Planet Berlin: Fighting the mafia with food and wine
Italian restaurant Cento Passi is dedicated to the best regional cuisine, and the fight against organized crime.
Restaurant and wine bar
Francesca Balistreri and Fabrizio Frau had long worked in Italian catering establishments in Berlin before opening Cento Passi in Friedrichshain in 2014. The name pays tribute to the Sicilian anti-mafia politician Peppino Impastato, who lived "cento passi" (one hundred steps) from the headquarters of the mafia who ultimately killed him.
Liberated land
The Cento Passi receives numerous products from the Libera Terra cooperative, which has taken up the fight against organized crime by farming on land formerly owned by the Cosa Nostra. Francesca Balistreri and Fabrizio Frau are supporting the project so that Italy can be truly free.
Minimalist appeal
A bright room with a simple interior: Guests sit along the bench that runs right through Cento Passi, while in summer its possible to dine al fresco. The restaurant is always well-patronized, helped by the fact that its Krossener Strasse location is one of the city's most popular nightlife areas.
Commemorative wines
Cento Passi's wine list features bottles from Sicily, Sardinia and Puglia that often bear the names of people who were killed by the mafia. Among them is the name of a young Albanian who refused to work as a henchman for local crime bosses.