Berlin, Germany (Gastrosofie). Sauerkraut and sausages really was a long time ago. Now a total of 309 stars shine brightly and alight a gourmet Germany. To be precise: 261 one star, 38 two star and 10 three star restaurants – to say nothing of the 424 Bib Gourmands that offer “simple yet skilful cooking”.
37 newcomers in the one star field, among them in Berlin alone four namely CODA Dessert Dining, an oasis for dessert lovers in an once deserted but now hip and upcoming area; Ernst that means “less is more” in earnest, seating 12 for a 25 course meal, and run by Dylan Watson-Brawn; plus Kin Dee and SAVU kindly savoured by Gastrosofie soon. Outside of the metropolis, Nuremberg can boast of three add on making it five, same as tiny Saarland state. For the rest, there are still far more in the west then in the east. My favourite, being fond of a club atmosphere, is on show at the Tigerpalast variety theatre in Frankfurt: quality regained. And of course we from Gastrosofie are very happy that Bodendorf’s on Sylt was awarded a star as before. Congratulations!
Taking a look at the two stars, of which there are 38 in the 2019 edition of the Guide, one can spot three of the five new members starring at this club in Bavaria: Sosein in Heroldsberg (for sure, a bit north of Nuremberg), Alexander Herrmann by Tobias Bätz, a duo of renown at the Posthotel of family tradition in Wirsberg near Wagnerian Bayreuth, and Luce d’Oro shining a golden light onto Schloss Elmau, with Chef de Cuisine Christoph Rainer that one surely kept in mind from his time at – the Tigerpalast. Last not least two new ones for a trip on or along the Rhine: Ox & Klee in Cologne right down in the harbour, and in Andernach pure Purs, opened up in February 2018 and already high up in the stars. Of the two stars in the old and the new Guide my favourites in the A to Z of the countryside remain the last in the list: Courtier on the Baltic Coast at Weißenhäuser Strand, and Schloss Friedrichsruhe Le Cerf in Zweiflingen of Hohenlohe.
In the culinary heaven assigned to the three star restaurants, the top ten remain in place, certainly the two of Baiersbronn and the two in the Saarland state bordering on France. But to be honest I prefer crossing over to Christian Jürgens Überfahrt at Tegernsee. And yes: La Vie in Osnabrück is no longer alive.
Actually, not only the star restaurants of the 2019 Guide very well introduced in “Motorwerk Berlin” by Pascal Couasnon, managing director of Food and Travel at Michelin, but also those that left the ranks and file for this or that reason are of interest – especially for the media. Of the two stars in Berlin, Fischers Fritz and reinstoff are no more. Two more lost both, and 26 at least one, for instance Anna Amalia at the Elephant of literary fame in Weimar. Leaving only one 1 star in whole federal state of Thuringia: Clara in Erfurt – no better than in Saxony-Anhalt with Zeitwerk in Wernigerode. So, even in 2019, two dark areas remain in “Dunkeldeutschland” –only talking of Michelin stars, to make it clear. For on the whole, as
Gwendal Poullennec, the guide’s new director, stated in Berlin this top-gastronomy success was „sustained both by established old masters of the finest cuisine as well as by a generation of young, talented chefs with world-class education and new, fresh ideas“. True enough, say we from Gastrosofie.
On Sale in Germany
According to the Michelin press release of 26.2.2019 „from March, 4 the Guide Michelin Deutschland 2019 is available at bookshops for 29.95 euros (Austria: 30.80 euros, Switzerland: 39 francs). In addition, „the Restaurant Recommendations of the Michelin Guide 2019 will be available digitally via the Michelin Guide App or the Bookatable by Michelin website (https://www.bookatable.com).
