starred restaurants
Guide Michelin rains stars and selects new three-star: “A very big dream that comes true”
A Michelin Man and Guide Michelins of various vintages. Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Germany’s gourmets can look forward to a new three-star restaurant in the country. But not all restaurateurs were happy about this year’s star award from the Michelin Guide. These are the risers and fallers.
Being awarded one of the coveted Michelin stars is still considered an accolade in the culinary world. Anyone who cooks up such a star has reached the gastro Olympus – at least until the next exam. It is now clear who has convinced the testers in the past few months and who hasn’t (anymore). This year, 51 restaurants can look forward to one or more new stars. Most of them in the one-star segment. 31 restaurants were able to get a coveted Michelin star.
One of the climbers of the year is Alexander Wulf. With his restaurant “Troyka” he grabs the first Michelin star. And that just three months after opening. The star is the reward for many years of hard work. At the same time, the award comes at an inopportune time for him. Wulf, star chef with Russian roots, has been exposed to hostilities every day since the war in Ukraine, as he star-Interview narrated. “If things continue like this, I don’t know how I’m supposed to endure it mentally,” he said. Two weeks ago the Michelin star would have meant everything to him personally, today it is only a minor matter. “Obviously I’m still trying to be happy about it because my team worked way too hard for it. But right now it’s just tearing my heart apart.”
New three-star restaurant
Eight other restaurants can look forward to two Michelin stars and the illustrious group of German three-star restaurants has one more address. With his restaurant “schanz”, Thomas Schanz has risen to the absolute top league. He already had two stars, now he got the third one as well. “For the moment it’s unbelievable,” said Schanz, visibly moved at the award ceremony. “It’s a really big dream that’s coming true. That’s really big.”
The restaurant guide in Germany has been awarding stars since 1966, and the so-called Green Stars since 2020. These are intended to reward restaurateurs who work particularly sustainably. The Berlin restaurant “Nobelhart&Schmutzig” was one of the first to receive the green leaf. The restaurateur accused the restaurant guide of awarding a hype because it fits the spirit of the times, but not really looking behind the scenes. Key word: greenwashing. Unfazed by the criticism, the Michelin continued its work. This year 11 new restaurants were added. This means that there are now more than 60 restaurants in Germany that bear the Green Star.
Matthias Hahn and Felix Eichbauer receive the special “New Opening Award” for the restaurant ensemble “Tantris” and “Tantris DNA” in Munich. The restaurant is not new. “After its reopening, the restaurant, which has become known as a real cult address, now combines the Tantris, which has been awarded two Michelin stars, and the Tantris DNA, which also has a new star,” says the guide. Johannes King was also awarded a special prize. King receives the “Chef Mentor Award”, which is intended to recognize a special commitment to young people. He’s been, he said, somewhat married to Michelin for 30 years. However, he was a bit surprised that he was now recognized, after all he was no longer really active. King, also known as the “King of Sylt”, was the boss of the Söl’ring Hof for a long time. At the beginning of the year he handed over the reins to his longtime chef de cuisine Jan-Philipp Berner.
23 restaurants lose stars
“For almost two years now, German restaurants have been meeting the challenge of the pandemic with impressive commitment, which deserves our greatest respect and recognition,” said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the “Guide Michelin”. It is particularly important to do justice to precisely this achievement. “Therefore, this year our inspectors again put together a carefully researched selection of restaurants whose gastronomic skills impressed them very much.”
But there are also losers. A total of 23 restaurants lost their Michelin stars. Despite the rise of Schanz in 2022, there are only nine three-star restaurants in the country. The “Vendôme” in Bergisch-Gladbach and the “Atelier” in Munich were 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.
In search of the best places to eat, experienced, international testers work anonymously. The awarding of the coveted stars is based on a uniform rating system. Criteria include the quality of the products, a personal touch, the price-performance ratio and consistent quality over the long term. In addition to the “Michelin Guide”, the “Gault&Millau” restaurant guide also appears regularly as an important international gourmet guide. He awards 0 to 20 points for the restaurants. What is striking is that women are underrepresented in the allocation process. They got nothing from the newly awarded one, two or three stars.