Copenhagen-based architects Salem Charabi & Rasmus Stroyberg have revamped the interior of one Berlin’s most exclusive eateries, the Michelin-starred eight-seat counter restaurant ‘ernst’. Imbued with character and handcrafted design, the new interior language mirrors the dining experience: local, balanced, and sophisticated.

Run by Dylan Watson-Brawn, the small restaurant in Berlin’s Wedding district—is a culinary gem included in San Pellegrino’s list of World’s Best Restaurants. The Danish design studio was tasked with the complete interior redesign of its intimate spaces; combining materials and details that nod to the restaurant’s devotion to thoughtfully and locally sourced ingredients. 

A hallway clad in a fine earthy clay-plaster and dotted with hand-crafted aluminum wall lights leads guests to the small dining room. A wardrobe for coats made from German oak wood, decorated with hand-carved handles, and a stone bench made from Bavarian limestone, create moments to pause before being seated.

A long wooden counter serves at the one and only guest table; limestone delivered directly from a quarry in Bavaria and used throughout as countertops, gently divides the dining area from the cooking section. Crafted and woven at the architects’ workshop in Copenhagen, the eight elegant dining chairs are finished with a tea-like liquid made from the log’s bark used to produce them. “The same technique was applied to all cabinetry throughout the restaurant, contrasting the subdued hue of the clay-plastered walls and heavy linen curtains,” explain the architects. Hand-crafted design objects and refined textiles complement the space while testifying to the sophisticated nature of ernst.