Daniel Bruehl and I sitting in his Tapas-Bar Raval in Berlin. We drink tea from hand-painted cups by KPM

The image of a nice, young man, the dream of every mother-in-law is no longer associated with Daniel Bruehl. The actor, who had his first big breakthrough with the film Good Bye, Lenin!, has, with international productions like Inglourious Basterds, Rush, The First Avenger and Colonia Dignidad, arrived in Hollywood. I meet Daniel César Martín Bruehl González – as he is called by his full name – in his tapas bar Raval in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The man with the Spanish roots – his mother is Spanish, the father German – is currently not only the most asked for international German actor. Since 2011, Daniel Bruehl is also restaurateur. The multilingual all-rounder really wants to talk about his new tapas boxes and looks surprised when I unpack my teacups and pour in the tea.

MyStylery: Mr Bruehl, I hope you like tea?
Daniel Bruehl: Of course. What is the sort?
MS: That’s Morning-dew tea, an herbal blend with green Sencha, sunflowers, cornflowers and rose petals.
DB: Ah yes, the I order this one when I’m traveling with Deutsche Bahn. I like drinking Tea.
MS: You grew up in Spain. Spain is more a coffee nation.
DB: True. But my mother is a big tea drinker. That’s why I mainly grew up with Earl Grey and Assam. Now I just discovered Kusmi-tea for myself, they really have great mixes, for example the Detox Tea.

Earl Grey and Assam

MS: Most of my interviewees don’t get out of bed without their caffeine doses in the morning.
DB (lauhgs): That’s right. But in the afternoon there’s tea in the cup. When I film in England, I drink almost exclusively tea, preferably “white”, so with milk, as the most drink it there. I watch my English friends taking out the bag instinctively at the right time. They seem to have that in their DNA. When I let the tea steep myself, I always put a stopwatch next to it, to not miss the right moment. By the way, you brought beautiful mugs.
MS: They’re from KPM. Each of these cups is unique, where the artist has immortalized himself with his character.
DB: Ah wow! Large cups also affect the taste. When one drinks our traditional Spanish gin and tonic from balloon glasses, it develops its flavor much better and tastes different than a highball glass.

Daniel Bruehl: “Basically, I’m a positive person, but there are things that go against the grain. I might be short-tempered and sometimes grumpy then.”

MS: Your Gin comes from Spain? Doesn’t Gin originally have French or English roots?
DB: The British have brought the gin to Spain and the Spanish love gin and tonic. On Menorca they make quite excellent Gin Mare with flavors of the Mediterranean, such as thyme and rosemary.
MS: How did you become a restaurateur? Don’t you get enough to eat at home?
DB (laughs): I was homesick for Spain and therefore had quite selfish motives. Also, I missed my mother’s dishes, when I went from Cologne to Berlin when I was 20. These are dishes that only she can cook, although she tries to tell me what to do per phone.

MS: Some of your fellow actors went, after the absence of new film offers, in the catering industry. This is evidently not your case.
DB: I do this out of genuine passion. To have brought a piece of Spain to Germany, makes me totally happy. I was from the beginning not naive enough to believe that the catering could be a second pillar.
MS: You are expanding. Soon there will be a tapas branch in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg. Would you see yourself as a bartender who taps the beer at the bar in the future?
DB (laughs): No, I leave that to the pros. With me in the kitchen or at the bar, we would probably go bankrupt.

Daniel Bruehl loves gin from Spain

MS: Recently, you can order your tapas & co online. Pushing a button and the Spanish cuisine is on the German table.
DB: When I come back from Barcelona, half the suitcase is full of products that I love to eat in Spain and which do not exist here that remind me of my childhood and youth, for example Espinaler, a spicy sauce which is served with cold mussels, paprika over it, ready. This is the classic setting for watching football matches. My buddies love it.
MS: Are you a football fan? Which club do you like best?
DB: Clearly Barcelona. You are from the north, right?
MS: Yes, born in Lübeck.
DB: I like the northern German accent so much, which is much nicer than the one in Cologne. Many of my friends are from the Hamburg area.

“The cliché about Spain annoys me: Mallorca, paella, bullfighting. Spain is so much more”, says Daniel Bruehl

MS: Thanks for the compliment! Are you an online shopper?
DB: I’m getting one more and more. To order food is convenient. On Ebay I sometimes discover the weirdest things. Nevertheless, I like to support local, small stores in my neighborhood.
MS: And your favorite meal?
DB: With Pimientos de Padrón or Boquerones I cannot say no. Unbeatable is the ham of Iberian pig, the whole seared á la minute. Simply delicious!
MS: Do you cook yourself?
DB: Yes, although I notice again and again, how limited I am with my opportunities. There is still much room for improvement. When I cook, then preferably black rice.

MS: You have filmed a lot abroad recently. Would Hollywood also be an option for you privately?
DB: I’ve just been to Los Angeles for three months and noticed that I myself am already very European. I’m missing there certain traditions, the history and variety that I can experience in Europe in the smallest space. I grew up between two cultures myself. And I love Italy and France very much.
MS: As a producer, you are already active, how about directing?
DB: If there is a story that I really want to tell, why not? I am a very restless type. As a producer, I can already live the creative me now. That’s what I sometimes miss as an actor.

Father’s delight

MS: You will be a parent soon. What do you wish for your child?
DB: I am very privileged that I grew up in such a great family. If I can pass on what has been exemplified to me, I’m happy.  BvH

Contact:

barraval.com

Pics by Eva Schroewig

Merken

Merken

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The Gentlemen’s Circle – Berlin’s new Hotspot for Gentlemen in Charlottenstraße (Mitte)

“Welcome MyStylery!” André Goerner, managing director, founder und host of the Gentlemen’s Circle

What the well-tended gentleman considered as a standard service in New York and London for a long time, the most fastidious Berlin gentleman is now no longer withheld from. The Gentlemen’s Circle just opened in Charlotten Straße in Mitte, a very special barbershop, as it is not just about wet shaving and men’s haircut. While he can treat himself with a professional manicure, the elegant footwear is adequately polished to a high gloss. If there is still need for a tuxedo with matching bow for a black-tie event, even that is not a problem because the Gentlemen’s Circle is set to respond to such emergencies and offers white shirts and cufflinks and other men’s accessories.

The painting “The Piano Tuner” of an unknown artist (1914) is located above a customized green velvet sofa

Since it feels like every other man in Berlin is now wearing a beard, a gap in the market has emerged, which was noticed by the Berlin hairdresser André Goerner six years ago and since then he worked meticulously on a concept, which should appeal to a broad clientele, from the hip scene DJ to a prosperous chairman. As different as the particular background of these clients is, all share the desire for a place of refuge enjoying the beautiful things in life.

Actor Bruno Eyron has taken place on the cozy “Apollo 2”, the legendary barber chair of the Japanese tradition company Takara Belmont

Even actor Bruno Eyron likes to drop by for a shave on off-days and slides in a “Apollo 2”, the legendary barber chair of the Japanese tradition company Takara Belmont, which is being built unrivalled since the 1930s. Bruno Eyron, who was in Rome for the Italian Serie-Shooting “Non Estato mio figlio” (it wasn’t my son), closes his eyes, leans back and relaxes while Dennis, the barber immerses the real hair shaving brush in the Prorasa shaving soap. “It comes from Italy, costs five Euros and is currently the best on the market,” says Goerner, who selected products from Austria, England, Portugal and the United States and deliberately avoids over-priced high-end products.

The Gentlemen’s Circle offers only selected products like the italien shaving soap Proraso

So one is surprised when entering the elegant salon ambience, where espresso – a special Berlin roasting – is offered for only one Euro. The noble appearance is decorated in earth tones and conveys with chromed glass shelves and the green velvet sofa. A lounge atmosphere that relinquishes the fashionable rough wood look. “This is not the Wild West,” says Goerner, who sees himself as a host and a conductor of all areas of his Gentlemen’s Circle.

How about a drink? At the bar, great espresso coffee is served, and the classic cocktail Gin Rickey makes its comeback: lime juice, sugar, soda and Gin Monkey 47

How does he explain this beard boom, I ask. “For men, the beard is what the makeup is for women. The beard shapes and individualizes the face.” Goerner, since last summer wearing a beard himself, knows what he is talking about. He grew up near Dresden, after the fall of the Berlin Wall he went to Bavaria and completed a hairdressing apprenticeship. In Munich, he worked for the wellknown Barber Gerhard Meir, after which he managed Meirs stores in Berlin Hotel “Adlon” and the “Grand Hotel Heiligendamm”. Since 2004 he leads his own salon for men and women at Hausvogteiplatz, in the prominent vicinity of embassies, government authorities and the luxury hotels in Berlins chic center.

His idea is the revival of the “day-bar”-culture: André Goerner

The Gentlemen’s Circle is a place of encounter with a club atmosphere – without being a Club. Everyone is welcome; spontaneously or by appointment. “The Berlin Men now have their own address. I mean, what man likes going to their wife’s hairdresser?” , Goerner sums up.

This place is not just about shaving and haircut: The concierge service also organizes a table in the trendy restaurant or tickets for the opera

Neat and tidy!

The armor of the samurai-General of the Showa era (1915) is homage to the Japanese culture. Goerner auctioned it at Lauritz.com

In this world of masculinity, women have no access to. Only on Friday – between 7 to 9 p.m. – the lady may accompany the gentleman, having a drink at the bar and watching her now fresh pampered husband while smoking a Cohiba. But what don’t women undertake to make their men satisfied.   BvH

“Wonderful, such a professional wet shave!” Bruno Eyron

Barbier Dennis slides the Japanese razor carefully on Bruno Eyrons skin. “Last year in the old part of Havana I had a shave from José. That was lovely. But in the Gentlemen’s Circle it’s downright heavenly”.

After shaving, hot towels soothe the skin – and the nerves

Nourishing oils moisturize the now baby-smooth skin after shaving

Now a perfect haircut with the traditional hair trimmer by “Detailer”

Dry bar

Bruno Eyron, who was best known for his role as Chief Inspector Balko in the eponymous television series, is now again freshly shaved and styled – thanks to Barber Dennis

Contact:
Gentlemen’s Circle
Charlottenstraße 35

10117 Berlin – Mitte

+49 30 200 754 70
www.gentlemens-circle.com

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