Do you know why the stereotypical Italian is always so happy? Because they are usually full of pasta – the ultimate comfort food. The world would be a cheerier place if we all ate more carbohydrates, and Germans are warming to the idea, putting a smile on their traditionally taciturn faces with generous helpings of feel-good food at Pasta Maria Berlin.
The Italian bistro sits on Renzo Piano’s Potsdamer Platz, and has been designed by Thomas Kröger Arkitekt with a subtle genuflection to the Catholic faith suggested by the venue’s name. The custom booths containing Bibles and menus could be high-backed church pews, and one of the main visual treats stealing the limelight in the dining space is the enlarged rendering of Heironymous Bosch’s typically eccentric Old Testament scene The Garden of Earthly Delights. Looking more closely at the furniture, the benches have been covered in pig hide, now pristine but designed to wear and redden with use, complimenting the red chairs by Thonet. Authentic Italian Travertine marble has been imported to cover the floor and also forms the cubic kitchen arrangement, echoed overhead with copper extraction fan covers and light fittings. Molto bella!
