The main thing is instagrammable – that seems to be the motto of some new bars. Now do we only go out if the restaurant looks like something out of a series? Or like in the theater. In any case, leisure time is becoming more and more film-ready.
The beauty of the present is the contradictory trends. On the one hand, our time can be told as a catastrophe with war, inflation, climate crisis and fears of decline, but on the other hand as the return of the golden twenties, in which people liked to eat out chic again when the corona crisis abated. You are WHAT you eat, but also WHERE you eat. trendy escapism. The escape from everyday life into a film-ready world seems to be the order of the day.
A zeitgeist question – or rather a question of free time – is probably: Is going out more and more staged for social networks? “Everything in this bar is designed as an experience,” wrote the Berlin city magazine “Tip” about the “Bellboy Bar” on Gendarmenmarkt, which has been made cosmopolitan, where drinks are served, for example, in a mini bathtub with ducklings. The bar-restaurant with mystical, plush furnishings is an import from the trendy metropolis of Tel Aviv, and is only open to people over the age of 25. It is just one example of other photogenic new openings in the German capital, such as the California dining bar “MQ” on Kurfürstendamm.
And the trend portal “Mit Freude” recently admired the new Italian restaurant “Coccodrillo” in Berlin’s Weinbergspark with the words: “The interior is a wild mixture of seventies, Hollywood, diner and Italo-Disco.” It is the second trattoria in Germany from Big Squadra, the German branch of the Big Mamma Group, which has so far caused a stir in Paris, London, Madrid, Marseille and Monaco, for example. Big Mamma’s design studio Kiki likes to design brightly colored retro-kitsch guest rooms. As early as June, the restaurant group opened the opulently floral “Giorgia” in Munich-Haidhausen, which “Der Spiegel” described as “noble Italian for the Instagram generation” – and panned: “How should it taste here, with so much tastelessness? ” Big Squadra communications officer Chiara Baumgartner replies: “It’s not our goal to be considered an Instagram restaurant. But if something is beautiful and extraordinary, then photos are taken and people want to share it. That’s the way it is.”
Of course, photogenic bars and restaurants have been around for a long time – whether it’s for the view, their waterfront location, or their impressive space. As early as the 1910s, however, it was noticeable that the design of cafés was becoming hipper, even in boring locations, and the gastronomy world mutated into a global village. Whether in New York or Neuss, Barcelona or Bielefeld: light bulbs with visible filaments, vintage furniture, neon lettering, brick or concrete walls, chalkboards, hanging baskets, clipboard menus or even the bicycle on the wall. For whatever reason.
“Meanwhile, the gastro world is a good step further than just wanting to be ‘instagrammable’ – it’s about the live experience, because that’s the only way analog offers can compete with the digital world,” says publisher Marcella Prior-Callwey in Munich. Your Callwey publishing company holds an annual competition for the “most beautiful restaurants and bars” in Germany – in cooperation with the Association of German Interior Designers, the Hotel and Restaurant Association and other partners.
“Restaurants are the new theatres, they are designed as a total work of art,” says Prior-Callwey. The creators aimed to appeal to all the senses with eclectic design, coordinated music and attractive food. Visitors wanted to have the best possible time there, instead of just watching others on the Internet. “They say to themselves: If I spend money and invest time, then it must be amazing.” Prior-Callwey sees the British capital London as a pioneer of this so-called megatrend, which is now increasingly arriving in German-speaking countries. There, exclusive brasseries such as “Sexy Fish”, “Amazonico”, “Sketch” or “The Maine Mayfair” showed the way. In places like this, says Prior-Callwey, there are often unusual combinations on the plate and new ideas for how dishes are presented – be it for one person or for sharing.
“Many guests want to see and be seen in such big city bars, but it’s all about the real moment that you want there.” The noble event gastronomy faces our overloaded present, in which everyone – from the classic cultural institutions to the media and streaming services – competes for the wallet and, above all, time and attention of the customers. “We are all overwhelmed with offers that demand attention. And you have to offer something and fill the time as overwhelmingly as possible – and that’s exactly what these restaurants do.”