An anniversary podcast about Facil

BERLIN. To mark its anniversary, FACIL at THE MANDALA Berlin is launching a six-part podcast series. The series focuses on the people who have shaped the restaurant over many years – and offers personal insights into a quarter of a century of top-class gastronomy.

High above Potsdamer Platz, on the fifth floor of a hotel, one of Berlin’s most extraordinary restaurants was established 25 years ago. What followed was a team that has stayed together. Head chef Joachim Gerner, head pastry chef Thomas Yoshida, maître d’ Manuel E. Finster, sommelier Felix Voges and culinary director Michael Kempf have all been working together, in some cases since the opening on 2 July 2001. In a fast-moving industry such as fine dining, this continuity is something of a rarity. To mark its anniversary, the two-star restaurant is now offering an insight into its history in the form of a podcast.

Entitled “25 Years of FACIL – 2 Stars and a Team: The Anniversary Podcast with Reiner Veit”, a six-part podcast series featuring the Berlin-based journalist and radio presenter Reiner Veit will launch on 24 June. Every two weeks, he will be speaking to people who have been part of and shaped FACIL for many years – discussing its beginnings, key decisions, collaboration and the development of a restaurant that is now one of the country’s most renowned culinary destinations.

To kick things off, managing directors Lutz Hesse and Christian Andresen discuss the restaurant’s origins, the early years and the time when what is now The Mandala Berlin was still a building site. “We were a classic start-up – and that has been consistently developed further. The story needs to be told,” says Christian Andresen, managing director and shareholder of THE MANDALA Berlin, in the first episode. No one knows the venue as well or for as long as he and his business partner Lutz Hesse. At the start, FACIL was little more than an idea; the building was just a shell. “We love this venue,” says Hesse, “and you can feel that.”

Reiner Veit has also known and appreciated the FACIL for a long time: “For me, the FACIL has been a place of well-being, an oasis, for many years: in terms of food, people and aesthetics. So many things come together so harmoniously here that it’s simply a great pleasure,” says Reiner Veit. “Because everyone who has been shaping – and defining – the FACIL for the past 25 years has plenty to say and plenty of stories to tell.” Veit has been covering Berlin’s restaurant scene as a journalist for decades. At rbb Inforadio, he presented the weekly programme “Aufgegabelt” for more than 15 years, which quickly achieved cult status in Berlin and Brandenburg. His first visit to FACIL was not quite 25 years ago – but almost. Back then, Michael Kempf was still sous-chef. Many more visits were to follow. “Personal insights into a quarter of a century at an exceptional Berlin restaurant. That’s exactly what listeners can expect,” says Veit.

The first episode will be released on 24 June 2026. Further episodes will focus on Michael Kempf and Joachim Gerner, head pâtissier Thomas Yoshida, sommeliers Felix Voges and Maximilian Schmidt, and restaurant manager Manuel Finster. The next episodes marking the 25th anniversary will be released every 14 days – on 8 July, 22 July, 5 August, 19 August and 2 September 2026. The interviews, which last between 30 and 45 minutes, will be available on all major podcast platforms and on the FACIL website at facil.de/de/podcast/.