More than 7,000 guests at eat!Berlin

BERLIN. 42 exclusive events, top-class chefs and over 7,000 guests brought this year's eat! berlin gourmet festival to a close on 2 March 2025. For eleven days, the capital was dominated by exceptional cuisine - from fine dining to creative street food interpretations. Two years ago, there were just over 80 events. When asked about the reduction in the number of events, festival director Bernhard Moser says: "This is mainly due to the fact that we have not received any more funding from the state of Berlin for the past two years. I therefore had to halve my team and therefore also the number of events." Gastronomes and guests alike think this is a shame because interesting but very expensive events such as the stage dinner and the closing gala with the wonderful award ceremony have been cancelled.

Culinary greats from Germany and around the world

In 2025, eat! berlin once again brought together the crème de la crème of the regional, national and international gastronomy scene. Renowned Berlin chefs such as Marco Müller, Philipp Vogel (Orania.Berlin), Max Strohe (Tulus Lotrek), Nikodemus Berger (Bonvivant), Markus Herbicht (Schmelzwerk), Manish Bahukhandi (India Club Berlin), Julius Nowak (Eins44) and Francesco Contiero (Irma La Douce) took part.
Viktoria Fuchs, Nils Henkel, Thorsten Hauk, Sascha Stemberg, Jens Rittmeyer, Simon Tress and the Swedish top chef Titti Qvarnström, who travelled to Berlin especially for eat! berlin, provided special moments of indulgence. The fact that the festival, which was founded in 2011, is of outstanding international importance is also shown by the fact that the hoteliers' association "Genießerhotels" celebrated its 30th anniversary at this year's eat! berlin. Toque-awarded chefs Andreas Döllerer, Lukas Nagl, Hannes Müller and Alexander Gründler cooked a wonderful menu at the "Schmelzwerk" in Kreuzberg. The new edition of the "Guide Michelin" in Austria was also celebrated in the course of the event. From now on, the 4 chefs can adorn themselves with 5 stars.

eat! berlin market - street food at the highest level

A special highlight was the eat! berlin market, which took place from 28 February to 2 March 2025 in the Kalle Halle in Neukölln. Here, top chefs offered creative street food interpretations. Martin Barry, the founder and operator of the Manifesto markets, will open another location here around Easter. The eat! berlin team was able to inaugurate the rooms for this special event in advance. Berlin's top hotel Adlon presented its Adlon cake here, star chef Max Strohe conjured up "peanut butter burgers", star chef Nikodemus Berger "cheese spaetzle with truffles" and Philipp Vogel prepared a sandwich from his famous X-Berg Duck. Eins44, Irma la Douce, Schmelzwerk, Curry 36 and Josef Viehhauser and Stefan Fäth from the Jellyfish restaurant also took part. "It's extraordinary that such great chefs from top gastronomy are presenting their interpretations of street food at a market. We are delighted with the great food and the outstanding ingredients," says eat! berlin Managing Director Sina Moser.

Audience award & award for culinary culture

The presentation of the coveted eat! berlin Audience Award 2025 was eagerly awaited - the most popular event is chosen by the eat! berlin participants and this year the Sawito restaurant was delighted with the "Wahlheimat" event. Chef Marco Wahl welcomed his Michelin-starred colleague Thorsten Hauck, who has been cooking at Mittermeier's restaurant in Rothenburg o. d. Tauber for 12 years, as guest chef. Wahl and Hauck have in common that they both come from the tranquil town of Zweibrücken in the Palatinate and both now live in their adopted home.

Another important promoter of culinary culture was also honoured: the Gemeinschaft, which has been committed to regional, sustainable and high-quality food culture in Germany for many years. Its initiatives to promote regional producers and up-and-coming talent have made a significant contribution to the development of the local gourmet scene. Under the motto "We are making a difference. In the field, in the kitchen and in people's minds", this association brings together gastronomy and farmers. The community includes Schmutzig, Michelberger Hof, Restaurant Horváth, Merold, Nanun, Kristiane Kegelmann and many more. On the producer side, the Domberger bakery, Erdhof Seewalde, Gut Boltenhof, Odefey & Töchter... the community is a Berlin initiative that now serves as a model for the whole of Germany.

Preview of 2026

With exceptional cuisine, high-calibre guests and a unique atmosphere, eat! berlin 2025 has once again established itself as one of Europe's leading gourmet festivals. Festival Director Bernhard Moser is cautiously optimistic about the future: "Even in difficult economic and political times, we are flying the flag and standing up for Berlin's gastronomy scene. At our festival, many people get to socialise, have a good time and generate important sales in the industry. This has never been more important than it is today. That's why we want to continue and are looking forward to eat! berlin 2026."