Even first-rate maitre de cuisine, who are confident of their talent at the stove, are nervous about the visit of the strict inspectors: every year the restaurant reviewers of the Guide Michelin and Gault Millau, Varta-Führer or "Feinschmecker" take a critical look at Haute cuisine around Germany and award stars (Michelin) or toques (Gault Millau) and points. After savouring the exquisite test menus, they always have positive news from Berlin. Once again in 2004 a small shower of Michelin stars descended on the culinary scene on the river Spree: seven restaurants were awarded one star - a suitable recompense for the maitres de cuisine, who for years have consistently conjured up for their guests varied cuisine which is a testimony to creativity, a willingness to experiment and a flair for sophisticated culinary delights. The chosen ones: Quadriga, Facil, First Floor, Hugos, Lorenz Adlon, Margaux and Vau.
This means that a trend is continuing in Berlin first-class cuisine which Joachim Becker, restaurant reviewer of the Hamburg magazine "Der Feinschmecker" has observed for a few years now, "More than in any other German city, in Berlin it is hotels like the InterConti or Adlon, which guarantee culinary highlights". In fact, five of the seven Michelin-crowned chefs work in upscale hotels: First Floor (Hotel Palace), Hugos (Hotel InterContinental), Facil (Madison Hotel), Lorenz Adlon (Hotel Adlon) and Die Quadriga (Hotel Brandenburger Hof). In 2004 it was again First Floor, Hugos and Lorenz Adlon which attracted the most enthusiasm from all sides. Gault Millau enthused about the menus of the First-Floor chef Matthias Buchholz: "a wonderful curtain raiser" was the "river char with Imperial caviar, gherkins and radishes or the sublimely successful gelee terrine of pigeon and foie gras." For dessert "a titillating panacotta with almond ice cream and balsamic cherries" tickled the palate of the reviewers who promptly awarded the master chef Matthias Buchholz 18 out of 20 possible points. The Varta Guide praised the "wonderful ambiente, the club atmosphere of Hugos, "on the 14th floor" of the Hotes InterContinental. The "Feinschmecker" writes "Chef Thomas Kammeier proves his class again in 2004". It praises the "inventive, highly innovative" French cuisine with Mediterranean flair. Joachim Becker was very appreciative of the scampi in a potato crust with aubergine caviar and tomato vinaigrette. In Facil he and his colleagues were enthralled, aside from the excellent cuisine, "by the wonderful atmosphere under the glass roof which is reminiscent of a beautiful Japanese garden".
The Lorenz Adlon continues to conjure up a consistently high level of cuisine under the direction of Holger Zurbrüggen, two years after the departure of the legendary Karlheinz Hauser, who moved to his own restaurant in Hamburg. The Gault Millau inspector was delighted with a "magnificent pigeon with a spicy crust, lashings of Rouenaise sauce and delicate parsley ravioli" and awarded 17 points. According to Holger Zurbrüggen there are other potential hot candidates for Michelin stars next year; "very interesting" were the words used to describe the Louis in Hotel Steigenberger under the star chef Holger Zurbrüggen. Gault Millau reacted to this by awarding 16 points. Becker also expects great things in future of the cuisine artist Christian Lohse, who, after his departure from the Vivaldi (Schloßhotel im Grunewald), is now in charge of the cuisine at the new hotel The Regent (formerly Four Seasons) on Gendarmenmarkt. Becker expects "exquisite fish cuisine" for which Lohse is well known. For the menu testers of the Varta Guide, the restaurant Vitrum "with its Venetian flair" in the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Potsdamer Platz, which opened just under a year ago, already ranks amongst the top culinary addresses. The inspectors praised the "commendably prepared gourmet menu" consisting of Italian and French cuisine.
It is the character and the particular flair of top chefs that give the menus their unmistakable touch. Hence, it makes sense for Gault Millau to select a culinary newcomer every year. In November 2004 the gourmet guide awarded this accolade to the unconventional young Berlin chef, Tim Raue, and selected the chef from the restaurant 44 in Swissotel am Kudamm as the most promising newcomer. He was "by far the most inquisitive and experimental Berlin chef" praised the Gault-Millau inspectors and awarded his restaurant 17 points. "Der Feinschmecker" also looked in on Tim Raue and praised his "successful tightrope act between tradition and evolution". The somewhat more conservative guests could relish a crispy schnitzel "Berliner Art" with beetroot-apple-potato salad whereas the inquisitive diner could look forward to goat's cheese sorbet in a gazpacho. Joachim Becker awarded two (out of five possible) Feinschmecker points to his culinary encounter with the cuisine of 44. And that means something because three points and more were only awarded by "Der Feinschmecker" to the hotel restaurants with Michelin stars.
Tim Raue is in the very best company. It's difficult to imagine Berlin without the creative individuals behind the stove like Kolja Kleeberg (Vau), Michael Hoffmann (Margaux) or Bruno Pellegrini (Ana e Bruno), who this year, like every year, harvested considerable praise from the inspectors. Vice versa, the magnetic attraction which Berlin has exerted for several years on top chefs of all schools is uninterrupted. Star-crowned chef Bobby Bräuer left the Düsseldorf Victorian nine months ago in order to continue his successful track record in the Quadriga with creations like "smoked Loire salmon with Imperial caviar and walnut vinaigrette" and "river prawns à la nage". Anyone who has cooked in Berlin doesn't seem to want to leave the city but chooses to move to a new job preferably within the Berlin culinary scene. This seems to be the trend. For instance, René Conrad from Facil, for which he secured star accolades thanks to his excellent culinary innovations, has now moved to Vivo, the new restaurant in the Grand Hotel Esplanade. Christian Lohse moved from Grunewald to Mitte; Thomas Kellermann, previously in Portalis, remains in Berlin and is now enthralling guests in the restaurant Vitrum im Ritz Carlton.
There may be regions which have a larger number of star-crowned restaurants than Berlin. But there is one thing all the inspectors agree on: scarcely any other city has a wider or better offering of upscale bistro restaurants which are nevertheless affordable. Hence restaurants and meeting places of the famous like Borchardt, Aigner, Bocca di Bacco or Maxwell are high up the popularity scale of the strict inspectors. "Good but nevertheless affordable" is the motto according to which Guide Michelin includes gastro restaurants in its "Bib Gourmand" list. A new addition in 2004 is Ottenthal in Charlottenburg, which won over the inspectors with solid Austrian cuisine at affordable prices.
But even the "greats" have learned something during the generally poor economic climate: in order to fill their select premises during the day, Margaux for instance has been endeavouring for some time now to attract office employees and members of Parliament from the surrounding government quarter by offering a comparatively cheap lunch menu.
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Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH / December 2004
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