Vendome Restaurant in Bensberg Castle in Bergisch Gladbach, picture copyright: Schloss Bensberg[/caption]
Fine dining is probably not the first reason for international travelers to visit Germany and still, many visitors marvel about their positive experiences they had travelling around and sampling local cuisine.
British based ""Restaurant Magazine"" yesterday elected the worlds best 50 restaurants. 2 German restaurants made it onto this prestigious list !!! The Vendome in Bergisch Gladbach (around 15 km from Cologne) came in at 12th position and Aqua in Wolfsburg settled at 28th.
German chef Kevin Fehling also received his third Michelin star to become Germany's 10th chef with the world's top culinary designation, awarded for his work at La Belle Epoque, located at the Columbia Hotel in the northern city of Luebeck. Germany now has more three-star restaurants than any European country after France. German chefs are "breathing down their neck," said the worldwide director of the Michelin Guide Michael Ellis last Wednesday at the release. There are now a total of 311 Michelin stars between 255 German restaurants.
A lot of inspiration for the new stars of German cuisine comes from traditional hearty dishes like Eisbein (pork knuckle), Bratkartoffeln (fried potatoes) and Sauerkraut. Peasant food as fine dining? The idea is to give traditional dishes a new edge, better ingredients, lighter way of cooking, for instance slowly roasting potatoes in the oven rather then frying in lard.
“I always involve my origins in my work," says Wissler. "Therefore I also involve long forgotten traditions of our German gastronomic culture. The term “new German school” also means to confront oneself, besides globalisation, with one's own culinary origins. That also means to protect our culinary tradition. But I reserve for myself the right to present these traditions in my own way.”
But Gourmet food at Gourmet prices demands a Gourmet cashed up clientel. A lot of Germany's top restaurants are based in the southern parts of Germany where Mercedes, BMW, Siemens and Bosch can be found. Aqua is located in Wolfsburg, home to car manufacturer VW in the Ritz Carlton Hotel and Vendome calls the 18th century baroque Grand Hotel Bensberg home. A seven course degustation menu at the Vendome will set you back 170 Euro, a la cart dining between 30 and 80 Euro.
For the worlds top voted restaurant list 2014 visit:: Restaurants Revealed
Melbournes Attica ranks at number 32. The worlds top restaurant you can find in Copenhagen, Noma won the ward for the third time. For more information about German modern cuisine read: INSIDE STORY: THE RISE OF GERMAN CUISINE or A WELLSPRING OF THE NEW GERMAN CUISINE
