New sous-chef at Hallmann & Klee in Berlin

BERLIN. Ten years of Hallmann & Klee. A Michelin star, and the title of Berlin’s best restaurant. And yet Sarah Hallmann prefers to talk about what’s happening at the pass right now. Moritz Schwenk, the new sous-chef at the restaurant on Böhmischer Platz, has been working alongside her since early 2025.
“When Moritz applied, it was a bit like love at first sight,” says Sarah Hallmann. “We walked through the kitchen together, and I could tell straight away that he was passionate about cooking.” After just a few days, it became clear that they were on the same wavelength – sharing similar ideas about how a plate should look and how distinct a flavour should be.

Trained at the Salzburg Kleßheim School of Tourism, Moritz Schwenk has held positions that speak for themselves in the industry: internships at Ikarus in Hangar-7 in Salzburg and at Eneko in London, garde manger at the Mühltalhof, head chef at the Soul pop-up on Lake Attersee, and entremetier at Horváth in Berlin. Most recently, he founded his own pop-up, Wanda, in Berlin.

His path to Hallmann & Klee began with a dinner. “A good friend of mine worked here, so I came for a meal – and knew straight away: this is where I want to work.” What convinced him, he says, was not just the style of cooking, but also the corporate culture: diverse, empathetic, and on equal terms.

Reduction as a common language

“Reduction on the plate has always impressed me – when you can pack so much flavour and complexity into so little.” Moritz Schwenk’s description of his own preference reads like a description of Sarah Hallmann’s cuisine. “Reduced, but always complex. And most importantly: delicious.”

Within the team, they call it “witch’s kitchen” – those moments when Sarah Hallmann blends various stocks and sauces until a complexity emerges that reveals no single element, yet contains everything. At present, the new sous-chef is particularly fascinated by one ingredient: a quail from Domäne Wachter, which the team prepares in a similar way to Peking duck. “Someone comes up with a basic idea or a product, and together we turn it into a dish.”

The calming influence in the witch’s kitchen

What Moritz Schwenk says about himself is perhaps the most interesting sentence in this story: “I see myself a bit as a calming influence, trying to take the pressure off now and then. Because stressed chefs cook with less heart – and you can taste that.”

A sous-chef who consciously takes the pressure off rather than building it up is no coincidence in a kitchen where 80 per cent of the staff are women, where training takes place, and where people stay for a long time. He is the result of a certain mindset.

“The beauty of working together is that we push each other without pressure – we inspire one another,” says Sarah Hallmann. “Together, something even better emerges than we’d imagined. I can rely on him completely. Without needing to talk about it, we both always want the best.”

Ten years after starting out as a breakfast café, Hallmann & Klee has arrived where Sarah Hallmann never intended to go, yet here she is: at the forefront of Berlin’s restaurant scene. No investors, no second location. Instead: a new sous-chef standing at the pass, asking what’s coming next on the plate.