Fresh German fashion label, A Kind of Guise, knows a thing or two about keeping up with the times. Little surprise, then, with pop-ups remaining all the rage and Berlin still basking in its reputation of international cool, that they’ve set up a temporary base of operations on Torstaße until July 31st.

Nabbing a few design ideas from their flagship store in Munich, they’ve filled out this transient retail space with swish woodcrafted furniture and potted plants — the greenery punctuating units with subtle slices of color against the whitewashed brick walls.

Thread-wise, they’ve done a little collaborating by stocking lines from Berlin menswear staple SOTO (who helped them find and procure the space) alongside their own “Viva La Mexico” men’s and women’s summer collections. Just remember: They’ll only be making hay while the sun shines and summer don’t last forever, so get down and kit yourself out before they pack up and head back south.

Tucked away just north of Lausitzer Platz, Vögelchen is a labyrinthine little café-bar where TLC rules the roost. The owner’s indefatigable approach to the finer details mean that almost every corner is littered with hand-picked ornaments and oddball furnishings: from a primed typewriter for the day-dreaming coffee fiends, to the antique piano for those of an ivory-tinkling inclination, or a wardrobe whose doors leads down to a Narnia-like, rentable party Keller. So whether it’s Kuchen o’clock in the afternoon or Negroni hour late at night, this is one nest you won’t want to leave in a hurry.

Nestled pretty much smack bang in the middle of the Moritzplatz, Prinzenstraße and Kottbusser Tor triangle, Praterstraße Berlin places a firm emphasis on quality with its intimate exhibitions—traversing the potential quagmires that emerge when curators clutter up a space. Displaying works from various mediums (including painting, sculpture and kinetic art) the one room gallery has displayed artists such as Berlin-based Max Frey, Los Angeles’s Taft Green and Vienna’s Rudolf Steckholzer, and it’s also provided a platform for the inventive Michael Franz. Moreover, each exhibition is accompanied by a public dinner—called Kantine—so you can pull up a pew and digest more than just what’s on the walls.

The old Trust—brainchild of Weekend owner Marcus Trojan, Cookie’s head honcho Cookie and photographer Sascha Kramer—was a place where Mitte’s movers and shakers went to be seen and heard. So naturally when the most exclusive mini-club on Torstraße closed its doors in 2012 many a scenester was left wondering where their nightlife would go from there…

They needn’t have worried. Fast forward a few months and messrs Trojan, Cookie and Kramer are at it again in a new, bigger location that sprawls underneath the railway tracks at Hackescher Markt. It’s still that unmarked-door-and-peephole sort of exclusive, but to immerse yourself in what lies within is more than worth enduring those scrutinizing eyes—a straight up lesson in urban cool, expertly realized over two floors of exposed concrete and flashes of gold.

Drinks-wise, like the Trust of old, it’s all about bottles of Champagne and spirits (available in 0.2 or 0.7 liter) and they’ve even made the concession of stocking beers as well. If you order one, though, you’ve missed the point and will have to endure the ignominy of having it served in a brown paper bag. Because nothing decimates a hip cat’s image more than drinking hobo-street style.

Wedding’s on the up, and Panke is indicative of the rise of a Bezirk where after-work activities used to be limited more to the Kneipe and Currywurst end of the cultural spectrum. By a river that it’s named after, Panke is getting the masses to forgo their geographical preferences, and navigate their way round the Ringbahn for a bit of cross-disciplinary action. There are obscure exhibitions, WTF theater and cult film/club nights. In fact, Panke goes out of its way—just like its location—to showcase works of art that deserve more exposure than it currently gets. And after all that Kultur, there’s a vegan cafe in which to scratch your bamboozled old head.

It can be tough living in the shadow of a big sibling. Lava, the little bro of acclaim-hoarder Lavanderia Vecchia, is having none of that—having taken over the front of the same Flughafenstraße building. By no means is Lava content playing a mere supporting role, it’s not even going after the same formula. Replace the belly-busting set menu with a more refined à la carte offering and a focus that stretches beyond the Italian peninsula into the wider Med.

The first room doubles up as a deli-type establishment, with a mamma-mia meat counter housing a deluge of carefully-cured hams and stink-tastic cheeses—from which you can whip up your own delicacies zu Hause. Then, follow through to the other rooms—one with an LED-light adorned leaking bathtub (art, presumably) and the other a more intimate, low-lit affair of surrealist dark greens and black-white checkerboards. It all lends the Trattoria, a curious Alice-in-Wonderland feel that detracts from the food not a jot. Lava is a sequel, but its top-notch cuisine and quirky touches are the match of its original, no doubt about that.

Sunken at the forefront of the RAW maze-like compound, Urban Spree is a graffiti-laden brick and concrete self-proclaimed “(re)creative space”—but don’t let that put you off. Pretentious parentheses in the description aside, if you walk on by you’re missing out. Upstairs, an artist’s laboratory and workshop rings with buzz-words of Berlin’s urbanization: engage, interact, collaborate, fuck off Media Spree etc. With the multifaceted city itself as an inspirational source, the program of events is fittingly schizophrenic. Previous times have seen the space give a temporary home to a Flohmarkt, a short film festival, Berlin fashion week, even a Korean food night, plus all the usuals – so keep your eyes on their schedule as there’s no telling what’ll come next.

Three years back, the clipper-wielding debonair Viktor Leske opened his first salon in Kreuzberg. Many million shards of hair, a few awards, and thousands of life-changing hairstyles later, the list of punters vying for a booking has outgrown his precious tunnel-sized space in Lausitzer Platz. Time to expand, then? Better believe it…

The plucky Frenchman has skipped across town to bring his love of a good cut to the Mitte masses, with this flawless execution of a new vision—a high-end salon experience that takes the successful formula of his first outlet, doubles the size of the space, and throws a wall-to-wall strip of disco lights on top. No joke—there’s a party happening in these here walls.

For starters, the dystopian concrete lines of the interior simply smacks of class, urban modernism and an eye for detail—meaning you get a polished steel mirror (who needs glass anyway) yielding the best view of your good self whilst your barnet upgrade is in progress. The bottom line: Whether you’re after an edgy asymmetrical coif or some pretty layers, come with an open mind and trust the team to execute that deadly new style you’ve been after.