Valuable breaks

Rico Regner runs the green canteen in Adlershof

If Rico Regner hadn't listened to his mother's advice, things might have turned out very differently. “Why don't you find out what you actually want to do first,” she said. And so, the then-18-year-old from Berlin went out into the world. In Australia, he trained to become a diving instructor and opened a diving school. “After four years in Down Under, I started missing the seasons,” says Regner. He found them in Canada, where he set up a flying school with a friend. Then, Regner moved to South Africa. There, he enrolled with the Butler Academy and went on to work in luxury hotels and on a cruise ship. “I have been all over the world,” he says. “But there came a time when I wanted to open a restaurant and be closer to home.” Finally, after almost 20 years of trotting the globe, Rico Regner returned to Berlin in 2010 and opened VE CU Berlin, short for vegetarian Currywurst, Berlin’s local sausage speciality. He didn’t consider going into mass production. Initially, Regner worked as an event caterer. Then, two years ago, he moved into Green Curve Berlin at Studio 16.

Rico Regner's motto was and still is today: “I want to really embody the #Vairplay message.” His Vairplay concept stands for ecological, sustainable thinking and practice—and for fair cooperation. The food is organic and almost exclusively vegetarian. Regner places a strong emphasis on knowing most of his suppliers and treating products and foodstuffs consciously.

Despite all this, the fact that Rico Regner’s restaurant is located right next to one of the most sustainable buildings on the campus was a coincidence. “I was looking for a kitchen and ended up with an entire canteen,” says Regner. To him, it is important that the people coming for their lunch break feel at home. “We play lounge music and serve up healthy and high-quality food.” This side of things is taken care of by chef Malte Schreiber, who originally worked at Michelin-starred restaurants. “When I put together the menu, I make sure that the lunch options are filling, but they don’t make the guests fall over and fall asleep,” says the chef. Next to cauliflower patties and bulgur salad, this can also include burger and fries or, more rarely, roast duck leg.

The canteen and the adjacent atrium of the Green Curve building can be booked as a corporate venue and for festivities of all kinds. “From guided tours of Adlershof to cooking a three-course meal together, everything’s possible,” says Regner. If you’re looking for a culinary souvenir afterwards, you can order it straight from the Berliner Jungs shop, German for Berlin Boys, whose products he develops together with his son.

If Regner could wish for anything in the future, it would be to bring the people of Adlershof closer together. “I want the green canteen to be a place where people come to recharge.”

Helen Arnold for Adlershof Journal

vecu-berlin.com