Category Archives: Germany – Fine Dining

La Vie (Th. Bühner) – A Question of Time

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Osnabrück? Where the heck is that? Well, for people interested in fine dining it is the home of the Restaurant La Vie where Thomas Bühner has been both chef and patron since April 2006. But, Osnabrück has more to discover…

Exactly 2000 years ago in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest near Osnabrück Arminius led about 11 Germanic tribes to defeat the Romans under Varus. The city itself was founded in 780 by Karl the Great and soon became a diocesan town. Thus, in the medieval ages it was a prosperous town, even part of the mighty Hanseatic league in the 14th century. In 1648 the peace treaty after the Thirty Years’ War was partly signed in Osnabrück (the Peace of Westphalia of Münster and Osnabrück).

Osnabrück Impressions (courtesy of the City of Osnabrück)

Osnabrück Impressions (courtesy of the www.osnabrueck.de)

Moreover, after the second world war it become the home of more than 160 paintings of Felix Nussbaum who was born in Osnabrück and murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz. Today, the Felix-Nussbaum-Haus of the magnificent Daniel Libeskind carries a nice collection of Jewish art. Right now, the special exhibition “The hidden trace. Jewish ways through modernity” reflecting Jewish life in the diaspora is worth the trip alone.

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Felix-Nussbaum-Haus (courtesy of the www.osnabrueck.de)

I can really say that I fell in love with Osnabrück even after having discovered only some of its treasures. Overall, Osnabrück today is a blend of old (timbered, neoclassical and rococo style) and modern buildings which is also characteristic of the cuisine of Thomas Bühner. Hm, quite a transition;-)

Interestingly, since Bühner was named chef of the year in the German Gault Millau in Nov 2005 it merely seemed a matter of time until the third star would be awarded. In the 2006 Michelin nothing happened simply because he announced to move to Osnabrück but held his two stars in the 2007 edition. The same was true in 2008 (promotion of Amador, Erfort and Lumpp) and in 2009 (promotion of Elverfeld). At the same time, Jürgen Dollase does not stop to praise Bühner’s cuisine and lately named him meal of the year in Germany in 2008. Enough to discover myself…

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Sackmann – The Third Power in Baiersbronn

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The pittoresque village of Baiersbronn is a gourmet treasure – in-midst of the Black Forest you can find seven Michelin stars – three for Harald Wohlfahrt at Schwarzwaldstube in the Hotel Traube Tonbach, three for Claus-Peter Lumpp at the Bareiss (promoted in November 2007) and one for Jörg Sackmann in the Restaurant Schlossberg in the family-owned Hotel Sackmann. More than in Bergisch-Gladbach which hosts two three star chefs (Nils Henkel and Joachim Wissler) and, well, I haven’t done the math, maybe with nearly the same stars per capita ratio as in San Sebastian. Quite remarkable.

Interestingly, before Lumpp was promoted it seemed that he was “stuck in the middle” between the perfectionist Wohlfahrt who was regarded the best German chef until this year (now he is tied or shortly behind Wissler) and the progressive, immensely talented, creative and sometimes ingenious Sackmann. After the third star Lumpp seems to be freed from the pressure of being espoir for two years and offers solid three star cooking. Sackmann, however, is meant to be worth two stars and was praised by Jürgen Dollase, the premier German food critique, in a October version of his column in the Frankfurter Allgemeine. The report made it very clear that the diner would be served “exciting taste experiences”. Moreover, Sackmann was part of the “delegation” which presented “the new German cuisine” at the very important congress of Lo Mejor as part of the German Panorama.

Enough for me to plan a little trip to Baiersbronn and reserve a table at Schlossberg to refresh my knowledge of Jörg Sackmann’s cuisine and to examine whether the cuisine is really underrated.

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Amador – Subtle, Emotional, Brilliant

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Shortly after my visit to the Vendôme I had the possibility to get an update of how Juan Amador’s cuisine has developed since my last visit in May. And, I must say that all but two dishes in the main menu were new to me. After the meal I am still stunned how much progress he has made in refining and elaborating his distinct style. So, another prime example of the significant and positive developments in Germany.

The Restaurant

Located in Langen about 20 minutes south of Frankfurt the Restaurant Amador is not easy to find as it is not inside a prestigious castle or hotel like most of the other German top restaurants. Instead it is situated in a typical timbered house in the centre of Langen (for some pictures I owe special thanks to Julot and to Sternefresser where indicated).

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The Restaurant (thanks to Julot)

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Joachim Wissler – New German Cuisine at its Best

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Among Germany’s top chefs Joachim Wissler is certainly unique. Regarded as one of the best chefs in the world he continues to push the frontier for new (and forgotten) ingredients, techniques and, most importantly, new and unique combinations of flavours. He is on the forefront of the development of a “New German Cuisine” in the last couple of years.

Restaurant Vendôme

As part of the Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg in Bergisch-Gladbach near Cologne the Restaurant Vendôme is located in the small cavaliers’ house. It has been carefully renovated in 2007 to leave its Baroque and too overloaded interior behind. Now it better fits to the modern and refined cooking of Joachim Wissler. Interestingly, the whole team was involved in creating a truly harmonious, warm and also practical ambiance. Miguel Calero, the mâitre, told us that everything what’s needed (cutlery, napkins etc) is hidden somewhere except for the plates…

The New Interior

The New Interior

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Short Bite: New German Cuisine?

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Is any press good press? Hard to say…

In the yesterday’s NYT travel section Gisela Williams has written about “A Wellspring of the New German Cuisine“. Wow, I thought, after the article on Amador, the recent developments in the German restaurant scene are getting more attention. Given the mission of my blog I can only welcome that;-)

Gisela starts out with my favorite theme – on the one hand Germany is only second to France when it comes to three star restaurants (nine as of this year’s Guide Rouge) and on the other hand “the land of sauerkraut and spätzle, it seems, is finally getting little culinary respect”. Well said, quite true, but needs to be changed… She then continues by describing that old and young chefs are creating a new German cuisine ( “parsing their Teutonic heritage for new flavours, rather than reciting French or Spanish techniques for haute effect”). D’accord…

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Christian Bau – Continuous Evolution to the Absolute Top (August 2008)

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Looking back, I always had great dinners at Schloss Berg but my recent experience clearly exceeded my high expectations by far. All in all, previously it was a classic french cuisine ingeniously delivered, beautifully assembled with an emphasis on creating a unique broad flavourful picture. In January this year we still had some variations (of langoustine, foie) which had been delicious but sometimes too complex and overloaded. What a difference now…

But first things first – for those of you not yet familiar with Christian Bau and the restaurant Victor’s at Schloss Berg some facts…

The Chef

Born in Offenburg in the northern part of the Black Forest Chistian Bau is still very rooted to this beautiful part of Germany (Baden – I have to admit I am also from Baden but does not affect my judgement;-)). It is said that people from Baden are modest and passinonate about what their doing something I would also ascribe to Christian Bau.

During a six week internship (or stage) at the Hotel Götz Sonne Eintracht at the age of 14 he was so fascinated by cooking that he came back at 16 to start a three year apprenticeship. In the hotel kitchen he acquired a classic fundament for his cuisine – solid craftsmanship which today is rare in a “normal” hotel kitchen… Maybe more importantly Christian met his future wife Yildiz at Götz…

Yildiz & Christian Bau

Yildiz & Christian Bau

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Restaurant Überfahrt – A Fresh Breeze at the Tegernsee (August 2008)

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So, time to return to my blogs primary objective – to write about my culinary adventures in Germany and some of its best chefs… The interested reader might have noticed that I have put in a new page Fine Dining in Germany to give you some background and perspective with respect to recent developments here.

Christian Jürgens (© Althoff Group)

In the last couple of months we have experienced chefs moving like in dominoes. First, it was announced that Christian Jürgens would open a Gourmet restaurant in the Seehotel Überfahrt recently bought by Althoff. Thomas Kellermann became his successor at Burg Wernberg, Henrik Otto Kellermann’s successor at Vitrium Berlin and finally Hans Horberth formerly at Villa Merton in Frankfurt replaced Otto in the “La Vision” in Cologne…

The Althoff Hotel Collection is a phenomenon as they own and operate an unique selection of hotels mostly in Germany in which restaurants play an important if not the critical role. The primary examples are Grandhotel Schloß Bensberg with its restaurant Vendôme and Schloßhotel Lerbach hosting the restaurant Dieter Müller both in Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne and both holding three Michelin stars. Joachim Wissler (Vendôme) and Dieter Müller had signed to Althoff after they had already earned some merit and then had the opportunity to fully develop their potential as Althoff offered the necessary financial backing (mainly by cross-subsidizing from the hotels). So, is there a better chance for a young aspiring chef like Christian Jürgens than an offer from this “stable” to open a new gourmet restaurant in a breath-taking location?

The Tegernsee – View from the Shore at the Hotel…

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