes in 2019.

Grilled brioche & very fresh butter made this afternoon
Grilled brioche & very fresh butter made this afternoon

Restaurant Ernst in Berlin

Fennel, slow-roasted peach & oil from the peach pits
Fennel, slow-roasted peach & oil from the peach pits
Grilled cucumber & apple vinegar jelly
Grilled cucumber & apple vinegar jelly
Chawanmushi from black maran eggs, magarobushi (dried tuna) dashi & nasturtium stems
Chawanmushi from black maran eggs, magarobushi (dried tuna) dashi & nasturtium stems
Cold potatoes(the first of the season), buttermilk & shaved hazelnuts
Cold potatoes(the first of the season), buttermilk & shaved hazelnuts
2015 Julien Meyer, Gewurztraminer Sec, Les Pucelles, Alsace, France
2015 Julien Meyer, Gewurztraminer Sec, Les Pucelles, Alsace, France
Homemade buffalo yogurt sorbet & salted sour cherries
Homemade buffalo yogurt sorbet & salted sour cherries
Fresh goat's cheese & smoked sunflower oil
Fresh goat’s cheese & smoked sunflower oil
Charcuterie from the Wiesner's Mangalitza pork (belly, shoulder, and a cut of the leg)
Charcuterie from the Wiesner’s Mangalitza pork (belly, shoulder, and a cut of the leg)
2007 Sébastien Riffault, Auksinis, Sancerre
2007 Sébastien Riffault, Auksinis, Sancerre
The 26-year-old chef Dylan Watson-Brawn
The 26-year-old chef Dylan Watson-Brawn
Sashimi from vendace, shoyu based on kombu, ham trimmings, katsobushi & green mustard
Sashimi from vendace, shoyu based on kombu, ham trimmings, katsobushi & green mustard
Young onions, grilled and steamed, gooseberries, and a gooseberry vinaigrette
Young onions, grilled and steamed, gooseberries, and a gooseberry vinaigrette
Slow-smoked plums and tomatoes & last year's tomato dashi
Slow-smoked plums and tomatoes & last year’s tomato dashi
Zucchini warmed in goat's butter, pumpkin flower, akazia flower & beurre monté
Zucchini warmed in goat’s butter, pumpkin flower, akazia flower & beurre monté
Potatoes baked in hay
Potatoes baked in hay
Potatoes baked in hay, whey, smoked oil & lovage
Potatoes baked in hay, whey, smoked oil & lovage
Steamed chard, 40% cream & garden oil
Steamed chard, 40% cream & garden oil
Lamb tartar, black garlic shoyu, caramelised onions & nasturtium
Lamb tartar, black garlic shoyu, caramelised onions & nasturtium
Anders Frederik Steen, Il va, ça va. Je vais, je sais
Anders Frederik Steen, Il va, ça va. Je vais, je sais
Currant, josterberries, and dashi made with the currant leaf & wood
Currant, josterberries, and dashi made with the currant leaf & wood
Stringbeans & dashi thickened with buckwheat
Stringbeans & dashi thickened with buckwheat
Cucumber & grape granita
Cucumber & grape granita
2017 Pedres Blanques
2017 Pedres Blanques
Lamb from Husum raised on saltgrass, with glace and truffle
Lamb from Husum raised on saltgrass, with glace and truffle
2017, Julien Altaber, Sextant L'Écume
2017, Julien Altaber, Sextant L’Écume
Ricotta made after a Sicilian recipe & salt-baked plums
Ricotta made after a Sicilian recipe & salt-baked plums
Sorbet from Angelo's melons & elderflower vinegar
Sorbet from Angelo’s melons & elderflower vinegar
Blueberry cheesecake
Blueberry cheesecake
Rice koji ice cream & the first apple juice of the year
Rice koji ice cream & the first apple juice of the year
Semi-dried tomatoes, and jelly made from a lemon and thyme flower tea
Semi-dried tomatoes, and jelly made from a lemon and thyme flower tea
Three different kinds of currants and 70% cream
Three different kinds of currants and 70% cream
Salted milk ice cream made from the same milk we started with & raspberries from 35-year-old raspberry bushes
Salted milk ice cream made from the same milk we started with & raspberries from 35-year-old raspberry bushes
Mangalitza fat fudge, higashi (traditional Japanese confections made from plants) & two types of raspberries
Mangalitza fat fudge, higashi (traditional Japanese confections made from plants) & two types of raspberries
Empirical Spirits – Fuck Trump And His Stupid Fucking Wall
Empirical Spirits – Fuck Trump And His Stupid Fucking Wall
Team Ernst
Team Ernst

Have you been to Ernst or did this make you want to go? I’d love your feedback, so please leave a comment below.

Anders Husa

Anders Husa and Kaitlin Orr are food & travel bloggers and creative content creators. From their base in Copenhagen, they operate the largest and most influential restaurant-focused travel blog in Scandinavia.

6 comments

  • Hi Anders, amazing pics of an – as I may asume – amazing menu. We’ve been there last year in May and in my opinion, it ist at the moment one of the most interesting restaurants in Berlin and Germany. What was the meat- and sashimi-course you had?

  • Damn. The team must be insanely organized to put on those 30+ bites. Just to think of doing that sounds hard as hell!
    Looks fun Anders! Keep up! Waiting for that nyc stuff to come up!
    Cheers!

    • Yeah, it was impressive to watch. And it never looked like they talked between each other. Everyone just knew what to do. New York stuff is coming! 🙂

  • Yeah! Going 15 April, spring menu, thanks to your report, Arve and BFS. Really beautiful pictures!

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