Wo, you ask yourself after 36 courses, while the blackcurrant sorbet with shiso jelly melts on your tongue, where is Dylan Watson-Brawn? Was he already gone when his team explained that the beetroot was swimming in a sauce from its own shell (aisle 34) and the transverse rib (aisle 35) had been smoked for two days after four months of maturing?
A visit to “Ernst”, Berlin’s probably smallest (eight seats), most expensive (menu 250 euros without wine accompaniment) and certainly the most exciting restaurant. It’s almost midnight, and jazz is pouring out of the loudspeakers. Behind the counter, five men in dark blue chef’s jackets work so precisely, quickly and silently, as if every movement were coordinated. For a long time now, guests have been reveling in an evening somewhere between a dinner party, a voyage of discovery and dancing. But where is the head of it all, the man who Gault Millau named Chef of the Year 2022? Business partner Spencer Christenson just caramelized plums (aisle 39). He smiles. Dylan? “It’s washing dishes.”
