Are you looking for a Berlin bag that not only looks good but is also full of surprises? Then EVENaBAG –– created by our outdoor fan and friend Rocco Kruse –– is definitely the right choice for you. Rocco who works as an architect, artist and designer in Berlin, has not only to travel a lot for his job, but also loves to sit down at the river Spree or in a parc after work. He came to the idea when he was preparing himself for a week long tour through from New York to Los Angeles and started watching people and studyig the market for multifunctional bags. What he found was not satisfying and also he saw that he was not alone with his problem: So many people take a break in a parc or at a riverside – not only in Berlin but also in LA or NYC – the can't sit on their bags because of the the laptops inside, cant't relax their backs and get dirty or wet, if they sit down in their suits or skirts. So Rocco identyfied not only a market gap but started closing it right after his US trip. He brought home first drawings, prototyped samples with his collegues and tested plus perfetioned his multi talent in the following summer. Finally he started a small production with durable materials in a fair family production he met travelling two years later to Vietnam. We were able to test EVENaBAG the last Weeked ourselfes and were as excited as surprised by his clever design which is truly a chameleon, available in four colours. We fell for the blue brown one, which we used as bicycle bag, a padded camping seat with backrest, a fishing chair and a decent picnic mat – it is also designed as a hanging toileretry bag and serves very well as a cool diaper bag too, says Roccos sister. If you want to become part of the cool urban Berlin crowd or a looking for a cool prent to bring to your loved ones, get yourself EVENaBAG. We are convinced it is not only a great Berlin product for any mobile lifestyle but also an extremely useful surprise for trendsetters all over the world. 

Find more on www.evenabag.com

www.facebook.com/Evenabag

This Berlin product is something for your balcony, birthday or company party, where no guests under 18 are invited: Schleckdruff freezes our favourite drinks – nicely presented as ice lollies. The two founders Alexander Katz and Felix Riederer von Paar have started their own in-house production in 2014 with fresh ingredients for Gin Tonic and Moscow Mule – now you can also get Mojito, Mango and Strawberry Daiquiri or a Mini Bar with frozen shots. All products are vegetarian, but not vegan. The hybrid of ice cream and dessert with up to 11.5 percent volume alcohol is as simple as effective and anyway much more practical when celebrating and dancing. No spoiling, no dishwashing – and an always cool and fresh companion at events, festivals or while clubbing. The ice-cold turns were already available at Sonar, Barcelona, Feel Festival or Berlin clubs like Ritter Butzke. From now on you can get the Berlin original in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and it finds its way directly into your freezer: If you want to enjoy your frozen longdrinks on the stalk,  just order them at the SchleckDruff Onlineshop and they arrive safely packed in styrofoam box and dry ice pack at your home. CinCin!

AKFR Frozen Drink GmbH
just order online via www.schleckdruff.de

My friend Stefan took me here and I spent a whole afternoon in the Galerie MAMOO with two cosmopolitan power women – Ute Gumz, a former filmmaker and her daughter MOMO, who both traveled in between Berlin and La Paz before they opened up their multilingual mother-daughter project in Graefekiez. While Ute is selling out her immense Alpaca collection, MOMO has set up her Fine Art Gallery and Photo Studio here. Her current exhibition FILAMENTOS shows a fiber, an annealing or dusting thread. MOMO is not only a filmmaker and photographer but is currently undergoing training as a female shaman. With her knowledge of ancient Indians, she is curious, how our cosmos and life is connected through a radiant band of energy and light that forces us to act or interact with one another. This luminous vision is the guiding principle for the design of her lighting figures.

Next to MOMOS radiant art, this place is certainly the greatest Alpaca paradise in Europe: Alpacas live in the Andes at an altitude of 4000–5000 meters, where they are only protected by their natural fibers – they are able to exist in a climate which changes up to 60 degrees Celsius within 24 hours of one day. There is more limited Alpaca than Cashmere available in the world; the animals are carefully shorn every one or two years. The luxury fleece woven from one animal is just enough for one pullover. The fine light Alpaca hair is hollow inside, their air chambers, which react immediately to temperature changes, form a highly effective thermal insulation. Designers from all over the world make their finest clothing from Alpaca and you can find a tremendous collection of their works at Gallery MAMOO. I couldn’t resist and bought myself a scarf and cape yesterday – and since Ute was involved in the Alpaca wholesale, you won't find prices like here anywhere. Be sure not to miss the SALE, going on until mid-March and have the chance for a monthly drawing of an Alpaca model worth up to 150 Euros.

Galerie MAMOO I ALPACA STORE |
FINE ART GALLERY | PHOTO STUDIO
Graefestraße 8, D-10961 Berlin-Kreuzberg
Opening hours Tue–Sat 1–6 pm
www.facebook.com/GALERIE.MAMOO
www.facebook.com/momopool.berlin/

The first branch of Aux Delices Normands opened in 1995 in the Berliner Straße in Zehlendorf. The brioches, croissants and tartes of the French founder and owner Didier Canet were so popular that within a few years, further branches followed in the Neue Kantstraße, the Pfalzburger Straße, the Ihnestrasse and the Brandenburgische Straße. In the year 2005, Canet –– who came to Berlin in 1989 and is still serving the delicatessen supplier Lenôtre in the famous KaDeWe –– fulfilled himself a dream and turned the listed monumental court in Stahnsdorf not only into a residential building for himself but also started the production here. In order to increase the quality of the loaves, baguettes and rolls, he integrated a French wood oven. Meanwhile the branch in Stahnsdorf –– which can be seen in the photo –– has developed into a popular excursion destination. Not only a special tipp for sunday afternoons to drop by for a café au lait and our favourite Tarte tarte au pommes normande but also the best place to buy excellent Cidre, Calvados and Camembert and other delicacies for your Noël normand.

Aux Delices Normands
Berliner Straße 49, D-14169 Berlin-Zehlendorf
Mon– Fri: 6am–6pm, Sat 6am–2pm, Sun 8am–4pm
Dorfplatz 6, D-14532 Stahnsdorf
Mon–Sun: 7.30am–5.30pm
www.auxdelicesnormands.de

Our neighbours serve the best fair traide and hand selected coffee in Berlin-Mitte and since more and more people come from all over town or even the world to Röststätte, it grows bigger and bigger every year. Now it finally reaches the corner to Torstraße and you can just get everything related to coffe here on a very high level. Yvonne and Ivo Weller started Röststätte in 2003 by and we love to sit with them and friends in the sun right at 8 o'clock, when it opens up and all seats are occupied quickly. Röststätte ist not only a café, but you can also lend and buy espresso machines and equipment by Victoria Arduino and Nuova Simonelli here, have a scientific talk on coffee with Ivo or join in at Barrista workshops. While Yvonne is the boss of the shop, Ivo runs the roastery and is a certified Q-Grader and member of the SCAE Speciality Coffee Association. And what goes best with a cup of coffee? Another one, this time with a warm croissant and the newspaper.

Röststätte Berlin, Ackerstraße 173, D-10115 Berlin, Mon–Fr 8am–6pm, Sat, Sun 9.30am–5.30pm
www.facebook.com/Röststätte-Berlin
www.pro-macchina.com
www.shop.roeststaette.de

Yesterday we were invited over to party into Peters birthday and since he lives vegan, he picked a great choice of cakes at Veganz in Prenzlauer Berg. My favourite was the Chocolate Raspberry Coconut cake, but also the Raw Orange Chai cake and Chocholate Mousse cake were beyond amazing. The company was founded in February 2011 by ex Daimler Manager Jan Bredack and opened its first store in Prenzlauer Berg with 250 square metres of space. Meanwhile Veganz is the first vegan food chain in Europe and offers in ten shops  – two more of them in Berlin – products that are 100 percent vegan. Veganz distributes not only in their own branches, but also through LEH-partners and a Veganz Food Truck on various events. Next to their full range vegan supermarket is the ExtraVeganz, where cooking classes, seminars and movie nights are held. On sundays the Goodies café offers an all-vegan brunch between 10am–3pm. For all fans of a plant-based lifestyle vegan shoe retailer Avesu and fashion store Dear Goods are just next door. Thanks for the learning that vegan cakes can be really tasty and happy birthday, dear Peter!

Veganz, Prenzlauer Berg, Schivelbeiner Str. 34, D-10439 Berlin
Mon–Saturday 9am–9pm, Sundays closed
Goodies, Mon–Fri 8am–8pm, Sat 9am–8pm, Sun 10am–6 pm
www.veganz.de, www.goodies-berlin.de

The new Berlin label WILDGOLD – founded by Nikolas Gieber from friendlyfur.de and the excellent cook Stefan Beck – is the first trading platform for premium food, design objects and lifestyle materials, that will be delivered directly from nature into your house. Here you will find only certified goods which are directly related to nature: Non-industrially manufactured products such as marmelade, meat, honey, wild herbs, natural clothing, furniture, jewelry and many more. With WILDGOLD you can rise from the wild right to the stars – like Seneca proposed – per aspera ad astra. Products who come directly from nature not only make you happy but allow you to be a consumer who is part of it. The new platform is ideal for smal sellers of nature related foods like beekeepers or hunters, masons or artists like goldsmiths, art and design professionals. On the customer side collectors, gourmets and nature lovers will find catering and hotel services here, as well as a daily growing number of excellent products. Become a collector and hunter – go for WILDGOLD!

Find the whole offer of WILDGOLD in the online shop
www.WILDGOLD.de
www.facebook.com/Wildgold

What is the scent of Berlin? At least Stefanie Hanssens creation Berlin, newly designed for the famous warehouse KaDeWe, smells vibrant and spicy and combines bergamot with lemon, water lilies, cedar wood and cardamon. More impressions of Berlin like the fresh floral Linde Berlin, the energetically tangy Berlin Summer to the utterly extravagant Pure Violet, a scent that captivated Marlene Dietrich almost 100 years ago, you can find at Frau Tonis Parfüm close to Checkpoint Charly. All perfumes are produced locally in Berlin and show cased in clear glass pharmacy bottles in a pure black and white store to guarantee that nothing will distract you from what is really important, the fragrance itself. The store also runs evening classes where you can learn the art of composing your individual perfume while supping and munching champagne and pralines. 

Frau Tonis Parfum, Zimmerstrasse 13, D-10969 Berlin-Kreuzberg,
Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm
www.frau-tonis-parfum.com