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The Needle: Berlin

The Needle: Berlin

Sharp Views on the German capital

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Foodie Berlin

Foodie Berlin 

Headquarters of the Turkish ‘New Wave’: Hallo Machen

04/11/2018 Joseph Pearson

When walking around Kreuzberg some months ago, I stumbled across a new gastropub in Spreewaldplatz with a strange name, that

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Foodie Berlin 

Bad Tea in Berlin (Part Two)

08/05/201623/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

  Bad tea. Berlin is full of it. And it’s time to point fingers at those bad beverages prepared badly

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Foodie Berlin 

French Food Trucks in Berlin

23/04/201616/11/2021 Joseph Pearson

Why is it that so many French chefs are coming to Berlin? And why are they starting out with food trucks? Let’s

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Foodie Berlin 

Why Berlin is the Capital of Bad Tea

14/04/201623/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Although Berlin is quickly becoming a coffee mecca, it remains the capital of bad tea. British World War Two soldiers

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Foodie Berlin 

Beyond Michelin: The Berlin Guide for Foodies

22/11/201523/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

The Michelin Guide doesn’t understand Berlin’s foodie scene. It is the bible for eating in France. But in Berlin they

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Foodie Berlin 

Berlin’s Disco Snacks

20/02/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

The craze surrounding Street Food Thursday makes me wonder why people choose the claustrophobic crowds at Markthalle 9 over one

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Foodie Berlin 

Hookers and Hot Chocolate, at Grosz

06/02/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

It is intriguing, odd, and audacious for such a bourgeois Berlin coffeehouse to name itself after the great satirist of

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Foodie Berlin 

The Berlin Brunch all’Italiana, at Brio

15/09/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

NOTE: Alas, the brunch at Brio has been suspended until further notice.  There’s no such thing as brunch in Italy.

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Foodie Berlin 

Markthalle 9, Kreuzberg: The Puzzle of Street Food Thursday

11/08/201323/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

A recent phenomenon in Kreuzberg are the crowds piling into the old Markthalle 9, an unrenovated market hall of more

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Foodie Berlin 

A Tale of Two Pastries on Boppstraße

09/05/201223/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

One of the most obvious signs of changing times in Kreuzberg is the emergence of a new generation of tea

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Foodie Berlin 

Erotica and White Asparagus Season

14/04/201223/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Asparagus season makes me uneasy. This is a problem living in Germany, because Spargelzeit* is unavoidable. The alien fern crops

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About the Author

Joseph Pearson is a writer based between Berlin and New York City. Born in Canada, he was educated at Cambridge University, UK, where he received his doctorate in history in 2001. His non-fiction portrait of Berlin was published in 2017. He is also the essayist and blogger of the Schaubühne Theatre, one of Berlin’s best known state-funded institutions. Since 2008, he has written The Needle, which has become one of Berlin’s most popular blogs. His writing has appeared widely in the press, literary and academic journals, and has been translated into German, Italian, French, Arabic, and other languages. For professional inquiries please contact:  joseph [AT] cantab.net.

What is The Needle?

The changing meanings of The Needle are the inspiration for these pages. Above Alexanderplatz is Berlin's television tower. The Needle surveilled the city during East German times like a threatening eye; then its meaning changed after the Berlin Wall fell. Berliners now think of the tower as a giant disco ball flirting with the city lights––a symbol of sex, electronic music and youth culture. This weekly documents the Berlin Renaissance today, mindful of a dramatic and terrifying history. Berlin is Europe's most exciting city, and The Needle is here to share.

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