Last year, the Michelin Guide was in a good giving mood and awarded more stars in this country than ever before. Once again, Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guide, said before the awards ceremony: “The commitment and passion of the local chefs and kitchen teams is unbroken.” That made people sit up and take notice. Because things are not going well for Germany’s top kitchens. In recent months, one gourmet temple after the next has announced that it would have to close for economic reasons – the crisis in the gastronomy world can no longer be denied. So what could we expect from this year’s star awards? As it turns out, a lot.
Factors such as rising costs, staff shortages and guests’ lack of purchasing power mean that the economic situation is tense in many places. This doesn’t seem to affect the quality of the kitchens. This year, 340 restaurants have been awarded at least one star in the gourmet guide. That’s another six more than last year, when a record number was already reached. “We ourselves are amazed at the new record. There have never been so many stars in Germany – especially considering the situation,” said Ralf Flinkenflugel, director of the “Guide Michelin” for Germany and Switzerland.
Michelin-starred restaurants are moving away from fine dining
The industry is in turmoil. More and more businesses are gradually moving away from fine dining. The “Tantris DNA” now offers a more affordable “business menu” at lunchtime. The “Vendôme” launched the limited-time offer “Chef’s Choice”, a kind of starter menu at a cheaper price. And Billy Wagner from “Nobelhart & Dirty” also announced a change in strategy towards more “casual dining”. Others give up completely.
Dylan Waron-Brawn, head of “Ernst” in Berlin, was once celebrated as a child prodigy. His restaurant, which has just eight counter seats, quickly earned a Michelin star and is ranked 55th among the best restaurants in the world. In autumn 2023, he announced that he would be putting an end to fine dining and would instead dedicate himself to lower-threshold culinary offerings in his daytime restaurant “Julius”. The “seriousness” is not an isolated incident. “Lode & Stijn”, “theNOname”, “CORDA” – these are just some of the restaurants affected by the current wave of closures.
Michelin Awards: Edip Sigl new to the culinary Olympus
This year too, Culinary Germany can look forward to ten three-star restaurants. However, there is a change of place in the star Olympus.
As was to be expected, the “Überfahrt” restaurant on Tegernsee has to accept the fall from the circle of the very best. Christian Jürgens was head chef there for years and won three stars for the restaurant. After a scandal last year, Jürgens had to leave. A variety of top chefs have been making guest appearances there since March, and Cornelia Fischer will be the new head chef in the summer. The “Überfahrt” wants to go back to regular operations in late summer. Whether it will then reclaim the stars remains to be seen.
Edip Sigl is new to the illustrious circle of the culinary elite. His Upper Bavarian restaurant “Ess:enz” was awarded two stars just two years ago and now also has the third star in its pocket. “A really great achievement. What stands out here is the absolute top quality of the products and Mr. Sigl’s very personal style,” said the inspectors. The Michelin team also rated 50 restaurants with two stars – three of which are new – and 280 top cuisines with one star – 32 of which are new. 77 restaurants can now call a Green Star their own. That’s ten more than in 2023. A total of 27 kitchens had to give one or more stars.
Flinkenflugel: “German cuisine is getting better and better”
The fact that more and more restaurants are now supposed to be top despite the gastronomy crisis is not due to an adjustment of the evaluation criteria, emphasizes Flinkenflugel. “The criteria haven’t changed – German cuisine is getting better and better,” said Flinkenflugel. A lot has changed among the German culinary elite in the past ten years. Things are looser, more casual and more fun in the top restaurants. “We could also show a little more pride to the outside world about what has developed here over the past 10 to 15 years.”