Hotel Michelberger prepares grilled mackerel BLT
Alan Micks's Irish roots show through - especially when it comes to fish. Grilled mackerel BLT is his version of the classic sandwich. But rather than bacon, lettuce and tomato, at Hotel Michelberger, it's mackerel.
Unusual hotel cuisine
"If you wanna come in and you want to spent lots of money and drink lots of nice wine, we have this, but you can also come in and have two dishes, and spend relatively little money. So we are open to anybody. The plates are designed to share among groups, instead of a traditional starter, main course, dessert menu. It is more of a feasting concept." - Alan Micks
An Irish soccer fan at the stove
Alan Micks was born in Limerick, Ireland in 1981. As a kid, he wanted to become a soccer player. But later, while working a summer job in a restaurant, he discovered he liked cooking and decided to train as a chef. He moved to Berlin in 2014 and started his job as Executive Chef at Michelberger Restaurant that same year. Even the bread is baked fresh here, by the chef himself.
Organic in Berlin is all the rage
"We use lots of local suppliers, farmers, butchers, hunters, and fishermen. And I think it is important for a lot of people in modern times that they want to know where the food is coming from. Berlin is a city that kind of demands organic food, and it has to be bio for some people especially in this neighborhood." - Alan Micks
Winkles and horseradish along with the sandwich
Traditional Irish cuisine is down-to-earth and hearty. Alan Micks gives it a modern touch. For his sandwich, mackerel is the most important ingredient. "If you go fishing and don't catch a mackerel, then you've had a bad day," he says. He serves a land of winkles along with the sandwich. Along the Irish coast, fish and seafood are served in every restaurant.
Childhood memories
"I think everybody in Ireland knows what mackerel is. Every household would have tasted it at the coast. And a BLT is a sandwich, so it is pretty a humble dish that we could interpret and twist it a little bit to make it a little bit more restaurant-style. So it's the combination of a simple sandwich and something I have eaten since I was a child." - Alan Micks