Standing out in Berlin’s crowded food scene isn’t easy, but for the past few months, one spot has been popping up in conversation and all over social media: Tresen Treff. It’s a pub in the morning and a pub at night, not a part-time yoga studio, no community dinners, no celebrity chef in the kitchen, and the interior is anything but minimalist. This classic bar has wooden railings, green walls, a beamer, a classic bar with chunky 1980s-style wooden columns and a slot machine. Just a regular corner pub serving Eisbein and beer. So if they’re not doing anything particularly special, how did it become such a hit?
Simply, Tresen Treff have devoted themselves to a single and beloved concept: the Kiezkneipe. These neighbourhood pubs have long served as the social backbone of the city. Their story goes way back. Kiezkneipen became popular in working-class districts during the 19th century and beyond their role as social hubs, they often served as incubators for collective action. Many advocacy groups, workers’ associations and grassroots organisations first took shape around these tables. Nowadays, such spots remain the living rooms of their neighbourhoods. Many places, like Zum Goldenen Hahn near Kottbusser Tor or Paule’s Metal Eck in Friedrichshain, have been adopted by modern, fiercely loyal subcultures. More than 35 years after the fall of the Wall, you can still spot traces of the East-West divide simply by comparing a Kiezkneipe in Prenzlauer Berg with one in Charlottenburg. While they often differ depending on the neighbourhood, one thing unites the Kiezkneipe: community.
Whenever a Kiezkneipe closes, it’s a genuine loss for its Kiez. Saving these places, however, is easier said than done. Gentrification – surprise, surprise – is part of the problem. But a bigger threat often comes from within. Many Kiezkneipen revolve around an owner who has been the driving force for decades, around the figure who stands behind the bar night after night after night. When that person decides they no longer want (or feel able) to keep it going, the future of the pub hangs in the balance. But while the trajectory of the beloved Kiezkneipe might seem dire, there’s hope for a hybrid of new and old that could keep Berlin’s authentic pub culture alive, albeit in a different form.
Tresen Treff is a compelling example of what that future might look like. Laurens Friedl and Joshua Kalborg came from the world of fine dining. The two worked together at Bieberbau, the Michelin-starred restaurant known for reimagining traditional German cuisine through modern techniques. Only a few years ago, Laurens had been looking to strike out on his own. At first, he thought about launching a catering business. In search of a commercial kitchen from which to operate, he came across Tresen Treff in Wilmersdorf. With its wood-panelled interior and freshly poured draft beer, it was the quintessential Kiezkneipe.
When they found out that the owner, Meir Kreisman, was planning to shut Tresen Treff down, they knew they had to act. To convince him to let them take it over, they took an unusual approach: they wrote a love letter to the Kiezkneipe. As a Berliner, Kalborg felt compelled to do something about the decline of the city’s traditional pub culture – and that’s exactly what he told Kreisman. Judging by the outcome, it worked remarkably well. Not only did they get the place, the former owner is still one of its regulars today. Better still, they didn’t turn it into another trendy Edison-bulb hangout. Instead, they changed just one thing: they installed a seriously good kitchen.
You can hardly find these old classics anymore, and when you do, the quality is often pretty disappointing.
Traditional German cuisine was already familiar territory for the two chefs. Drawing on their fine-dining background, they put together a short menu filled with nostalgic dishes: Königsberger Klopse, Beamtentippe, Senfeier. Friedl insists they didn’t embrace the Ostalgie angle just to make the pub more marketable. “You can hardly find these old classics anymore, and when you do, the quality is often pretty disappointing,” he said. “That’s exactly why we cook them. We want people to rediscover them, enjoy them again and keep them from disappearing.” This cuisine is actually becoming so rare that even the guys didn’t know it by heart. “I’d actually never made Buletten before. If anything, I usually made tartare,” admits the chef.
The days of cheap eating in Berlin are mostly over by now, but at Tresen Treff, time stands still. Every dish on the menu costs less than €10. Prices like this are increasingly hard to find, especially at such high quality. According to Friedl, “Berlin has always been full of artists and working-class people looking for simple, affordable food. Thanks to the city’s international character, you can find amazing cheap dishes from all over the world, but good, affordable German food is surprisingly hard to come by. That’s exactly why we built our concept around it.”
Tresen Treff has managed to preserve the spirit and atmosphere of the Kiezkneipe, one of the oldest and increasingly endangered institutions of Berlin’s nightlife. “The longtime regulars still come back, meeting at the same table every Saturday as they always have, and we’re delighted that they’re keeping the tradition alive,” says Friedl. The number of regulars has only grown since the reopening. “These days, our crowd includes everyone from students to neighbourhood retirees,” Friedl added. At the same time, Tresen Treff offers something extra by serving classic German dishes at prices that are still within reach. How successful has the formula been? Well, if half the city is willing to make the trip to Wilmersdorf for Rinderroulade and a Pils, the team must be doing something right.
Visit Tresen Treff at Berliner Straße 167 in Wilmersdorf.
