Heidelberg: This is how the opening of “The Kitchen” went – Heidelberg – News and Current Affairs

By Hannes Huss

Heidelberg. The restaurant “The Kitchen” in the Heidelberg Congress Center is, as the name suggests, more than just cuisine be a restaurant. The centerpiece is Germany’s largest Chef’s Table, a concept that actually has a niche existence in mainstream restaurants.

A chef’s table is a small dining area in the kitchen where guests get an exclusive insight into the work of the kitchen team. “The Kitchen” is now a single, large chef’s table. All seats are arranged around a huge, shiny steel show kitchen. On Friday, 40 visitors were able to experience live for the first time how this works in Heidelberg.

For the opening of the new restaurant, chef Michael Trost, together with Mannheim guest chef Kaspar Hübsch, designed a four-course menu that guests could watch live as it reached their plates.

Only: Little was actually sizzled or cooked in the three fully equipped kitchen islands in the middle of the restaurant. Instead, “more was served than cooked,” as Daniel Lauff from Mannheim said. Especially with such a well-equipped kitchen, you could “put more emphasis on it.”

Nevertheless, the 33-year-old and his partner Marie Hübner (“We are absolute ‘foodies'”) are satisfied in the end: “It’s a really nice concept, the food was very good and just a different event.”

That’s what Jessica and Ingo Schredle from Heidelberg sounded like after dessert: “It was a very nice evening, in general the concept is really great and the food was very good, even if it wasn’t star cuisine.” They just wished that ” a little more moderated and the food is also explained”. Overall, there is still “room for improvement”.

For Jens Hermann, gastronomic director of “The Kitchen”, the arrangement is intended to put “more focus on the food”, as he explains after dinner. The audience should also have the chance to interact directly with the chefs without any barriers. “We like it that way, like at the end, when the chefs talked a little with the guests.”

Hermann led the guests through the corridors about his own performance and expressed himself a little self-critically: “It’s a fine line when it comes to interaction.” He doesn’t want to play the role of “explainer bear” where the guests then say: “Whoa, “What is he saying again?”

The minor teething problems were “normal,” said Hermann, who overall drew a positive conclusion: “It was a top menu and the guests are all happy.”

Chef Kaspar Hübsch then certified that “The Kitchen” had “so much potential” and that there was “nothing comparable” for the location: “As a chef, this is a dream.” This was what his team and the “The Kitchen” team had at the opening also already “well exhausted”.

Nevertheless: “More entertainment is definitely possible here.” In the end, the sous chef of “The Kitchen”, Johann Becker, was very satisfied with the collaboration with Hübsch, who otherwise offers his own cooking events for upscale kitchens: “From I think we would be happy to invite guest chefs here more often.”

In the future, “The Kitchen” will host its own events such as the opening dinner or a Christmas dinner on December 14th. Interested parties can also rent the restaurant for private evenings. You have to look at how much it costs on an individual basis, says Hermann.

Cooking courses and menus of “three to eight courses” are also conceivable. There is only one condition: “There have to be at least 20 people, otherwise it doesn’t make sense atmospherically.”