[Music]
okay so we have this beautiful situation
of you know having a nice conversation
we prepared some images and who has been
to one of cookies restaurants just raise
your hand okay who doesn’t know who
cookie is very good so there’s something
to share that’s very good thank you for
Isis I don’t actually have to say
anything that’s right
so cookie everybody thinks you’re
actually your ballina you are not born
in Berlin but you’re born in London in
London yeah but you came to Berlin an
interesting time tell us when was that
well I came to Berlin at the beginning
of 92 mm-hmm yeah it was any plan at
that time because I was I was 18
Berlin looked totally different than
today I can’t actually imagine how how
different it looks because you can see
this photo here on the slide this was
Alice Plaza
I actually moved to right in the center
of the Berlin hard to believe this is
MIT a lot of people will not recognize
the submitter here so what happened here
in that place well it was just three
years after the fall of the wall and
Berlin hadn’t been renovated and
actually the whole houses and the
properties went clear who they were
owned and that’s why I came to Berlin
and so there was a lot of free spaces or
we can imagine to do anything you can
think of so you actually had no plan I
mean it was interesting that you shared
that you know you didn’t go to
university or whatever you just had this
idea to start off with a bar right you
just said I just how did you have that
idea to just again when I was 18 I
needed a job so I started as a
dishwasher on the wine Ian Bogost Arthur
and if you later a neighbor of mine in
the house where we used to live where we
lived had the idea of opening of a bar
in the cellar
okay and there’s a there’s an attic sure
of that first bar I think yeah this is
me when I was 21 years old this is my
first party have great working by the
thing as bar its it was the special
thing about it was that it was open on
Tuesdays and Thursdays because on the we
can outwork some wells to end the money
actually my money I could live off and
it all started there in a very tiny
space in the cellar hidden back and I
started to become famous by word of
mouth to go there when it’s you say on
Thursday and you actually always knew
that you had to leave these spaces
because you were in these powers yeah I
was always hoping to stay longer but
because the ownership wasn’t clear at
the time and yeah she would never know
in the evening it would be your last
night because you weren’t sure if you
can be kicked out the next day okay so
you live with tension you know Dani
Elliot when you saw in the moment you
know so you trained that muscle yeah
okay and we moved then in total seven
times over twenty years seven times with
the bar and it got bigger and bigger
yep the first one was tiny and every
time it grew up and it got more famous
the crowd of Flynn started knowing about
it
no sir look this is my second bar sing
bar like how many people are in the room
how many people on that yeah maybe it
was I don’t know people on their butts
like 30 people and I see if I look on
the pitch I can see I know everyone
actually what they drank at the time
even though okay yeah there were it was
only full of regular guests they would
come every Tuesdays and Thursday drink
the same drink normally and yeah that
was a really short a small family
feeling okay and so after moving and
moving and moving so slightly bigger a
slightly bigger and let’s have a look I
think there’s the next two presidents
places this was a change right because
this is a space on a lot in star so I
think how big was that it was a thousand
square meters we had like a you
rather whole first floor second floors
in the former bank I think the biggest
change was that this is more or less my
first legal club because I started this
is number five to favor one in
subpoenaed is number five the first
clubs of course I started illegally
because I didn’t have a contract I
couldn’t get a license at the time did
you actually ever think about like
applying at the authorities in bitter
well of course you couldn’t get anything
because you you had to build so much
invest so much if you didn’t know how
long you’re gonna be there it wasn’t
possible at the time too it didn’t make
sense if you only stay 18 months yeah
and I’m actually really lucky because
this place went off from right from the
beginning red on Tuesdays and Thursdays
1200 guests tonight and eighty percent
regular guests if it wouldn’t have gone
off like that at the beginning out being
Bank worked was twenty eight because the
cost so much to build this into illegal
that was the first legal
correct so but you were bought and he
said if there’s something legal I have
to do something illegal so an illegal
thing is I think the next picture it was
the first restaurant right exactly it’s
like so yeah after after about a year
and I knew I could stay in the venue
longer I stock started getting bored and
I thought okay let’s open up a
restaurant and because I’m really fast
woken up this restaurant in three weeks
time but I didn’t really bother getting
a license again okay so you see you can
go pretty far and Berlin but this one I
got in big trouble okay I got really in
big trouble it’s like the landlord’s
found out there were two magazines
magazines printing about illegal
restaurants in Berlin and of course I
was on it above my service frag kicked
out and then I had a lot of trouble and
so after that I decided a year later I
got bored again and I would open up a
legal restaurant okay and this is that
my first legal release from the same
venue in the same venue so the idea
actually from club to restaurant you
always said that idea you were running
those in parallel right yeah so this was
like the
main idea was like just before going out
hello before going into a club you go
into the restaurant have a great then I
get great time and then you might move
on to the club and end up leaving the
club at 6 o’clock in the morning I love
this I was in the illegal one by the way
it was it was beautiful it was you know
interesting atmosphere was smelling
because they didn’t have this you know
air-conditioned thing and it was just
amazing we loved it we loved it at that
time now let’s switch a little bit
because one of the stories and what
we’re sitting here is that the food part
actually plays a more important role now
in your life when did you decide to only
go with the restaurant and continue the
food part and not the club part when was
that well in 2007 I opened up cookies
number 7 and because I got kicked out of
the other locations got renovated and
then I decided again to open up another
restaurant on top of the club at 2007
I’ve been always doing venues spaces
where I really love what love them and I
create them more or less for myself and
hope that all the friends and people
come there because they have a great
time and they take keep talking about it
and having a great time there so they
come again so the last so cookies and
cookies cream the restaurant above the
cookies number 7 yes
was my focus in there having a great
place a great venue where people would
have fun before going out but it was a
different restaurant for the first time
it was a different restaurant different
concept because I’ve been a vegetarian
since my 8th birthday I decided to give
this a different try and really focus on
things that I was important for me it
opened up a vegetarian restaurant so
it’s interesting the focus was more
having a great time having fun right
that happened to be vegetarian and that
wasn’t that important for me because
I’ve always been available it was very
important for me that’s vegetarian but I
couldn’t imagine that that would be an
issue for someone else ok so I remember
you know vegetarians like you know 23 30
years ago was not so fun
very often you know people were not seen
as the fun people you know oh yeah I go
for you know the vegetarian part and
also restaurants it like 20 years ago
we’re not fun so so actually you what
you try to eat try to take that crown as
well very cool crowd hip crowd and then
it should use them to a vegetarian
restaurant how do we go well they don’t
work well all my friends and all my
regular guests were been following me
for over 12 years they came they came
for once they came one time and they
were really upset that it was vegetarian
and decided not to come again so I was
very lucky at the times before I’d open
up a club or open up other things and it
would be immediately full pad and this
was like the first venue that I had
where I had like real trouble like on a
Wednesday night we had two guests in the
whole restaurant
no restaurant yeah okay oh okay but I
think though it didn’t actually work
for quite some time it took took a long
time but the lucky thing was that I had
Stefan Henschel my chef coat that’s a
look oh that’s okay
okay and then we have stuff on here
that’s have fun okay I met him in my
club when he was down 25 years old and
he was determined to have the restaurant
with me or to run the restaurant as a
head chef and he invented a new kind of
kitchen at the time was focusing on
making the vegetable a star I could have
the vegetable as a main dish cooking at
those days you used to overcook
vegetables having was a pastoral salad
and his goal was just to say we make a
vegetable kitchen where the vegetable
tastes amazingly and that’s what he
managed to do and that after 2-3 years
got recognized so try three years to
actually you know build reputation that
people would come so I think changed
also a little bit the people were more
interested in trying
special food trying things out instead
it’s scepter Falls having the dishes
that I knew and it took another two
years to grow a little bit of
recognition from the restaurant critics
yes five years in totally
difficult time but still you know what I
what I found amazing is the passion
for hospitality that you have in the
beginning on being such a young man
not for seeing your neighbor so you just
did it so you took it like we can say
today we learned how to dance with life
I think it took exam dance with life
yeah and you followed your intuition and
and you actually took your passion into
food actually without being a mission
missionary or not a mission you were
never trying to convince people to also
yeah change too when people have
missionaries but I think when I started
becoming a vegetarian I was eight years
old and the main reason was you were
vegetarian at the time because you
didn’t want to harm animals I think now
the biggest change is now that the
people know how unhealthy meat is that
for most people nowadays more vegetarian
because of health reasons or environment
reasons and let’s also changed the whole
atmosphere of being a vegetarian okay so
so taking that you know that passion you
know put it into everything that you
know you and Stefan were working on and
that actually you know so you succeeded
so let’s say that that landslide yeah
well I think it was after like we so we
celebrated last year our tenth
anniversary we were 10 years old we did
a big tour around Europe having a pop-up
restaurant one for one night in London
Ibiza and foolish and then in that week
we celebrated and we actually didn’t
want to drink anything anymore because
we drank enough I go and then Stefan got
this amazing phone call and he calls me
immediately and we actually achieved a
Michelin star in cookies cream laughter
and this is the first time in Germany
that the vegetarians receive that we are
we are the first restaurant enjoy a
first vegetarian restaurant that
achieved a Michelin star as a vegetarian
the best thing is we didn’t ever expect
to get a Michelin star because the
people no cookies cream it’s hidden it’s
you go through a lollipop alley passed
rubbish bins we always do that what we
want if you want to be a house fertility
but we do it our way and like a cool
easygoing way and so we’ve never thought
that would get a Michelin star so that
was fast the biggest surprise fantastic
our time is up I can see already there
directly I think I think I want to thank
you for coming and sharing that story
and I think I would like to encourage
more people to take that passion and
also take the risk even losing money for
the first couple of years and and really
it paid off in the end and I hope that
you have many many more ideas like that
and you take that passion with you
thanks so much thank you very much thank
you so much for trying [Applause]
okay so we have this beautiful situation
of you know having a nice conversation
we prepared some images and who has been
to one of cookies restaurants just raise
your hand okay who doesn’t know who
cookie is very good so there’s something
to share that’s very good thank you for
Isis I don’t actually have to say
anything that’s right
so cookie everybody thinks you’re
actually your ballina you are not born
in Berlin but you’re born in London in
London yeah but you came to Berlin an
interesting time tell us when was that
well I came to Berlin at the beginning
of 92 mm-hmm yeah it was any plan at
that time because I was I was 18
Berlin looked totally different than
today I can’t actually imagine how how
different it looks because you can see
this photo here on the slide this was
Alice Plaza
I actually moved to right in the center
of the Berlin hard to believe this is
MIT a lot of people will not recognize
the submitter here so what happened here
in that place well it was just three
years after the fall of the wall and
Berlin hadn’t been renovated and
actually the whole houses and the
properties went clear who they were
owned and that’s why I came to Berlin
and so there was a lot of free spaces or
we can imagine to do anything you can
think of so you actually had no plan I
mean it was interesting that you shared
that you know you didn’t go to
university or whatever you just had this
idea to start off with a bar right you
just said I just how did you have that
idea to just again when I was 18 I
needed a job so I started as a
dishwasher on the wine Ian Bogost Arthur
and if you later a neighbor of mine in
the house where we used to live where we
lived had the idea of opening of a bar
in the cellar
okay and there’s a there’s an attic sure
of that first bar I think yeah this is
me when I was 21 years old this is my
first party have great working by the
thing as bar its it was the special
thing about it was that it was open on
Tuesdays and Thursdays because on the we
can outwork some wells to end the money
actually my money I could live off and
it all started there in a very tiny
space in the cellar hidden back and I
started to become famous by word of
mouth to go there when it’s you say on
Thursday and you actually always knew
that you had to leave these spaces
because you were in these powers yeah I
was always hoping to stay longer but
because the ownership wasn’t clear at
the time and yeah she would never know
in the evening it would be your last
night because you weren’t sure if you
can be kicked out the next day okay so
you live with tension you know Dani
Elliot when you saw in the moment you
know so you trained that muscle yeah
okay and we moved then in total seven
times over twenty years seven times with
the bar and it got bigger and bigger
yep the first one was tiny and every
time it grew up and it got more famous
the crowd of Flynn started knowing about
it
no sir look this is my second bar sing
bar like how many people are in the room
how many people on that yeah maybe it
was I don’t know people on their butts
like 30 people and I see if I look on
the pitch I can see I know everyone
actually what they drank at the time
even though okay yeah there were it was
only full of regular guests they would
come every Tuesdays and Thursday drink
the same drink normally and yeah that
was a really short a small family
feeling okay and so after moving and
moving and moving so slightly bigger a
slightly bigger and let’s have a look I
think there’s the next two presidents
places this was a change right because
this is a space on a lot in star so I
think how big was that it was a thousand
square meters we had like a you
rather whole first floor second floors
in the former bank I think the biggest
change was that this is more or less my
first legal club because I started this
is number five to favor one in
subpoenaed is number five the first
clubs of course I started illegally
because I didn’t have a contract I
couldn’t get a license at the time did
you actually ever think about like
applying at the authorities in bitter
well of course you couldn’t get anything
because you you had to build so much
invest so much if you didn’t know how
long you’re gonna be there it wasn’t
possible at the time too it didn’t make
sense if you only stay 18 months yeah
and I’m actually really lucky because
this place went off from right from the
beginning red on Tuesdays and Thursdays
1200 guests tonight and eighty percent
regular guests if it wouldn’t have gone
off like that at the beginning out being
Bank worked was twenty eight because the
cost so much to build this into illegal
that was the first legal
correct so but you were bought and he
said if there’s something legal I have
to do something illegal so an illegal
thing is I think the next picture it was
the first restaurant right exactly it’s
like so yeah after after about a year
and I knew I could stay in the venue
longer I stock started getting bored and
I thought okay let’s open up a
restaurant and because I’m really fast
woken up this restaurant in three weeks
time but I didn’t really bother getting
a license again okay so you see you can
go pretty far and Berlin but this one I
got in big trouble okay I got really in
big trouble it’s like the landlord’s
found out there were two magazines
magazines printing about illegal
restaurants in Berlin and of course I
was on it above my service frag kicked
out and then I had a lot of trouble and
so after that I decided a year later I
got bored again and I would open up a
legal restaurant okay and this is that
my first legal release from the same
venue in the same venue so the idea
actually from club to restaurant you
always said that idea you were running
those in parallel right yeah so this was
like the
main idea was like just before going out
hello before going into a club you go
into the restaurant have a great then I
get great time and then you might move
on to the club and end up leaving the
club at 6 o’clock in the morning I love
this I was in the illegal one by the way
it was it was beautiful it was you know
interesting atmosphere was smelling
because they didn’t have this you know
air-conditioned thing and it was just
amazing we loved it we loved it at that
time now let’s switch a little bit
because one of the stories and what
we’re sitting here is that the food part
actually plays a more important role now
in your life when did you decide to only
go with the restaurant and continue the
food part and not the club part when was
that well in 2007 I opened up cookies
number 7 and because I got kicked out of
the other locations got renovated and
then I decided again to open up another
restaurant on top of the club at 2007
I’ve been always doing venues spaces
where I really love what love them and I
create them more or less for myself and
hope that all the friends and people
come there because they have a great
time and they take keep talking about it
and having a great time there so they
come again so the last so cookies and
cookies cream the restaurant above the
cookies number 7 yes
was my focus in there having a great
place a great venue where people would
have fun before going out but it was a
different restaurant for the first time
it was a different restaurant different
concept because I’ve been a vegetarian
since my 8th birthday I decided to give
this a different try and really focus on
things that I was important for me it
opened up a vegetarian restaurant so
it’s interesting the focus was more
having a great time having fun right
that happened to be vegetarian and that
wasn’t that important for me because
I’ve always been available it was very
important for me that’s vegetarian but I
couldn’t imagine that that would be an
issue for someone else ok so I remember
you know vegetarians like you know 23 30
years ago was not so fun
very often you know people were not seen
as the fun people you know oh yeah I go
for you know the vegetarian part and
also restaurants it like 20 years ago
we’re not fun so so actually you what
you try to eat try to take that crown as
well very cool crowd hip crowd and then
it should use them to a vegetarian
restaurant how do we go well they don’t
work well all my friends and all my
regular guests were been following me
for over 12 years they came they came
for once they came one time and they
were really upset that it was vegetarian
and decided not to come again so I was
very lucky at the times before I’d open
up a club or open up other things and it
would be immediately full pad and this
was like the first venue that I had
where I had like real trouble like on a
Wednesday night we had two guests in the
whole restaurant
no restaurant yeah okay oh okay but I
think though it didn’t actually work
for quite some time it took took a long
time but the lucky thing was that I had
Stefan Henschel my chef coat that’s a
look oh that’s okay
okay and then we have stuff on here
that’s have fun okay I met him in my
club when he was down 25 years old and
he was determined to have the restaurant
with me or to run the restaurant as a
head chef and he invented a new kind of
kitchen at the time was focusing on
making the vegetable a star I could have
the vegetable as a main dish cooking at
those days you used to overcook
vegetables having was a pastoral salad
and his goal was just to say we make a
vegetable kitchen where the vegetable
tastes amazingly and that’s what he
managed to do and that after 2-3 years
got recognized so try three years to
actually you know build reputation that
people would come so I think changed
also a little bit the people were more
interested in trying
special food trying things out instead
it’s scepter Falls having the dishes
that I knew and it took another two
years to grow a little bit of
recognition from the restaurant critics
yes five years in totally
difficult time but still you know what I
what I found amazing is the passion
for hospitality that you have in the
beginning on being such a young man
not for seeing your neighbor so you just
did it so you took it like we can say
today we learned how to dance with life
I think it took exam dance with life
yeah and you followed your intuition and
and you actually took your passion into
food actually without being a mission
missionary or not a mission you were
never trying to convince people to also
yeah change too when people have
missionaries but I think when I started
becoming a vegetarian I was eight years
old and the main reason was you were
vegetarian at the time because you
didn’t want to harm animals I think now
the biggest change is now that the
people know how unhealthy meat is that
for most people nowadays more vegetarian
because of health reasons or environment
reasons and let’s also changed the whole
atmosphere of being a vegetarian okay so
so taking that you know that passion you
know put it into everything that you
know you and Stefan were working on and
that actually you know so you succeeded
so let’s say that that landslide yeah
well I think it was after like we so we
celebrated last year our tenth
anniversary we were 10 years old we did
a big tour around Europe having a pop-up
restaurant one for one night in London
Ibiza and foolish and then in that week
we celebrated and we actually didn’t
want to drink anything anymore because
we drank enough I go and then Stefan got
this amazing phone call and he calls me
immediately and we actually achieved a
Michelin star in cookies cream laughter
and this is the first time in Germany
that the vegetarians receive that we are
we are the first restaurant enjoy a
first vegetarian restaurant that
achieved a Michelin star as a vegetarian
the best thing is we didn’t ever expect
to get a Michelin star because the
people no cookies cream it’s hidden it’s
you go through a lollipop alley passed
rubbish bins we always do that what we
want if you want to be a house fertility
but we do it our way and like a cool
easygoing way and so we’ve never thought
that would get a Michelin star so that
was fast the biggest surprise fantastic
our time is up I can see already there
directly I think I think I want to thank
you for coming and sharing that story
and I think I would like to encourage
more people to take that passion and
also take the risk even losing money for
the first couple of years and and really
it paid off in the end and I hope that
you have many many more ideas like that
and you take that passion with you
thanks so much thank you very much thank
you so much for trying [Applause]
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