Outlook
Sphere Tim Raue opens in the television tower
BERLIN: The Berlin TV Tower has teamed up with Tim Raue to open the Sphere Tim Raue, Germany's highest restaurant. The two-star chef brings a new culinary signature to the 360-degree panoramic restaurant with seating for 200 diners. Tim Raue sees the project as a homage to his home city of Berlin. Before the opening, the restaurant and kitchen were completely renovated for the first time since the TV tower opened in 1969. The restaurant had been closed since November 2024. However, Tim Raue explains that he didn't want to give the impression that everything was cold and new. For example, the chairs were only covered during the renovation. The cutlery has a vintage look to "respect the history that has been created since the opening." The metal surrounds of the tables and the table lamps were also left as they were - including scratches from the past decades.
At the opening, Tim Raue described the focus of the cuisine, which is intended to appeal to everyone from "Steppke" to grandparents: "The TV tower is Berlin's landmark - for me as a Berliner, it is a matter close to my heart to design this place in culinary terms and thus unite East and West on the plate," says Raue. His concept: contemporary Berlin-Brandenburg cuisine characterised by his signature flavours of sweetness, acidity and spiciness. In order to achieve this East-West connection, Tim Raue, as a West Berliner, had to be told by his culinary director Steve Karlsch at the start of the project: "We can do this, but for the first time you have to listen to me." He said that the TV tower had to serve Swedish sundaes and the best broiler in town.
In the morning, the restaurant invites you to breakfast above the rooftops of the capital. Options include the Sphere breakfast (25 euros) with Brandenburg cheese, home-marinated salmon and a berry smoothie, or the vegan breakfast (25 euros) with avocado sandwich, tomato compote and chickpea cream. For a lighter option, choose a granola bowl with fresh berries, nuts, chia seeds and yoghurt (11.50 euros) or enjoy one of the popular crodots - donuts made from croissant dough - in a sweet or savoury version.
From lunchtime onwards, the menu becomes particularly personal, as Raue serves dishes that reflect his culinary biography: such as the KaDeWe prawn cocktail (16 euros), which once left a lasting impression on him, or the Soljanka with Schrippe (11.50 euros) - a homage to the TV tower's GDR past. Among the classics are his Königsberger Klopse of veal (28 euros), once prepared for Barack Obama and Angela Merkel, and Grandma Gerda's suckling pig knuckle of pork (28 euros). Beef fillet medallions with truffle cream sauce (36 euros) provide a special treat, while pike-perch with braised cucumber (29 euros) or plant-based alternatives such as the planted steak (36 euros) also have a firm place on the menu.
Special attention is paid to the menus: On offer are the hot & cold menu with currywurst and dessert (29 euros), a vegan three-course menu or the classic Berliner schnitzel menu (44 euros each). The four-course menu "Meine Heimat - Tim Raues Berlin & Brandenburg", including aperitif, drinks and coffee for 125 euros, promises a special treat. It should be noted that each person must also book a ticket for the trip up the tower, i.e. a kind of entrance fee to the restaurant.
The cuisine is based on dishes and a style that Tim Raue has already demonstrated at La Soupe Populaire in Berlin and Villa Kellermann in Potsdam.
The team presented this menu, with zander as an additional course, to selected guests at an opening event to which Restaurant-Ranglisten.de was invited. Here are our first impressions:
Prawn cocktail KaDeWe: spicy mayonnaise, mushrooms & red prawns: With this cold starter, Tim Raue refers to one of his first culinary childhood experiences: the annual visit to the food floor of KaDeWe with his grandmother on New Year's Eve and Christmas. The interpretation for the Sphere now favours prawns instead of crab. Their slightly bitter and sweet flavours are picked up by the cocktail sauce. It also has a Tim Raue twist, as it is noticeably spicy. This is complemented by the subtle acidity and fruitiness of the halved mandarin slices, melon and apple. The salad itself is not marinated. In our opinion, the salad could be marinated with a few splashes of juice from the fruit used here, for example.
Zander, braised cucumber, mustard seeds, tarragon puree, dill oil: sometimes he imagines he can see from the TV tower to the Baltic Sea, says Tim Raue when introducing the second course, the zander, which comes from fresh water. The fish, marinated in lemon oil, is steamed to perfection. It arrives on the fork fine and flaky - which is remarkable when you consider how many portions are served here. The mustard cream sauce with braised gherkins has a restrained sharpness. It is accompanied by a tart tarragon puree and mild dill oil. The dish is vaguely reminiscent of the zander dishes from Tim Raue's two-star restaurant. The presentation here is much more rustic - but the acidity is remarkably finely balanced.
Solyanka, sour cream & dill: Solyanka is a reference to the cuisine of the GDR and is served here as a soup. Accordingly, there is a lot of liquid in the deep dish. The meat garnish of julienne-cut sausage is rather sparingly portioned. But its texture is very tender and beautifully melting. The soup itself is given a new flavour by the high tomato content and orange oil. This makes the paprika flavour a little sweeter and, above all, more delicate. For the refined palate, the orange oil is perhaps a little overpowering - on the other hand, it should be noticeable that Tim Raue has worked on a traditional recipe. In a concept aimed at a broad clientele, the change should perhaps not be too subtle.
Königsberger Klopse: Tim Raue's Königsberger Klopse are now quite famous. Among other things, because he served this dish at a state banquet for the then US President Barack Obama. It was also a task for Tim Mälzer in the TV programme "Kitchen Impossible" to recreate the version. The meatballs themselves have a fine consistency, but are flavoured quite salty for the premiere. They are served with a dollop of fine mashed potato, which doesn't have too much flavour of its own. It is more to bind the sauce, which is flavoured with capers, a little more. The beetroot salad has a pleasant, slightly earthy flavour and adds a few more dark tones to the dish.
Aunt Kati's cheesecake cream: unbaked cheesecake cream made from cream cheese and sour cream with a dash of Grafschafter syrup, served with sweet rhubarb compote, refreshingly tart strawberry sorbet and home-baked savoury butter crumble. The dessert can be savoured without much thought, as each spoonful brings something of everything into the mouth: the milky freshness of the cheesecake cream, the sweetness and the equally well-balanced saltiness.
Our impression: the task of offering a wide range of flavours is well accomplished. The guest who is not familiar with his fine dining cuisine and perhaps cannot or does not want to spend the money on it, gets a rough impression of his style. Anyone familiar with the style of Tim Raue's restaurant will realise that this is a coherent derivation of the Berlin menu there. This impression is also stronger than the repeatedly cited combination of Eastern and Western cuisine. This seems to serve more to appeal to local guests who may not have been to the TV tower for many years and who are now (once again) in the mood for a meal with a view.
BERLIN: The Berlin TV Tower has teamed up with Tim Raue to open the Sphere Tim Raue, Germany's highest restaurant. The two-star chef brings a new culinary signature to the 360-degree panoramic restaurant with seating for 200 diners. Tim Raue sees the project as a homage to his home city of Berlin. Before the opening, the restaurant and kitchen were completely renovated for the first time since the TV tower opened in 1969. The restaurant had been closed since November 2024. However, Tim Raue explains that he didn't want to give the impression that everything was cold and new. For example, the chairs were only covered during the renovation. The cutlery has a vintage look to "respect the history that has been created since the opening." The metal surrounds of the tables and the table lamps were also left as they were - including scratches from the past decades.
At the opening, Tim Raue described the focus of the cuisine, which is intended to appeal to everyone from "Steppke" to grandparents: "The TV tower is Berlin's landmark - for me as a Berliner, it is a matter close to my heart to design this place in culinary terms and thus unite East and West on the plate," says Raue. His concept: contemporary Berlin-Brandenburg cuisine characterised by his signature flavours of sweetness, acidity and spiciness. In order to achieve this East-West connection, Tim Raue, as a West Berliner, had to be told by his culinary director Steve Karlsch at the beginning of the project: "We can do this, but for the first time you have to listen to me." He said that the TV tower had to serve Swedish sundaes and the best broiler in town.
In the morning, the restaurant invites you to breakfast above the rooftops of the capital. Options include the Sphere breakfast (25 euros) with Brandenburg cheese, home-marinated salmon and a berry smoothie, or the vegan breakfast (25 euros) with avocado sandwich, tomato compote and chickpea cream. For a lighter option, choose a granola bowl with fresh berries, nuts, chia seeds and yoghurt (11.50 euros) or enjoy one of the popular crodots - donuts made from croissant dough - in a sweet or savoury version.
From lunchtime onwards, the menu becomes particularly personal, as Raue serves dishes that reflect his culinary biography: such as the KaDeWe prawn cocktail (16 euros), which once left a lasting impression on him, or the Soljanka with Schrippe (11.50 euros) - a homage to the TV tower's GDR past. Among the classics are his Königsberger Klopse of veal (28 euros), once prepared for Barack Obama and Angela Merkel, and Grandma Gerda's Eisbein of suckling pig (28 euros). Beef fillet medallions with truffle cream sauce (36 euros) provide a special treat, while pike-perch with braised cucumber (29 euros) or plant-based alternatives such as the planted steak (36 euros) also have a firm place on the menu.
Special attention is paid to the menus: On offer are the hot & cold menu with currywurst and dessert (29 euros), a vegan three-course menu or the classic Berliner schnitzel menu (44 euros each). The four-course menu "Meine Heimat - Tim Raues Berlin & Brandenburg", including aperitif, drinks and coffee for 125 euros, promises a special treat. It should be noted that each person must also book a ticket for the trip up the tower, i.e. a kind of entrance fee to the restaurant.
The cuisine is based on dishes and a style that Tim Raue has already demonstrated at La Soupe Populaire in Berlin and Villa Kellermann in Potsdam.
The team presented this menu, with zander as an additional course, to selected guests at an opening event to which Restaurant-Ranglisten.de was invited. Here are our first impressions:
Prawn cocktail KaDeWe: Spicy mayonnaise, mushrooms & red prawns: With the cold starter, Tim Raue refers to one of his first culinary childhood experiences: the annual visit to the food floor of KaDeWe with his grandmother on New Year's Eve and Christmas. The interpretation for the Sphere now favours prawns instead of crab. Their slightly bitter and sweet flavours are picked up by the cocktail sauce. It also has a Tim Raue twist, as it is noticeably spicy. This is complemented by the subtle acidity and fruitiness of the halved mandarin slices, melon and apple. The salad itself is not marinated. In our opinion, the salad could be marinated with a few splashes of juice from the fruit used here, for example.
Zander, braised cucumber, mustard seeds, tarragon puree, dill oil: sometimes he imagines he can see from the TV tower to the Baltic Sea, says Tim Raue when introducing the second course, the zander, which comes from fresh water. The fish, marinated in lemon oil, is steamed to perfection. It arrives on the fork fine and flaky - which is remarkable when you consider how many portions are served here. The mustard cream sauce with braised gherkins has a restrained sharpness. It is accompanied by a tart tarragon puree and mild dill oil. The dish is vaguely reminiscent of the zander dishes from Tim Raue's two-star restaurant. Here it is presented in a much more rustic style - but the acidity is remarkably finely balanced.
Solyanka, sour cream & dill: Solyanka is a reference to the cuisine of the GDR and is served here as a soup. Accordingly, there is a lot of liquid in the deep dish. The meat garnish of julienne-cut sausage is rather sparingly portioned. But its texture is very tender and beautifully melting. The soup itself is given a new flavour by the high tomato content and orange oil. This makes the paprika flavour a little sweeter and, above all, more delicate. For the refined palate, the orange oil is perhaps a little overpowering - on the other hand, it should be noticeable that Tim Raue has worked on a traditional recipe. In a concept aimed at a broad clientele, the change should perhaps not be too subtle.
Königsberger Klopse: Tim Raue's Königsberger Klopse are now quite well known. Among other things, because he served this dish at a state banquet for the then US President Barack Obama. It was also a task for Tim Mälzer in the TV programme "Kitchen Impossible" to recreate the version. The meatballs themselves have a fine consistency, but are flavoured quite salty for the premiere. They are served with a dollop of fine mashed potato, which doesn't have too much flavour of its own. It is more for binding the caper-flavoured sauce a little more. The beetroot salad has a pleasant, slightly earthy flavour and adds a few more dark tones to the dish.
Aunt Kati's cheesecake cream: Unbaked cheesecake cream made from cream cheese and sour cream with a dash of Grafschafter syrup, served with sweet rhubarb compote, refreshingly tart strawberry sorbet and home-baked savoury butter crumble. The dessert can be savoured without much thought, as each spoonful brings something of everything into the mouth: the milky freshness of the cheesecake cream, the sweetness and the equally well-balanced saltiness.
Our impression: the task of offering a wide range of flavours is well accomplished. The guest who is not familiar with his fine dining cuisine and perhaps cannot or does not want to spend the money on it, gets a rough impression of his style. Anyone familiar with the style of Tim Raue's restaurant will realise that this is a coherent derivation of the Berlin menu there. This impression is also stronger than the repeatedly cited connection between Eastern and Western cuisine. This seems to serve more to appeal to local guests who may not have been to the TV tower for many years and who are now (once again) in the mood for a meal with a view.
