Category: Europe


  • Christian Scharrer: (German) Rusticality Refined

    Travemünde has more to offer than the fabulous two star La Belle Epoque where chef Kevin Fehling is at the forefront of a new generation of young German to be aware of. Literally across the street, the A-Rosa Grand SPA Resort and its gourmet restaurant Buddenbrooks offer a quite different take on fine dining, yet…

  • Bistronomics in Germany: Weinsinn (Frankfurt)

    Bistronomics, those nice little bistro-style outlets where high-end cuisine is served is not a totally new phenomenon – in 2008 when in Barcelona I had a couple of splendid meals at places like Gresca and Embat. Around the same time, in France new culinary hotspots emerged, yet with a distinct edge against any dogmatism so…

  • Young German Chefs (II): Steffen Mezger

    Since September 2009 Munich has a new culinary hotspot: Innegrit Volkhardt, owner of the prestigious Hotel Bayerischer Hof immensely invested in the redesign of the former Garden restaurant and established a new Fine Dining restaurant called Atelier” and appointed Steffen Mezger, previously the chef the cuisine at the Garden restaurant, to lead both restaurants. Very…

  • Hof van Cleve 2010

    In culinary terms, speaking of Flanders clearly means much more than just the Belgium region. In the former County of Flanders that encompasses parts of present-day France, Belgium and the Netherlands many interesting “modern” restaurants have mushroomed over the last couple of years that resulted in the formation of the Flemish Primitives named after Northern…

  • Oud Sluis 2010

    In August 2009 after a splendid diner at Oud Sluis I asked Sergio Herman what he still strives to achieve after being awarded three stars (since 2005) and 19.5 points in the Gault Millau. He paused and stated that first of all he wants to give the best every day (and for his highly artificial…

  • La Vie – Thomas Bühner (Dec 2010)

    Being obsessed with high-end food, being a food blogger, sometimes makes life difficult. What happens if you are on your way to Osnabrück and after some 90 minutes you realize that you have left your whole camera equipment at home? Driving back and get it is not an option due to time-restaints (arriving at 22.00…

  • This is not one of these usual reviews about one specific menu in a restaurant – it’s praise for someone whose cooking emotionally moves me every time I dine there. Someone who lets me participate in a revelatory and contemplative dining experience… Someone who demonstrates that we leverage only a small percentage of the full…

  • Clearly, Juan Amador is one of the best German chefs of the third generation and maybe the one whose cuisine has been most frequently misinterpreted and even misunderstood. Quite often, he was labeled as a „molecular“ chef. Some spoke of gimmickry or even a Kindergarden menu dramaturgy thanks to his opening and closing tapas comprising…

  • Sometimes it is just a pleasure to literally watch how a chef develops. Almost in slow-motion, dishes pass by and tell a story of modernization, of self-discovery… Like a sculptor a chef needs time to set his unique picture, his style free. At Français in Frankfurt, Patrick Bittner is a fine example how this evolution…

  • It’s an impressive modern building, with a nice view over river Maas – Restaurant Beluga with no doubt is situated at a prime location in Maastricht. Inside, it’s even more stylish with a bar in the front part and the spectacular spacious, hall-like dining area in the back. Many carefully selected design and art objects,…

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