fave five #4: peter duran

featuring saturday mornings

today’s five five comes to us from peter duran, a co-owner of one of neukölln’s favorite specialty coffee spots (and one that i very much wish i lived closer to), isla. we first met while i was interviewing him for cee cee berlin nearly 7 years ago. during the interview, he introduced me to some of the ideas behind a circular economy, a topic i’ve been personally interested in ever since, especially as it relates to food production and popular discourse around the zero waste movement.

i hope you enjoy peter’s fave five, and if you’ve never been, there’s no better time to make your way over to isla for great coffee and fun, seasonally-focused food.

---

peter duran’s fave five

1. Tortillas—There’s something about tortillas that I find very comforting, as they remind me of the best parts of my childhood, my favourite dishes and times spent next to my grandmother making them by hand. I especially love the process of getting masa (the dough) to the right consistency, pressing them out and putting them on the puella (the grill pan).

2. Saturday mornings—I’ve only recently been able to step away from the bar at Isla and start to enjoy regular weekend days off, which I usually fill with an early coffee made at home, a longer run or cycle, and then time spent with my partner cooking elaborate meals or doing small projects in our home.

3. Deceiver by Diiv—I grew up loving shoegaze and playing in metal and hardcore bands, so maybe this one’s a bit niche, but here goes anyway: there’s something about the combination of the dreamy, sadness and intelligent, occasional heaviness of this album that really resonates with me. Every chord, riff, beat, groove, all of it has a purpose—there’s nothing superfluous about it. I can listen to it over and over again, and find something new to love every time.

4. Running in new cities—I travel quite a bit for work, and am also lucky to have the occasional holiday as well. There’s nothing like getting one’s bearings by running aimlessly (or with the help of Strava) through a new area, stopping off for a coffee or snack, and getting a little bit lost in the process.

5. The Three-Body book series—I love science fiction, dystopian fiction, and physics geekery. This series has them all in spades and is a truly brilliant example of societal critique through clever and entertaining writing. It’s also made more interesting as it was written in Chinese and brings an underlying cultural perspective different than my own.