I used to have this silly thing with Italian restaurants and going out to dinner in them. I would always try to shy away from Italian places, fearing boring pizzas and flavourless pasta dishes. And even though such places still exist, fabulous Italian restaurants in Berlin have taught me well. After the cosy and authentic Giorgio and the conceptually exciting Lavanderia Vecchia, I am officially hooked. The newest of my indulgences: Belmonte.

More than a specific cuisine, I like cool concepts of dining. We tried Pret a Diner, we have been up for some supper club dining and we even ventured outside of Berlin to look for nice places for food. A really fun and fabulous restaurant in Neukölln, hidden away in a backyard, is the Italian old laundry factory Lavanderia Vecchia.

Years ago, when I visited Berlin for the very first time in my life, I went straight to the Motzstraße, to the pulsating gay heart of Berlin. My eyes sparkled and my heart did a little headstand in my chest. I was here, finally. And officially, this restaurant was my very first discovery. So I went back last weekend, to re-explore the real Italian cuisine in Berlin Schöneberg.

On various Berlin Mitte hot spot locations you can find Vapiano: an Italian food chain restaurant. Not very exciting you say? You might be surprised. At Vapiano you can pick and choose your fresh foods and pay very little amounts of money for doing so – in a surprisingly jet set-ty atmosphere.