- [Danielle] Since the wall fell in 1989, Berlin has combined cultural depth with affordability, attracting artists from around the globe.
And in recent years, many from the community have been drawn here by the city's creative freedom and tolerance for experimentation.
And the once divided city is not just a crossroads for artists, it's a melting pot of different art forms, where music, fine art, and, yes, food all share the spotlight.
(curious music) (curious music continues) (curious music continues) (gentle music) This morning, I'm with culinary artist Alexis Convento, who captures Filipino flavors in physical forms.
This is art you can eat.
Alexis moved from New York to Berlin to become part of a growing community of Asian creatives.
Her work reflects Kapwa, the Filipino concept of shared humanity.
And what's your vision?
Do you want it on the cloth or on the side?
- I think, like, around.
It could be in piles.
- Around?
(gentle music) Nice.
(Danielle laughs) - Now we can shape it even more, you know, kind of play with what we're feeling here.
Just allow the forms to kind of form naturally.
You're kind of going with the flow.
- [Danielle] That's so beautiful, this rice crisp on this fabric because you can- - Exactly.
- [Danielle] See the textures, and this is so organic.
- [Alexis] You know, Filipino influences in food, so the rice crisps, you know, this comes with Vietnamese summer rolls.
- Uh-huh.
- It's usually what it is, I just fry them.
But I sprinkle them with a sinigang rice powder.
- Does the food have to taste good or just look good?
- It definitely has to taste good, in my book.
(both laughing) But that's definitely always important, is to make sure that it's tasty.
I think a lot of the times, the flavors end up being a bit more comforting.
And visually too.
I'd say, like, this is plating, right?
- Right.
- It's just the table's a very big plate.
It's like Berlin allowed me to try something new, try something different and redefine myself.
Next, perhaps.
- What is banana ketchup?
I've never heard of that.
- Banana ketchup!
Little bit of tomato concentrate just to, you know, give it that color.
It's coconut sugar.
- Wow!
- [Alexis] A little bit of coconut vinegar, I use as well.
And then, like, garlic.
It's used in a bunch of different dishes.
But I really like showcasing its flavor on its own.
- Mm, I can't wait to try it.
- So people can really try.
(calm music) Food as a medium has been really coming through a lot more recently, and, you know, I think it's the sense of people wanting to come together and, like, build community again, share things again with one another.
This is looking good.
- Okay!
- [Alexis] I think we can add some flowers.
Some edible flowers.
- All right.
- [Alexis] So this, to me, is the performance, actually.
It's this kind of meditative moment with the food, with connecting to it in this way.
I think Filipino flavors are very approachable.
They're very likable.
And I hope that more people in Germany, in Berlin, can experience what that is like.
(shell clacking) There's a Filipino drink that uses melon and macapuno, and this is kind of a nod to that.
And then we'll put some tomato water with it.
Tomato coconut water, actually.
- [Danielle] Mm.
- [Alexis] So it's a nice little refreshing bite with everything, so.
- Oh.
(gentle music) Oh, this is shiso leaf.
(Alexis chuckles) - [Alexis] Yeah.
- Which is great.
- Yes.
- It's like perilla, right?
- Yes, exactly, yeah.
- And it's used in Korean cuisine a lot as well.
- [Alexis] Yes.
And then we're putting a little, this is a banana blossom sisig.
- [Danielle] Uh-huh.
- [Alexis] So it's banana blossom.
There's a bit of- - [Danielle] Ooh!
- [Alexis] Garlic in there.
A bit of soy sauce.
And this is, yeah, a nice little savory bite, I'd say.
- This is how I wanna have dinner parties, you know?
Just create, like, a beautiful buffet.
What Alexis is doing is bringing it onto a totally different level.
I mean, you're putting your identity into it.
How've people generally reacted to your work?
- [Alexis] Lots of sounds.
(both laughing) - [Danielle] Gasps.
Ooh!
- Gasps, mm.
(laughs) - [Danielle] Wow!
- And I love that.
And it's just bringing the Filipino experience and story to a wider audience, especially in Germany.
(chuckles) I just wanna find more ways, too, in which people can experience art in new ways.
You know, it doesn't have to be a painting or a video.
We're all kids at heart, I'd say.
Who doesn't like playing with their food?
- Exactly.
(chuckles) (Alexis chuckles) - [Alexis] I'd like to think that I'm cooking for others.
It's always for others, I'm a big caretaker type of person.
- Yeah.
- [Alexis] But it's, of course, for myself too.
- Uh-huh.
(chuckles) - It's for myself to find pleasure in the work and to bring parts of me to someone else, so.
- [Danielle] Right, isn't food all about that?
Like, giving pleasure- - It is.
- To somebody else.
- It is.
It is.
- [Danielle] And the same with art.
- It is.
- You know, sharing an experience, a point of view.
- [Alexis] Exactly.
It's so nice to be able to do that, too, and to be able to try it in the ways that I want to and to not feel limited to a plate or something, so.
(chuckles) - Yeah.
And now, to complete the creative act, we have to eat it.
- [Alexis] We do.
We do have to eat it.
(gentle music) - I think Alexis is really good at deconstructing a lot of the different ingredients of Filipino food and also being very thoughtful about understanding also where they come from and maybe also the emotional significance of these different ingredients that are part of our food, so there's a lot of storytelling also.
Obviously, it looks very pretty.
(lighthearted music) - [Danielle] If food can frame a culture, it can also frame a stage.
So I head to Pinas, a restaurant and karaoke bar where food and performance come together in a celebration of Filipino identity.
I share earthy sisig with Jaimie Adriano, the restaurant's founder, and Bibingka, the drag persona of Alvin Collantes, a fierce Filipino performance artist.
- I started drag three years ago, and when I had, yes, from a recommendation of a friend because they needed a performer.
- Really?
- Yeah, very spontaneous.
- Wow!
- And so performing has always been kind of quite scary for me.
And when I had the opportunity to, yeah, take more space.
And with the help of my friends here in Berlin, they were so supportive, and they were always like, "You know, whatever you're gonna do, especially in the drag community, it's all about what you'd like to share in the stage about your story, like, focusing on yourself."
- Everyone knows Thailand or Vietnam, Chinese, but what is Filipino?
- [Danielle] Yeah.
- How does it taste?
And then I try to think about what is really authentic Filipino food.
So that is- - Oh!
What we called- - Milkfish.
- This is milkfish from the Philippines.
- Everything is shared, so you don't just get a dish for yourself, but you kind of- - It's communal.
- Yes.
- Yeah.
- Butter milkfish, adobo, and this is... - [Jaimie] This is longsilog.
This is longanisa with fried rice.
And this is our- - Renourish.
(laughs) - [Danielle] Renourish!
Yes, through food.
- Filipinos sisig.
There is pig ears.
- [Danielle] Uh-huh.
- [Jaimie] Grinded pork meat and liver.
- You know, I know, like, the Asians, we eat the whole animal, right?
- Oh, yes.
- Like, we respect the animal we eat.
- Yeah.
- Every part of it.
But what about the Germans when they come here and they hear pig ears?
What is their reaction?
- For them, this is new world, but they are curious to try it.
- To try.
- [Jaimie] And they try it, and they love it.
- Mm!
- And from then, I can say I'm proud of it.
- Sisig is always present in karaoke and drag shows.
- Really?
- Yes.
When you go to a bar in the Philippines or even in the karaoke bars by the beach in Boracay, there's always sisig, it's always like a, you call it pulutan.
- Pulutan.
In all of our menu, this is the hardest part how to prepare.
Because there's a lot of process how you can do that.
And this is why people coming back, because this is not easy to prepare at home.
- [Danielle] This is incredible!
- [Jaimie] Yeah.
- I mean, it's got so many flavors and textures, it's got the crunch.
The long-stewed pork flavor to it- - The pork flavor.
- And so many spices.
It's delicious.
- The sensibility to make food close to home or taste like home, it doesn't hold back on the flavor.
And I feel like that also gives the opportunity or the chance to really try something that is authentic and really close to the roots.
And I think that's very special.
Where we are now, every Saturday, we have karaoke nights.
And it's a combination of Germans who have visited the Philippines and wanting to connect to the food or Filipino migrants who just wanna find each other and connect through singing karaoke together, having a space to celebrate the language, and what you'd like to offer or what you'd like to share, what you'd like to express.
And then it clicked to me that performance becomes a love letter to my heritage.
Having these questions of what it means to have a Filipino body in the West.
- [Danielle] Uh-huh.
- To carry this diasporic identity and what does it mean to bring heritage into drag spaces or to at least let the audience know a little bit about where I came from.
Bring grief into this space, a longing, maybe even reconnecting to, I don't know, a piece of culture that I was a part of and see how I can bring that out into the space of performing.
(Bibingka laughs) - So, what are you thinking about when you perform?
- I really love to engage and activate people in the space.
So Bibingka is all about relationships.
I love to sing to the audience.
I love to get close to them.
I love to tickle them a little bit.
(both laughing) And I also love to bring a little bit of just, like, spice.
- Yeah.
- I love to maybe share a little bit what sensuality feels for me, how to celebrate a little bit the curves and what feels really sexy and unapologetically sexy for me.
And sharing that in the space and allowing the audience to be a part of that, so.
- [Danielle] And you think Berlin is what gave you that freedom and inspired you to exercise your voice?
- [Bibingka] I've had moments here in Pinas where I was crying witnessing someone sing.
A Filipina German.
- [Danielle] Mm.
- [Bibingka] Who just started learning about the language, the Filipino language through the song.
- [Danielle] Really?
- Ah.
- Oh, that sounds so heartbreaking and beautiful.
- [Bibingka] Yes, and beautiful.
(relaxing music) - [Danielle] What do you want people to take away from your performances?
- [Bibingka] I want them to leave feeling really held.
I want them to leave feeling nourished.
And also, as an entertainer, for me, performing is an act of care.
(warm music) - [Danielle] From dance and karaoke, the night turns inward.
The room darkens.
The music softens.
In Berlin, performance doesn't always mean taking center stage.
Sometimes it means knowing when to step back and listen.
At Rei Bar, Yuuki Itoh's sake list is as carefully curated as his final collection.
A former DJ, he draws on his roots in Japan to create a space where food, drink, and music converge.
- We're not trying to be super authentic Japanese restaurant.
We would like this place to be kind of gateway into Japanese cuisine.
You know, bringing in Japanese tapas style, you know, casual way of drinking also, you know?
With the shareable, you know, dishes amongst your friends or families.
- So what are some of the dishes that are most popular?
- Chicken karaage, for sure.
- Uh-huh.
- [Yuuki] And then we have really, really amazing chicken katsu sando.
- Do you try to make a cultural connection with the German palate, or do you adjust any of your dishes?
- If we are to try to be authentic, I think, you know, the Japanese dishes, a little less salty or rather mild taste, you know, flavors.
- [Danielle] Uh-huh.
- Whereas here in Berlin, I think you need to have a little bit of a stronger taste to it.
(calm music) - In a beer-drinking culture, you're introducing sake, which is so different.
- We're just hoping that we're actually bringing in sake and introducing sake.
And then giving, you know, customers or their friends, you know, more ideas what they're drinking.
So let's start from this one.
It's called Shichihonyari, this one is coming from Shiga.
Shiga is right next to Kyoto.
Japan is a special, somewhat, level, offering very, very different approach to- - It's a very unique country.
- Exactly.
- And I think for people who've never been there, it is mind-boggling.
- I'm kind of here to try to give, offer customers or the people who are passing by here to have a little touch of something that they would like to touch.
If they really are interested in it, they would for sure make their own way to go visit Japan.
- Yeah, why don't we try some and listen to some music and see if I vibrate on a higher level?
(both laughing) (relaxing music) It just kind of became a international phenomenon, where Japanese listening bar culture.
- [Danielle] Mm-hmm.
- [Yuuki] Just, you know, took over the world, and then everyone is now, you know, like, starting off this listening bar idea.
We're not trying to make people dance here.
- Uh-huh.
- You know, it's more about enjoying this analog feel to it.
You know, this is a good way of kind of putting music, which is really, you know, the heart of Berlin as well.
- You're creating an entry point for that here in Berlin, and yeah.
- Exactly.
You know, that's exactly what it is.
- [Danielle] Spreading the love of Japanese culture.
- [Yuuki] Absolutely.
- [Both] Kanpai.
(bright music) - [Danielle] To understand what's really happening, how Asian food moved from the edges to the center of Berlin's cultural life, I turned to Sissi Chen, a food writer based in Berlin.
So when you first moved to Berlin, what was it like?
- Yeah.
There was no Asian European identity.
- Hmm.
- And definitely no Asian- - German identity, yeah.
- German identity.
- What are some of the most popular, say, Chinese foods in Berlin?
- So I think the sour spicy.
No, the sour, the sweet sour chicken and the sweet sour pork.
(chuckles) That's a very German Chinese dish.
The street that you see there, that's Kantstrasse.
Everyone in Berlin knows Kantstrasse.
It's basically the street for different types of Asian food but also very international.
- Oh!
- [Sissi] You'll find basically any type of cuisine on Kantstrasse or in one of the streets beside Kantstrasse.
And the difference to, for example, to East Germany is because, obviously, West Germany was open for people to start their businesses and people already started the business pretty early on, so.
- Ah.
- They had much more, like, many, many years to build up cafes, restaurant, shops, different kind of establishments.
- Right.
- And there are some cafes that are really, like, cultural institutions 'cause they are already quite old.
And that's definitely the biggest difference to East Germany, because East Germany started when the wall fell.
- Right.
- I really want to advocate for Chinese but also a lot of Asian foods and to make it understandable for audience that it is struggling to differentiate between, you know, Korean food, Vietnamese food, Thai food.
And I really want to help people to understand ingredients better, understand cuisines better, but ultimately understand the people who are coming from the country better.
- So we can all be friends.
- I know.
(both laughing) - No, but it's so true.
- I mean, my job is basically peace.
Peaceful food.
(laughs) - Yes.
Yes.
Nowhere is Asian food's rise in Berlin more visible than Kantstrasse in Charlottenburg.
Sissi and I are now in the Central Mitte District to check out Monsieur Vuong, a pioneering Vietnamese restaurant opened in 1998 by Khuong Dat Vuong.
Over a bowl of his seductive pho, Dat tells me about the origins of Monsieur Vuong.
What inspired you guys to open the first Vietnamese restaurant in Berlin?
That's quite an accomplishment.
- I opened the restaurant in 1998.
It was very exciting and a challenge as well.
When I opened the restaurant, Berlin Mitte, this neighborhood, was a new playground, new playground for international and local artists and actors and people from all walks of life.
(Dat chuckles) - And, like, creating this restaurant, it's like an homage to your home.
- [Dat] I'm really loving to introduce my food and culture in Berlin and to show how amazing it is.
- Yeah.
- Okay, try the broth first.
- [Sissi] Always try the broth first.
(Sissi laughs) - The cinnamon, the cardamom, the beef.
- [Dat] The beef.
(Danielle chuckles) - [Danielle] Who taught you how to cook?
- My mom was a very strict teacher- - Uh-huh.
- And a great chef as well.
- Uh-huh.
- She teach me that.
I was up with the great food around me.
- The Vietnamese food in Berlin is pretty close to Vietnamese food in Vietnam.
When it comes to Vietnamese food, I would say Berlin is really the place to be.
If there's any place, it's Berlin.
(graceful music) - After walking Berlin's food scene, what strikes me most is how multi-hyphenated everyone is.
People aren't just in food, they're performers, dancers, writers.
Few embody that multiplicity better than Jinok Kim, an opera singer/potter/Michelin-acclaimed chef.
At her restaurant, NaNum, art, food, and music fully intertwine.
Upstairs, she shapes clay into beautiful vessels and dishes.
Downstairs, she transforms regional ingredients, some from the restaurant's own garden in Brandenburg, through the ancient practice of fermentation, using techniques rooted in her Korean heritage.
And it all happens to an operatic soundtrack performed by Jinok.
Tell me what we see here.
(Jinok speaking in German) (Jinok speaking in German continues) (Jinok speaking in German continues) - How did you learn how to ferment?
(Jinok speaking in German) (Jinok speaking in German continues) (Jinok speaking in German continues) (Jinok speaking in German continues) (Jinok speaking in German continues) - Look at you and how beautiful you are because of the healthy food that you eat, so, can I try?
- Yes!
Yeah, yeah.
Yes, yes.
You can try it.
(Jinok singing) (Jinok singing continues) (Jinok singing continues) (Jinok singing) Here is gold trout.
You have to eat.
- [Danielle] Okay.
- This is very, very delicious.
- Okay.
What is that?
- It is soy sauce.
- Uh-huh.
- I cooked about 12 hours.
Horseradish.
- [Danielle] Horseradish.
- [Jinok] Horseradish.
- [Danielle] So this is a fermented lotus root.
- [Jinok] Fermented, yeah.
- It's so thin.
More than okay.
(Jinok chuckles) It's very good.
- Thank you.
- So fresh.
Gold trout.
- Gold trout.
Gold trout.
It's dry-aged about 10 days.
- Dry-aged gold trout with homemade soy sauce- - Homemade sauce.
- And grated horseradish.
I like how the different layers of the flavor reveal itself, you know?
And the fish is so buttery.
And the texture, it's so chewy.
- Yes.
Yes.
- Delicious.
- Yeah.
Yeah!
Okay.
- Oh, so good.
Mm.
And what is this fermented in?
- [Jinok] It is fermented salt and the same.
- The same fruit wine.
- The same.
Yes.
- These perilla, perilla leaves.
It's wonderful, our market.
This is one year fermented.
- [Danielle] Mm-hmm.
- Ah.
(Danielle chuckles) - Mm.
It's delicious, I love perilla leaf.
- Yeah.
- You have the most idyllic lifestyle, living in harmony with nature, cooking, fermenting, gardening, making ceramics, making art, singing, enjoying life.
You're living the good life.
- Yeah, I enjoy my life.
- [Danielle] Yes!
(Jinok laughs) - I'm so happy.
- Yes!
- Yeah, yeah.
(Jinok speaking in German) (Jinok speaking in German continues) (Danielle laughs) - Ah!
- Oh yeah.
(opera singer vocalizing) (bright music)
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