Illhaeusern (France) (AFP)

At the Auberge de l'Ill, a legendary Alsatian restaurant, 2019 will remain marked with a black stone: like Paul Bocuse's restaurant on Friday, that of Marc Harberlin lost one of its three stars a year ago, a "tsunami" which however did not make flee the customers.

Since January 21, 2019, in this restaurant in Illhaeusern (Haut-Rhin), everything has changed but nothing has changed. The Ill river fringed with weeping willows always flows peacefully at the foot of the restaurant and chef Marc Haeberlin always watches from the kitchen on the preparation of "soufflé salmon", "truffles in the ashes" and other "pigeon tournedos with cabbage, truffles and goose liver ".

However, by removing a star from the venerable family establishment with some 80 covers, which had three since 1967, the red guide caused a very strong emotional shock.

"We were warned the day before, a Sunday, at half past twelve, in full service ... We had our legs cut, I picked up some of the old people with a small spoon in the corners, they were crying", recalls Marc Haeberlin , whose father Paul had conquered this Grail of cooks.

Member of a tribe who also has his sister, daughter and nephews, all at work in Illhaeusern, the chief says that "eight days after the loss of the star, regular customers arrived in tears".

"We have a beautiful family harmony but it's a small tsunami, you have to be tough," says his sister Danielle Baumann Haeberlin, co-manager. "There was a little mourning, everyone experienced it like that. Since September it's been better, the momentum has resumed," she summarized, at a distance from the ballet of the servers in navy blue suits.

- "Customers always there" -

From a display case in the hall where the 1967 edition of Michelin stands out in the name of a temporary menu at 160 euros ("L'Instant Michelin") pinned in the kitchen, Michelin is omnipresent in the establishment.

"From a very young age, I hear Michelin talking, I sleep Michelin, I wake up Michelin, besides shaving in the morning, I always have the little bibendum on my shelf, it was a gift from a former director ", says Marc Haeberlin.

Much less stormy than his colleague Marc Veyrat, who was also expelled from the three-star club in 2019 and dragged Michelin to court, Marc Haeberlin says "respect their choice" and fight to win back the lost star.

"We have questioned ourselves on small things, we are trying to be more precise on certain points", explains the chief. During a visit following the loss of the 3rd star, the director of the Michelin guide, Gwendal Poullennec, "just told him that there was too much juice once and a little overcooked fish".

"My philosophy is that we work for clients more than for guides. And clients are always there," says sous-chef Jean-Paul Bostoen, busy preparing a "whole hare à la royale" according to Paul Haeberlin's recipe, "a very, very classic dish".

- Bocuse, his "2nd father" -

If Marc Haeberlin continues to create new dishes, such as "crispy smoked fresh eel, pan-fried snails, sake emulsion and wasabi" recently added to the menu, his cuisine remains faithful to that of his father, with whom he worked for 30 years and whose bust adorns the kitchen, but also in the spirit of Paul Bocuse, his "2nd father", guardian of the temple of classic French cuisine.

"I would be unable to change my cuisine, I have been doing it for 40 years. We never fell into molecular cuisine", summarizes Marc Haeberlin, ensuring that neither the occupancy rate nor the reservation time have changed since the loss of the precious star.

Only clientele to have been lacking, "this tiny part which will only come in 3 stars, but it has been compensated by the support of a loyal clientele", according to him.

Seated in the restaurant with American and Canadian friends, the German Tobias Schnabel has just tasted a "ballotine of pikeperch and smoked eel, cauliflower in different textures". "It deserves 3 stars, if it's up to us to decide," smiles the young man.

"It's probably even better this year because they are trying to recover the star," said the group of friends, for whom Michelin, "is the only authority."

Out of around 20,000 restaurants worldwide listed in the guide, only a hundred have obtained the supreme distinction of "three stars", 27 in the 2019 edition.

© 2020 AFP