“Nikkei cuisine is fantastic bar food”
© Nauta
Bar ohne Namen
Entschlossen verweigert sich Savage, der Bar einen Namen zu geben. Stattdessen sind drei klassische Design-Symbole das Logo der Trinkstätte in Dalston: ein gelbes Quadrat, ein rotes Viereck, ein blauer Kreis. Am meisten wurmt den sympathischen Franzosen dabei, dass es kein Gelbes-Dreieck-Emoji gibt. Das erschwert auf komische Weise die Kommunikation. Der Instagram Account lautet: a_bar_with_shapes-for_a_name und anderenorts tauchen die Begriffe ‘Savage Bar’ oder eben ‚Bauhaus Bar‘ auf.
Für den BCB bringt Savage nun sein Barkonzept mit und mixt für uns mit Unterstützung von Russian Standard Vodka an der perfekten Bar dazu.
Meet Arnd Heißen, bartender at cocktail restaurant Nauta
Arnd Henning Heißen, award-winning bartender and Ritz-Carlton host for many years, now serves up drinks to diners at the Nikkei concept restaurant Nauta that are perfectly matched to the food - and vice versa. A journey of flavours from Kastanienallee to the Amazon.
Julio is already sitting at the table before Nauta opens early evening. Sitting there all day, passers-by press their noses against the window to catch a glimpse of this big, fluffy panda bear. Before that, Julio used to sit at "Bird's Nest", the Vietnamese concept bar in the Nikolai district, which had to close not long after opening due to drastic rent hikes, and before that at the large bar of “Frederick’s” on Potsdamer Platz when Arnd-Henning Heißen managed the bar there.
More drinks at “Nauta”
“When I stop working at a bar, I don’t just stop working, I move out all my stuff and take it with me,” says Heißen with a laugh – arriving at his new venue with all the numerous utensils he’s collected over the years. In addition to Julio, luminaires, masks, mugs, bottles and other decorative elements also came with Heißen when he moved to “Nauta” on Kastanienallee in Prenzlauer Berg in autumn 2024. Opened in 2017 on the site of the former bar-café institution “103” as a restaurant serving Nikkei cuisine (fusion food emerging when Japanese immigrants went to Peru and combined their cooking techniques with local ingredients), the concept is now re-positioning itself as “Cocktail Bar & Nikkei Cuisine”, i.e. shifting the focus a little more towards beverages - with more and more punters also coming to just have a cocktail.
Barista-Style
Drinks ordered here have always been consumed with food, especially the Peruvian classic, Pisco Sour. “The punters just love it,” says Heißen. He has purchased a powerful milk frother (his “favourite new gadget”) and large metal jugs for the mixing station, which is located right next to the tables in the “Nauta”. “It’s almost like being a barista” he says with a grin. Homemade vegetable protein made from xanthan gum, soy lecithin and citric acid, among other things, is processed here into a stable foam for many drinks at once.
© Jan-Peter Wulf
Four kinds of watermelon
The “Nauta” menu has now grown to around 15 cocktails, including the fancy “Coco Chilcano” - a drink made with pisco, coconut rum, mandarin, lime, ylang-ylang, honey and homemade hibiscus bergamot water - which is served in a somewhat grim-looking coconut mask. Or the “Fuego Futuro” with barrel-aged mezcal, red and white vermouth, mate, fir liqueur, sandalwood and incense syrup, served with smoky white sage. This drink was something Heißen already created for the “Bird's Nest” – he just took it one step further for “Nauta”. He has also brought his passion for fragrances with him: punters can choose a drink based on a scent they like, and have it paired with an accompanying dish if they so wish. Our own nose leads us to the extremely refreshing non-alcoholic “Guiding Water” with jasmine and mustard tea, pink lotus blossom, violet, lemon water, watermelon and pink pepper. Watermelon is served in three different ways - reduced in a vacuum, fermented and as a sorbet. Together with the drink, the melon is served in four different consistencies - a special pairing.
© Jan-Peter Wulf
“Nikkei cuisine is perfect for me”
Arnd Heißen actually knows “Nauta” owner Max Wirtz - who also owns "Bar Tausend” and once helped run the legendary techno club “103” and previously the cafe-bar institution “103 Bar” here - from his time at The Ritz-Carlton. They were already toying with the idea of joint projects back then and with the end of the Bird’s Nest looming, the opportunity arose to support “Nauta”. This was ideal for the bartender, named “Mixologist of the Year 2013” at the Mixology Bar Awards, as he already enjoyed creating cocktails using Latin American spirits at “The Curtain Club”, one of the bars at that renowned hotel on Potsdamer Platz, while its number two bar at the time, “Fragrances”, was known for its large selection of sake. “In this respect, Nikkei cuisine is simply perfect for me,” says Heißen.
© Nauta
Bar and kitchen work hand in hand
The “Coco Chilcano” mentioned above is accompanied by tiradito, the Nikkei version of sashimi, made from eagle fish, with fennel, verbena and green asparagus - the delicate yet spicy dish with a fine citrus note and the opulent but not overloaded drink go very well together. The same goes for the “Fuego Futuro” which goes well with the tacos with pork belly and fermented pineapple. This tropical fruit is a good example of the close collaboration between the kitchen team (led by David von Zglinicki, previously chef de cuisine at “Heimlich Treu”, among others) and the bar and service duo Arnd Heißen/Lea Zufall: while the fruit flesh is fermented and served on the plates, the bar uses the peel to refine the Peruvian cult drink Chicha Morada - whose main ingredient, the iconic purple corn, is of course also used for the dishes. And the lemon verbena from the Amazon, which goes into the “Baby Julio” (the house panda’s favourite drink), is further processed into salt by the kitchen staff. “You always have fresh ingredients, if only because of the lime acid (which is used for the traditional tiger’s milk for “cooking” the fish, editor’s note). Nikkei cuisine is simply fantastic bar food,” enthuses Heißen.
If you want to see for yourself, the restaurant is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 6 pm, with food starting at 6.30 pm.
www.nautaberlin.com
