Rote Gruetze is the summer Berlin and northern German dessert: a thickened compote of red summer fruits (raspberry, redcurrant, cherry, strawberry) served warm or cold with vanilla cream.
Where to eat it: 6 restaurants across 2 cities.
Rote Gruetze (literally red groats) takes its name from the 16th-century practice of binding the fruit compote with semolina or oat groats. The modern Berlin and Schleswig-Holstein version uses cornflour instead. The dish is the canonical Brandenburg summer dessert: a use-up for the red fruit glut of June and July from Werder's strawberry farms and the local raspberry and currant patches. By tradition, every Berlin Gartenrestaurant serves Rote Gruetze through the summer season; the vanilla-cream pour (Vanillesauce) is non-negotiable. Lutter und Wegner has plated the version unchanged since the 1990s; many Berlin bakeries sell the jam-jar take-away version year-round.
Common allergens: Dairy, Egg in vanilla cream
Tip from the editors. Use a 70:30 ratio of tart to sweet fruit; an all-sweet mix without redcurrants reads as fruit jam, not Rote Gruetze.
Lutter und Wegner on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt has cooked traditional Wiener Schnitzel since 1811; the wood-panelled room runs Sunday classics and the long.
Signature: Wiener Schnitzel, Sauerbraten
Order: The Wiener Schnitzel with cucumber-potato salad; the Berlin sauerbraten in winter.
Tip: Sunday lunch from 12:00 is the easier seating than weekday dinner. Book two weeks ahead by phone.
Borchardt on Berlin's Franzoesische Strasse has cooked the city's reference Wiener Schnitzel since 1992; the 1850s dining room runs 200 covers.
Signature: Wiener Schnitzel, Kalbsleber
Order: The Wiener Schnitzel with potato salad; the calf's liver Berlin-style is the long-running second pick.
Tip: Lunch from 12:00 is easier than dinner. Book four weeks ahead by phone.
Lokal on Berlin's Linienstrasse in Mitte cooks a short daily menu of seasonal Brandenburg produce; the Spargel and Rote Gruetze are the calendar anchors.
Signature: Beelitzer Spargel, Rote Gruetze
Order: The Beelitzer Spargel with hollandaise in Spargel season (late April to June).
Tip: Short seasonal menu changes frequently. Spargel season runs late April to 24 June only; book a week ahead for that window.
Old Commercial Room opposite the Michel in Hamburg has cooked Hanseatic harbour food since 1795 and is the city's canonical Labskaus address.
Order: The Original Hamburger Labskaus with fried egg, herring, beetroot and gherkin.
Tip: Open daily; lunch tables more available than dinner. Cash welcome but cards accepted.
Deichgraf on the historic Deichstrasse in Hamburg cooks classical Hanseatic dishes on the city's oldest canal-side street, with a single beam.
Why locals love it: On the Deichstrasse canal-side row rebuilt after the 1842 fire, that most tourists walk past.
Tip: Window tables face the Nikolaifleet canal. Ask for the Labskaus with the original Rollmops topping.
Fischereihafen Restaurant on Grosse Elbstrasse in Hamburg-Altona has cooked classical Hanseatic seafood since 1981, with daily catch from the harbour below.
Order: The Hamburger Aalsuppe; the Pannfisch with mustard sauce.
Tip: Window-row tables face the Elbe; ask at booking. Open daily 11:30-22:00.
More cities are in research. Want rote gruetze covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.