IFS
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Posts posted by IFS
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Urbansky is a miracle - the second star immediately after the first.... It is very classic at high prices. Maybe a contribution of Michelin towards classic french cuisine...
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Not surprising with respect to Winkler as my last meals there were one star at most...
Well-deserved for Sven Elferfeld - he is clearly among the best modern and unique chefs in Germany along with Wissler, Amador, Bau and Erfort. Sven is quite unique even in this group as he modernizes German classics in an amazing way. Even a "Jaegerschnitzel" (schnitzel with mushrooms) found its way on the menu. Moreover, interior and service is truly outstanding.
Jürgens is rightly among the new 2* chefs - he kept his two stars after his change to the Tegernsee. My last meal was 2*+ - clearly another candidate if he further refines and purifies his cooking. A disciple of Winkler by-the way.
The other two stars come as a surprise, especially Becker and August. Unfortunately the renowed cuisine of Michael Hoffmann (Margaux, Berlin) did not get the second star. Also no new second star in Berlin.
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I can only second gaf in that the Roca brother create a very special and unique dining experience, especially in the new interior which is both contemplative and welcoming... It is very sensual, almost magical.
We had a quite similar meal as gaf and must say that overal this was one of the finest meals I've had so far. Difficult to compare, though, but it is a subtle and intelligent demonstrtion what modern techniques can do when used sensibly and where it makes sense...
It was surely unique enough to merit three stars/19 points with some true breath-taking dishes. For the detailed review and pictures see my blog.
BTW: we also investigated around the kid "belly" but just from the piece we had I would say it was more a belly part.
Interestingly a good friend of mine was told that the goose was rather swan - I will write to Joan and see what they say...
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What about El Poblet and Mugaritz?
I would also add Oud Sluis and De Librije in the Netherlands, t'Zilte, De Jonkman, In the Wulf in Belgium. L'Arnsbourg in Alsace.
In Germany I strongly recommend Joachim Wissler (Vendome in Bensberg) and Restaurant Amador (in Langen near Frankfurt). Molecular techniques are intelligently used to improve taste and not to impress the diner.
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After having read some reviews I felt I needed to go and experience Can Fabes myself.
It was the worst nightmare I ever encountered in my culinary life. They served us a surprise menu of mostly left-overs, the dishes besides one or two were not elaborate at all, two dishes were not eatable. Not even one star. Service was arrogant at first and then helpless.
For more details and pictures see my report on my blog. Even writing the report made me sick.
I cannot belive that something like this can actually happen in a three star restaurant. We had several moments when we wanted to stop and leave, complaint ("then we are doing something else"???) and it got a little better, at least the dishes turned out to be eatable.
What happened there? Is it a tourist rip-off now? Have they forget how to cook? I am totally puzzled...
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Hi Trig - glad to hear that you enjoyed it... Looking forward to your five cents;-)
I have just finished my Can Fabes review but it needs a good night's sleep to be digested - really hard, I am still so under shock...
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Have a great diner - I envy you for this. Happy to discuss afterwards...
Best
Ingo
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Finished my Gresca review and have to say it was even fun reviewing and writing about this meal. Service was warm and welcoming, dishes ranged between excellent to outstanding and good. Overall I would give them 17 GM points and one star+ but that's nothing Rafael and Mireisa are after.
It is a definite must in Barcelona, the price-quality ratio is the best I have encountered so far. Just go and experience yourself!
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Having been reluctant to go Jürgen Dollase (the best German food critic) has written quite favorable about Beluga just recently. In essence he said that service has imrpoved, dishes are less molecular and make sense. So in his view it is worth going again.
Let's see.
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Aidan, it is very much a matter what went wrong. It was not an execution problem because someone was ill in the kitchen (I apppreciate all your and your fellows' effort btw), it was conceptual nothing you could rescue. And, it is a one star place and given the bill I paid (including the cava offered for waiting about 1.5 hours) I expect a better experience. And, believe me I have some experience so that I am able to judge...
I had a bad experence at Mugaritz and state that this cuisine just didn't click and they had obviously a very bad day.
Maybe my expectations were too high but they were formed after reading some buzz. It is always a personal statement - everyone can make up his/her own mind. But, given one star level and the image of being modern and innovative C24 failed. So, I can recommend not to go there because it was not a one-time miss but more a systematic error. My personal opinion. Not more. I would be happy to report differently.
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Avoid C24 - see my review on my blog. I would strongly recommend GRESCA which was wonderful and 150€ for two with the big degu menu and a nice bottle of wine. Modern, playful, innovative in a relaxed setting. Or do Alkimia or Gaig...
Good luck!
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Sorry, John, but this link is not to the promised land of wisdom... Could you get us the real link??
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I have to admit that nothing of the mentioned "German specialties" seems really Oktoberfest-specific.
Baumkuchen is traditional in Winter, very difficult and cumbersome to produce as each layer needs to be baked after the other without making the old ones to dry...
The heart cookies can be found on every similar fest. They are so hard you would never eat them. Freshly made, it is a type of gingerbread (Lebkuchen). Gingerbread is more renowed from Nürnberg.
The beer specialties are Bavarian, but whether they have an offspring in the Okoberfest I don't know but I doubt it.
My advice: make a good Bavarian dessert if the motto of the runion is Oktoberfest - this will do...
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No, Sachertorte was invented to feed Fürst Metternich in 1832 by Franz Sacher who after some years opened a speialty and wine shop in Vienna in 1848. This was the offspring of the now world famous Hotel Sacher.
Oktoberfest Dessert?? You rarely go to the Wies'n to have dessert... Maybe some Bavarian might know that better but I doubt that there are special Oktoberfest desserts...
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I’ve never eaten in a 2* or 3* place not because of some inverse working-class snobbery but for the very reasons in that review. I have eaten in a few 1* restaurants and on the whole they have been very enjoyable experiences. (Though not much choice here in Birmingham in that respect, Simpson’s has one and Purnell’s probably deserves one by all unknown criteria that these things are measured by). But it seems to me that more stars means exponentially less enjoyment and more head scratching.
I couldn't disagree more! The reasons in this article which you agree to are a clear over-simplification of the matter as not every 2* or 3* is like the other. The statement might be true for some old-fashioned gourmet temple, but not all for the modern ones like Can Roca, Amador or Le Calandre to name just a few. So give yourself a go and experience and get rid of your stupid prejudices. Three star food can be so enjoyable, mindblowing, thought-provoking then you can never think of. One star can also do that but mostly at lesser quality level and less often so...
The article is also making some weird statements about Germans which I hope do not understand... And the guy did not try any of the German three stars as his statement about the expectation is planly wrong.
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So, my trip is over and I had disastrous (Can Fabes), dissappointing (Comerc24), very good (Rias de Galicia), excellent (Gresa) and one outstanding/mind-blowingmeal (Can Roca) around Barcelona.
I have hust finished the Comerc24 review and though it all looks good nothing really thrilled us or evoked any passion. Maybe we were too tired but it is so easy to wake me up with good food...
More to follow...
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Jardin des Remparts is nice, expecially in Summer when you can eat in the garden. Modern food, traditional ingredients, godd service, nice interior. Avoid the cheap lunch menu.
Le Charlemagne is my favorite around Beaune, whitty Asian-influenced cross-over cuisine, a solid star.
Avoid Le Benaton - one of the worst meals so far. Service was arrogant and simply incompetent. We did not get amuse after we told them not to drink wine because we had to drive...
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Maybe you have a look here whether you recognise Miguel Calero...
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Italian Maitre - don't tell this Miguel Angel Calero Novillo - he is Spanish heart to heart;-) Good to hear that they reacted so nicely! We just had a deseaster lunch at Can Fabes and the only thing they did was to take off the 5Euro (sourcing price for them) Santi Chardonnay and two glasses of Cava off a very high bill...
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Men Are From Mars - Women Are From Venus
? (Famous book in the US)I cannot separate the food at a restaurant from the atmosphere. Sitting at a table by an open window overlooking a beautiful garden at Dieter Muller with the smell of roses in the air was really quite wonderful. Sitting next to the service bar at Vendome wasn't. The service at Dieter Muller was very formal - but that was better than the "friendly" service at Vendome trying to make up for the fact that it lost our reservation. I guess - bottom line - that losing a reservation you have made and confirmed and reconfirmed at a 3 star restaurant anywhere is really inexcusable (and tends to wreck your evening - even if they "comp" you a glass of champagne and some other much more expensive things to try to make up for the lapse in service). Robyn
Seems so... But in your case with the cat table (Katzentisch in German) I would also have complained - but in the end you liked it, or?
@Kropotkin: did you have an insight whether most of the diners took the modern menu? It is clearly targeted at the experienced diner as most of the ingredients are not for the once in a year celebration diners... It is an interestng attempt to abide with luxury products in a menu and go for more modern interpretations of local produce... I wish some more 1* go that way and do not imitate 3* food product-wise...
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Business dinner at Lerbach? I thought the room was really romantic - with the windows wide open to the garden (this was in June - and a perfect early summer evening).
Robyn, my comment was not about the atmosphere but about that food is too demanding at Vendome to have any conversation other than about the meal (at least I couldn't)... So, if you would take somehow to a business dinner in Bergisch-Gladbach, take him/her to Lerbach - that's my advice. Or for lunch, even better...
Maybe it is romantic - I never think about a high-end restaurant being romantic in the first place - I think about food, service, wine and whether I like the atmosphere;-) Personally, I find the Wintergarten a bit outdated and together with the rather formal service not romantic at all... But the food is great and that's all I'm interested in if I go to such a restaurant. For a romantic occasion I need to think...
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Have to agree with Stephen, both are enjoyable and imho compare very well with some of the best in the world. Wissler made the highest new entry in the Pelligrino list this year (as mediocre this list is but finally Germany gets at least some attention). If to choose jsut think of the occasion. For business dinner go to Nils Henkel - for a foodie dinner to Wissler.
Romana is sometimes a bit harsh, after a while you get used to it...
@Kropotkin: Interestingly in the spehrical olives arfrequently cited as not that pleasant - I wonder why he still does them. I assume your tasting menue was the modern one? What made you choose so? Did the price difference make any impact?
@robyn: as your visits are from 2007 - go back - it is much different now, especially after Nils has taken over in Lerbach... And I think both are way ahead of any Gordon Ramsey restaurant...
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Thanks for the clarification, Stephen. Just for my interest, if you had to choose one of Muller’s or Vendôme for dinner, which would it be?
I'm not Stephan, but maybe can also answer as I know both restaurants quite well. Nils Henkel is gradually modernizing at Lerbach but this can be considered more classical. Wissler is more intellectual and abides quite far from the "classic" (the name "classic" for the menu with more luxury ingredients is misleading) using molecular techniques where necessary. Having said that to have a just yummy and delicious meal I would go to Henkel (more of an update on the recent developments soon) and if I want to be challenged as an eater if would choose Wissler. So for me, it is very much a question of the occasion, company and my inner state of mind. If you are not relaxed then Wissler can be too demanding...
But, the interesting question is: how do Wissler and Henkel with other 3* chefs worldwide?
And on reservations: I’d never paid much attention to no-show fees until travel chaos almost left us facing a €150 per head fine at Vendôme. If they’re prepared to levy these amounts on non-appearing punters, then they were surely obliged to sort out their reservations system!Both hotels belong to Althoff and do use an automatic reservation system which works well.
Have to endorse Bau as well. The recent visit showed a significant development towards a more mordern and leaner cuisine (see my blog for a very recent review). A definite go!
And, do not forget Juan Amador who is better than ever these days. Will do reviews of Amador, Wissler and Henkel soon so that you can make up your mind.
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Thanks John, for pointing me to the article. Munich and Bavaria are the wrong places to look for the "New German Cuisine". The low-end examples are nice, but very traditional. So is Schuhbeck and the wrong high-end example of "The New German Cuisine". I have just posted some correcting remarks on my blog...
Anyway, if anybody is coming to Germany to discover our cuisine, this articles is great but misses out on the real protagonists on the second German Küchenwunder namley Amador, Elverfeld, Bau, Erfort among others...
Joachim Wissler - Restaurant Vendome***
in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining
Posted
So, time to praise Joachim Wissler who found his place among the top chefs of the world. A very unique cuisine, rustic, local products and an ingenious pairing of flavours. On par with other great European chefs...
My recent lunch was excellent to outstanding with three absolutely mind-blowing dishes served as amuse... For the whole review and pictures see my blog...
Among the modern avantgarde chefs in Germany Wissler is more rustic and "loud" compared to a more subtle and sublime Amador. And, of course, the real menu was less mordern in technique than at Amador... Hard to compare, both unique in their very own sense...