One Zaabeel

ernst cave is the third in a series of venues in the heart of Berlin’s Wedding quarter. Following on from the Michelin-starred restaurant ernst, and Julius, the more casual restaurant situated opposite, ernst cave opened towards the end of 2024, serving a selection of wines by the glass or bottle alongside daily changing snacks.
The wine bar & bottle shop was designed by the Danish-Egyptian architect Salem Charabi, who had already been involved in the interior design of ernst.

Whereas ernst was his first completely coherent interior, the conception of cave was a more informal process, says Charabi.
Charabi and the founder of ernst, Dylan Watson-Brawn, met when they were young and soon developed a close friendship through their shared ambition for coherent and holistically designed experiences and spaces.

Unlike ernst, however, ernst cave evolved intuitively, using the resources at hand. Not every detail of the new space is a result of design, and some things are yet to come. The underlying idea is to accept the rougher shell in which the venue is embedded.

ernst cave is located on the ground floor and in the basement of a post-war building that formerly housed a bowling alley. Most of the existing interior was dismantled, exposing the raw ceiling and old pipework. The bar, representing the jewel inside a rough shell, is made of German cherry wood of a particularly rare quality and encased in zinc sheeting that will oxidize over time in response to being touched. Just a few days after a bare knee touches the zinc in summertime, for example, an imprint will form. The lampshades above the bar are made of three-ply Nepalese paper from the bark of a tree.

Distinguished by natural and raw materials that are prone to change, the character of the space is light and open. The large window underneath the red and white striped awning" which is part of the original building fabric, opens towards the street during the summer months to allow service outside.
The new outlet is run by Inga Sophie Krieger, Dylan Watson-Brawn and Etienne Dodet. It is a near neighbor of both ernst and Julius as well as the Reigen sake brewery, which together represent a suite of young businesses making creative use of existing spaces.

ernst cave features the FSB 1292 in Aluminium Pure, designed by Foster + Partners Industrial Design, which is the latest model and surface to join the product portfolio. The unique patterning created by the vibratory finishing process ages naturally through touch and humidity, and complements natural wood particularly well.