GuideMichelin
After descending from the three-star Olympus – this is how things continue in Joachim Wissler’s Vendôme
Joachim Wissler has been head chef at the star restaurant Vendôme since 2000.
© Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg/ Wolfgang Stahr
The Vendôme has been one of the absolute top restaurants in Germany for many years. Now it has been downgraded by the Michelin Guide. And head chef Joachim Wissler has to take a deep breath – because two stars are not enough stars for him.
For a decade and a half, the Vendôme restaurant in Bergisch Gladbach was among the absolute culinary elite in Germany. The gourmet temple literally had a subscription to the Michelin stars, 17 times in a row the restaurant guide awarded the restaurant in the Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg three stars – more is not possible. Joachim Wissler and his restaurant belonged to the illustrious circle of the best of the best. That’s over now. Because the Michelin Guide downgraded the Vendôme at this year’s awards. Instead of three, there were only two stars. The decision echoed through the gastro scene like a bang.
It is the first small career break for Wissler since he took over the scepter in the star restaurant. He has been managing director and chef de cuisine there since 2000 and has made a rapid rise. After just one year, the Vendôme received its first Michelin star, two years later its second, and shortly afterwards its third Michelin star. Accordingly, Wissler was crushed after the announcement of this year’s stars. An award from the Michelin Guide is something very special. Even after so many years, this day always gets his heart pounding, he said. The rating was “of course initially disappointing”.
Wissler: “Our ambition is unbroken”
As usual, the Michelin Guide did not provide a reason for the rating. The devaluation is now a toad that Wissler has to swallow and digest first, but it is not too thick. After all, the Vendôme may have lost one star, but with two it is still one of Germany’s top addresses. In addition, Wissler has no intention of letting this “disgrace” sit on him. Now it is important for him to look ahead, he said, “our ambition is unbroken to win back the third star with top performance together”. He has the backing with him. Joachim Wissler cooks at absolute world class level, commented Frank Marrenbach, CEO of Althoff Hotels. “Top-level cuisine is comparable to top-level sport: the best teams lose once and never lose the motivation to fight for the title,” he said. They want to support Wissler and his team “in every conceivable way”.
The editor-in-chief of the Michelin Guide, Ralf Flinkenflügel, agrees that recapturing is not an impossibility. He has known Wissler and his kitchen for many years and can therefore say with conviction: “If the Guide Michelin believes a chef in this country is capable of a comeback to the third star, then it is Joachim Wissler.”
Wissler is by no means the first top chef to suffer the fate of devaluation. Two years ago, for example, it was Paul Bocuse, or rather the restaurant “Auberge du Pont de Collonges” near Lyon, by the deceased cooking legend, that also had to give up a star. The restaurant had held three Michelin stars for almost half a century after Bocuse’s death.
A total of 23 German restaurants were downgraded by the Michelin Guide this year. The “Atelier” in Munich was also downgraded from three to two stars. The restaurants “Sosein.” in Heroldsberg and the “Olivo” in Stuttgart each drop from two stars to zero, one is permanently closed, the other temporarily closed. The “Les Deux” in Munich can still hold a star. All in all, there are now more star restaurants in Germany than ever before: 327. Nine have three stars, 46 have two and 272 have one star.