It’s been a year since we visited the 136 restaurant with its excitingly unconventional Peruvian-Italian fusion cuisine, back then still as Sagrantino 136. To underline the focus on the tastes of his homeland and to set itself apart from the Italian focus of sister restaurant Sagrantino in Bergmannstraße, Peruvian chef Matias Diaz renamed 136 this summer and invited guests to a new tasting of his refined menu.
So we obediently choose the five-course experience menu recommended by chef Matias Díaz. It should be five courses, but realistically it is eight, as we are still spoiled with three delicious intermediate courses. For the experience menu, you can choose between five or seven courses, with wine accompaniment on request.
Every two months, Matias Díaz changes the menu, on which he combines the tastes of his childhood with high culinary art and demonstrates visual and taste inventiveness. Only one dish may always remain. What that is and why it may always remain, we will find out.
First of all, however, in addition to a Pisco Sour, we get in the mood for the coming evening, where we are not only impressed by the visual dosage form. One poem in particular is a tramezzino with buffala cream, anchovies and pickled carrots, a kind of mini sandwich that already looks like a small work of art. This is followed by more delicious appetizers and, to top it off, a kombucha of red corn with watermelon balls.
We don’t wait long and chef Matias brings another greeting from the kitchen: a trio of peas that is slightly reminiscent of guacamole: pea puree topped with peas and pea leaves, plus slightly spicy pickled tomatoes and red flowers as further splashes of color. In an Eastern way, everything is taken out of the pea here. The Aji Amarillo chili variety gives the dish an astonishingly tone-setting, but not unpleasant spiciness. The kitchen dares to do something. Now we have an idea who we are dealing with here.
In general: Peruvian-Italian fusion cuisine. How come, we ask the chef, who spent his childhood in Peru. Quite simply: The owner of the 136 restaurant is Italian, hence the large selection of Italian wines. He trusts Mati’s cooking coasts, his vision, so he is free to act culinarily. In addition to Peruvian cuisine, Mati also grew up with the cuisine of his uncle, who is Italian. In addition, there is a large community of Italian descendants in Peru.
The actual menu now begins with the course that was already discussed earlier: Mati serves us his Involtini with eagle fish, lemon pearls, straw and sweet potato puree. The Leche de Tigre is freshly poured at the table. Of course, ceviche should not be missing from Peruvian-inspired cuisine, it is a much desired classic. And we don’t wonder at all why this dish is not removed from the menu.
Maybe it’s the best ceviche we know in Berlin. Since the Leche de Tigre is only added shortly before consumption, the sashimi-quality eaglefish retains its delicate sweetness. The pithy acidity of the Leche de Tigre, delicate aromas of coriander oil and red onions, as well as excellently used rocoto chilli make the Peruvian national dish an overall composition that combines the best properties of all the ingredients to create a dish that is as elegant as it is refined and surprising. Enough of the rambling: simply awesome.
In addition, there is the not so easy task of recommending a suitable wine for the dominant acidity. The service pours a L’atteso, a Boschera Frizzante from Barazza aged for eight months in terracotta. Also in the wine accompaniment, Italy dances wonderfully with Peru.
The following courses in the 136 restaurant also put us in a rapturous mood. Needless to say, the Wagyu is cooked to perfection and the scallops make a wonderful work of art with fine additions. We are particularly impressed by the artichoke dish, which, like the peas, gets everything out of a vegetable: pudding with saffron, cream, lettuce, pickled pieces, chips, powder and sauce, rounded off with capers, dill and orange pearls. Visually as well as tastefully a highlight.
Diaz, who previously cooked in the kitchens of the Mandala Hotel and Hugos , among others, knows exactly what he can do and plans to demonstrate it in the 136 restaurant throughout the capital. The dessert can certainly contribute to this. A lovingly arranged tree of coffee mousse complements slides with a toadstool made of white chocolate and strawberry jelly, yuzu sorbet, kiwi mint sauce and much more. Accompanied by a dessert wine in the glass: Napolini Sagrantino di Montefalco.
“Everyone who comes should feel at home here,” says Matias Diaz, and that’s what they do. Each dish is lovingly explained by Matias or a team member, the atmosphere is cozy and informal, and the warm red tones of the restaurant allow visitors to relax. So it tastes wonderfully through the colorful dishes. We can’t wait to see what awaits us next time.
