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Feeling Peckish When it comes to cuisine in Berlin, it's not just sausages and beer — although the city has numerous options if that's what you truly crave. The World's 50 Best Restaurants for 2023 were recently announced in Valencia, Spain, and three from Berlin made the cut: Tim Raue, Nobelhart & Schmutzig, and Ernst. Given the ethnically diverse population of the city, you can also find anything from Italian to Indian and Ethiopian. Borchardt: I heard over and over that I should visit this brasserie- type restaurant in the Mitte neighborhood. It's got quite a history, given that it's been around for 170 years. An intriguing menu includes bitter oranges from the Himalayas; strawberries from Algiers; and ostrich eggs, game and fruit from noble families in Prussia. borchardt-restaurant.de. Worth checking out: Bar Normal: ganz-normal.eu. Coccodrillo: bigsquadra. com/en/restaurants/ coccodrillo-berlin. Ernst: ernstberlin.de. Grace: grace-berlin.com. Nobelhart & Schmutzig: nobelhartundschmutzig. com/en/restaurant. Restaurant Tim Raue: tim-raue.com. Torbar: torbar.berlin. Retail Therapy KaDeWe: During my initial research, I came upon this department store, which was listed as the second largest in Europe next to Harrods in London. KaDeWe is both daunting and overwhelming, but I found it to be endlessly fun. The name is a shortened version of Kaufhaus des Westens and for more than 100 years, it's been a destination for local and international customers with 60,000 square meters of retail nirvana. Reserve time to visit the sixth floor, with a champagne bar and more than 35,000 culinary products and wines. kadewe.de. Voo Store: Two words: Berlin cool. Voo is a little hard to find, as it's located down an alley. Housed in a former locksmith shop, it's Mecca for those seeking edgy and fashion-forward designers. It's the kind of boutique I suspect Chloe Sevigny would check out if she was in Berlin. I found a beyond-chic vinyl leopard-print trench coat from Dries van Noten that I'm still kicking myself for not buying. vooberlin.com. The Square Berlin: Both locations, The Square Berlin East and The Square Berlin West, have some of the most beautifully designed interiors I've ever seen (I honestly wanted to live in the East boutique). The well-edited selection of Lucullan labels includes Courrèges, Dries Van Noten, Celine, Rick Owens, and Saint Laurent. Most of the staff only spoke German, but they were extremely charming and, in stunted English, complimented my outfit and asked if I wanted a glass of champagne. thesquareberlin.de. Andreas Murkudis: This retailer is known throughout Europe for providing the best in fashion, accessories, and furniture/home design elements. You'll find three stores in Berlin, including one devoted entirely to home. The third of his concepts, was one of the most avant-garde spaces I've ever encountered. I walked in one gloomy morning to find just a few pieces of furniture with a handful of accessories positioned on top. This was minimalism to the extreme — more a white-cube gallery space than a traditional clothing boutique. I was fascinated. andreasmurkudis.com. Bikini Berlin: This concept shopping center — what one might call a mall in Berlin — opened in 2014, housed adjacent to Zoo Berlin in a group of restored buildings from the 1950s. It has a unique mix of local and international brands and pop-ups. Don't miss the magnificent views of the Berlin Zoological Garden from the ground floor and the open-air roof terrace where you can also gaze upon the menagerie next door. bikiniberlin.de. Lest We Forget Culture George Grosz Museum: If you follow design in The New York Times, you might recall a 2009 story about collector Juerg Judin's loving restoration of an abandoned mid-century Shell gasoline station in Berlin's Schöneberg district. I remembered the über-cool pictures that accompanied the story when Dallas collector Christen Wilson shared that she knew Judin and would be happy to set up an introduction. She had met him more than 10 years ago when he attended a TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art fundraiser and she subsequently visited his gallery on a trip to Germany with other Dallas art enthusiasts. Judin now lives in a château in France, and his enchanting former home serves as the Kleine Grosz Museum. Berlin-born artist George Grosz was active in the early Coccodrillo restaurant The Square Berlin JOANN PAI MARK SEELEN (Continued on page 169) (Continued from page 160)