WHEN?
Sunday, 6th September
WHERE?
ex King Size Bar / Fotografiska Ballroom
Friedrichstraße 122b, 10117
WHAT?
“Frizzante” B2B Event and True Italian Awards 2026
Berlin is getting ready for the second edition of Frizzante, the Italian food and beverage event organized by TIP Berlin in collaboration with True Italian, taking place in the former King Size Bar and Fotografiska Berlin.
Over the course of the weekend, Frizzante will bring together food lovers, Italian producers, chefs, restaurateurs, and hospitality professionals for a celebration of Italian gastronomy, featuring tastings, encounters, and opportunities to discover high-quality Italian products and culinary experiences.
On Sunday afternoon, the event will also include a dedicated B2B networking session, bringing together Italian producers, distributors, restaurateurs, and industry professionals for business connections and new collaborations. The afternoon will conclude with the True Italian Awards ceremony, created by True Italian to celebrate the best Italian restaurants in Berlin and recognize those that stand out for the quality, authenticity, creativity, and diversity of their cuisine.
The initiative aims to highlight the restaurants that best represent Italian gastronomy and continue to enrich Berlin’s vibrant Italian food scene.
The Categories and Nominees
True Italian Premium Restaurant of the Year
- Lagalante
- Lavanderia Vecchia
- Mine
- Sagrantino
- To The Bone
- Zum Heiligen Teufel
True Italian Pizzeria of the Year
- Malafemmena
- Prometeo
- Rasoterra
- Selecta Modern Pizza
- Sironi
- La Pizza
- Zerostress
True Italian Pasta Restaurant of the Year
- Bruderherz
- La Pecora Nera
- Lavanderia Vecchia
- Mani in Pasta
- Osteria Tressanti
- Ripieno
True Italian Gelateria of the Year
- Artigiani
- Cuore di Vetro
- Duo Sicilian
- Early Bird
- Peggy Bee
- Zàgara
True Italian Regional Cuisine of the Year
- Da Antonio
- Domu Nosta
- Locanda Bonaria
- Modì – Salumeria & Bistrot
- Osteria Tressanti
- Trattoria a’ Muntagnola
True Italian Innovative Menu of the Year
- 136 Berlin
- Cicchetti Da Rosa
- Gemello
- Lagalante
- Mikrokosmos
- Why Not Restaurant
- Zum Heiligen Teufel
True Italian Feinkost of the Year
- Alimentari Totti
- Amore Store
- Modì – Salumeria & Bistrot
- Salumeria Treviso
- Terra Verde
- Viani
True Italian Aperitivo Bar of the Year
- Bar Nonno
- Bottega Portamivia
- Centopassi
- Ciuk
- Sicula Bar
- Sorsi e Morsi
True Italian Wine Bar of the Year
- Cantine St. Ambroeus
- Caravaggi
- Cielo Winebar
- Facciola
- Glasweise Muret La Barba
True Italian Cocktail Bar of the Year
- Bar Milano
- Bar Nonno
- Glasweise
- Monella Bar
- Oblomov
- Sorsi e Morsi
True Italian Café & Pastry Shop of the Year
- Café Botanico
- Giomecca
- Kuchen von Gaia
- Lato Dolce
- Sironi
- The Sanctuary
True Italian Street Food Vendor of the Year
- Kuchen von Gaia
- Mani in Pasta
- Mercurio – Street Food & Catering
- Sanpietrino
- Sironi Markthalle IX
- Unto
True Italian Revelation of the Year
- Bella Ciao
- Crosta
- Pamela
- Rasoterra
- Unto
- Why Not Restaurant
True Italian Vegan Offering of the Year
- Bella Ciao
- Al Catzone
- Gemello
- The Sanctuary
- La Stella Nera
- Sotto
True Italian Comfort Food of the Year
- Comfort Food
- Malafemmena P. Berg
- Osteria Tressanti
- Prometeo
- Ripieno
- Spaccanapoli Nr. 12
- Terra
True Italian Location of the Year
- Café Botanico
- Il Calice
- Malafemmena Schöneberg
- MINA East Side
- Pamela
- Terra
- ZOLA Funkhaus
Special Awards: “Italian Restaurant of the Year” and “Career Award”
The “Italian Restaurant of the Year” will be assigned based on a cross-sectional analysis of all categories. The six restaurants that received the highest number of total votes – meaning the ones most frequently visited by the jurors – will be considered. Among these five, the overall average of all the votes received (in all categories) will be calculated, and the restaurant with the highest average will be declared “Italian Restaurant of the Year.”
Additionally, the aforementioned Special Career Award will be decided directly by the True Italian team.
THE WINNERS OF THE 2026 EDITION
The winners were chosen by a jury of 18 experts, including journalists, influencers, and professionals from the Berlin gastronomy sector.
Lagalante
Italian Restaurant of the Year
true-italian.com
Bar Milano
Italian Cocktail Bar of the Year
true-italian.com
Malafemmena
Pizzeria of the Year
true-italian.com
Gemello
Most Innovative Menu of the Year
true-italian.com
Bruderherz
Pasta Restaurant of the Year
true-italian.com
Sorsi e Morsi
Aperitif Place of the Year
true-italian.com
Cuore di Vetro
Gelateria of the Year
true-italian.com
Giomecca
Italian Cafè or Pastry Shop of the Year
true-italian.com
Trattoria a’ Muntagnola
Career Prize
true-italian.com
Domu Nosta
Restaurant for Italian Regional Cuisine of the Year
true-italian.com
Zum Heiligen Teufel
Premium Italian Restaurant of the Year
true-italian.com
Cielo Winebar
New Opening of the Year
true-italian.com
Mani in Pasta
Italian Street Food of the Year
true-italian.com
Centro Italia
Italian Delicatessen Shop of the Year
true-italian.comThe voting system
For the first voting phase, True Italian has selected between 20 and 40 establishments per category. Each juror was able to vote for each restaurant by assigning a score from 1 to 5 or selecting “I don’t know.” The average score for each restaurant will be calculated by taking into account the valid votes (from 1 to 5), ignoring null answers.
The 6 restaurants with the highest average score in each category will proceed to the final phase, where the jurors will receive a new voting card and can vote again, with the same procedures. Each category will have a winner, who will be announced during the award ceremony on November 10th.
The Jury
The winners will be chosen by a jury of 18 experts, including journalists, influencers, and professionals from the Berlin gastronomy sector.
Claudio Berardinetti
Crossfatberlin
Claudio Berardinetti has been sharing his culinary discoveries on Instagram as @crossfatberlin. Born in Como, with roots in the sunny Apulia, he has been living in Berlin for 10 years. His passion for good food runs in the family, from his nonna’s parmigiana to his mother’s creative dishes.
Ilaria Bertin
Hungry in Berlin
Through Hungry in Berlin, Ilaria showcases the city’s vibrant food scene, improving restaurants, chefs and brands online presence and creating unique culinary experiences. Alongside, she leads curated food tours that introduce people from around the world to Berlin’s most authentic and innovative flavors.
Marina Beuerle
Mit Vergnügen
Marina Beuerle is a food editor at Mit Vergnügen and eats her way through the city’s most exciting food spots for a living. For her, home tastes like pretzels and spaetzle, while holidays taste like pizza and pasta. As an editor, she loves discovering new culinary destinations and telling the stories of the people behind them – whether they come from Bologna or Berlin.
Claudia Campus
Spreeradio
Half Sardinian, but born and raised in Germany, Claudia Campus comes from Erlangen and has lived in Berlin for 26 years. At 16 years old, she was Germany’s youngest radio presenter and has remained true to her calling to this day. After working at many radio stations, including 104.6 RTL, she can now be heard every afternoon from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 105,5 Spreeradio.
Benedetta De Vico
Former Head of True Italian
Benedetta De Vico holds a degree in Food & Wine Communication and has been telling the story of food for almost ten years through events, editorial content and communication projects. But before telling its story, she experiences it firsthand: she cooks, tastes, explores flavours, travels, and every time she sits down at a table with the same insatiable curiosity.
Tina Hüttl
Berliner Zeitung
Tina Hüttl grew up in Bavaria and loved her grandmother‘s perfect steamed dumplings. Since 2010, she has been a food critic for the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, writing her own weekly restaurant column. Tina Hüttl is also chair of the jury for the ‘Berliner Meisterköche’ (Berlin Master Chefs) award, which honours the capital’s best restaurants and chefs every year.
Umberto Galli Zugaro
Europäische Sommelier Schule
Umberto is a sommelier, lecturer and author. Since 2014, he has been leading the European Sommelier School. He develops training programs, seminars and wine tastings and is committed to promoting wine culture and gastronomic traditions. His teaching activities have taken him to several countries, where he trains sommeliers.
Mara Gergolet
Corriere della Sera
Mara Gergolet is the Berlin correspondent for Corriere della Sera. She previously served as Foreign Editor, and before that worked on the foreign desk and as a reporter, mainly in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. She has always loved trying local cuisines wherever she went, convinced that they are essential to understanding a culture and its genius loci. You might not guess it, but she loves to cook.
Michele Marmino
PR for food & wine industry
Born in 1985 on Lake Maggiore and connected to Berlin for over twenty years, he divides his time between Italy and the German capital. With hands-on experience in the family restaurant and a specialty coffee shop, he works as a communication, PR and media relations consultant specializing in wine, food and hospitality, promoting authentic Made in Italy excellence internationally.
Mauro Meggiolaro
Freelancer Journalist
He has been living in Berlin since 2013 and write about economics and politics for Italian newspapers and magazines (Scarp de’ Tenis, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Domani, Il Tascabile). He loves to cook. His specialities are rigatoni with sausage sauce and risotto with asparagus. He hates sour coffee and wines that smell like feet.
Arno Meyer zu Küingdorf
tipBerlin
Arno Meyer zu Küingdorf is a Senior Media Consultant at Tip Berlin Media Group, as well as an author and entrepreneur. His work focuses on sales, strategy, and the development and implementation of projects and events, particularly in the food sector. His extensive experience combines media, communication and entrepreneurship with a strong connection to Berlin’s food and restaurant scene.
Gesa Noormann
Berliner Morgenpost, Gourmetwelten
Born in the flatlands of northern Germany, Gesa developed a passion for Italy at an early age. After graduating from high school, she went to Rome, then studied comparative literature and Romance languages in Bonn and Paris. As a food journalist, she is always looking for exceptional restaurant and wine experiences. She lives in Berlin, but she is always eager to escape the gray of Germany for the Mediterranean.
Ferda Nunninger
Genussguideberlin & Wineguideberlin
Since 2021, Ferda has been exploring Berlin’s food scene as @genussguideberlin, sharing her culinary discoveries. In 2025, she qualified as a Junior Sommelier with WSET Level 2 and, through @wineguideberlin, also dedicates herself to her great passion for wine. She loves unique culinary experiences and Berlin’s diverse food scene – from cuisines from around the world to Italian cuisine, which holds a particularly special place for her.
Federico Quadrelli
President Comites
Federico Quadrelli is President of Comites in Berlin, sociologist and lecturer in political education. For years he has been committed to supporting the integration of the Italian community abroad, particularly in Germany.
Francesca Recchi
Manager food court Hauptbahnhof
Born in Umbria and a Berliner by choice, born in 1983, with twenty years of experience in the world of gastronomy and large-scale distribution. Today, I live a life that balances my career with conscious choices, exploring healthy eating without sacrificing the pleasure of taste. Vegan, athletic and curious, I believe in food that nourishes those who eat it, respects those who produce it and is good for the world around us.
Marianne Rennella
tipBerlin
Marianne Rennella works as a freelance writer and photographer in Berlin. Her main areas of interest are Berlin’s gastronomy and food craftsmanship, as well as everything related to Italy. She started her own blog over ten years ago and has been writing regularly for the city magazine tipBerlin for the past three years. When Marianne isn’t eating out at restaurants but at home, she prefers to make dishes that are as simple as possible: spinaci e ricotta or bread with butter. Which happens to reflect the identity of the Italian-German Berliner quite well.
Alessandro Ricci
SkyTG24
Born and raised in Italy, is a freelance journalist and Berlin correspondent for Sky TG24, also contributing to Radio Popolare. Based in Berlin, he covers the city’s political and cultural life with sharp reporting and a passion for independent journalism. As a jury member, he brings experience, insight, and a commitment to stories that matter.
Dr. Eva Schäfer
Dental Food
Eva has been blogging since 2012 on the blog dental-food, where she writes about food and travel. Her curriculum vitae as a flight attendant, doctor of dental surgery and her passion for cooking made her able being a juror for various competitions. She is very much in love with Italy, Italian cuisine and the Italian lifestyle. She always is hunting for authentic taste in markets, food stations and restaurants in Berlin.
Maria-Lucrezia Schiavarelli
Pastamadre
In 2015, Maria-Lucrezia Schiavarelli founded the Pastamadre project, a cooking school dedicated to teaching the Italian art of cucina povera, offering the opportunity to rediscover simple, healthy, sustainable, tasty and authentic cuisine, the ‘cuisine of grandmothers’, prepared with heart and intuition, and to enjoy an authentic human experience, rich in culinary tips, emotions, history and memories.
Claudia Thomas
Holy Fruit Salad!
Claudia has been blogging since 2006 on the blog holy fruit salad!, where she also writes about Italy, especially Italian cuisine. She is very grateful for the fantastic, innovative offerings of Italian restaurants in Berlin, which bring this wonderful country to the table time and again, even when Italy is far away. In her opinion, people in this country should drink Italian spumante much more often!
ORGANIZERS AND PARTNERS
The second edition of the True Italian Awards is organized by Berlin Italian Communication within the project True Italian.
Media partner is Berlino Magazine, the Italian magazine in Germany.
ORGANIZED BY
ORGANIZED BY
MEDIA PARTNER
Berlin Italian Communication
The creative agency for business development in Germany.
