The "Palmenstüble" had neither Michelin stars nor Gault Millau toques, was never in the press and was unknown to the general public, although it was a real restaurant with a chef, a menu and all the trimmings.

Jakob Strobel and Serra

deputy head of the feature section.

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It was run by the eleven-year-old son of Swabian development workers in Saudi Arabia, owed its beautiful name to this constellation, only catered to the closest family circle and, in retrospect, should turn out to be a successful dress rehearsal of a life that, after a few trials and tribulations, found a happy ending: Stefan Gschwendtner's current restaurant, the "Speisemeisterei" in Hohenheim Castle in Stuttgart, has two Michelin stars and three Gault Millau toques and is unanimously praised by gourmets as the best establishment in Baden-Württemberg's state capital.

The legitimacy of the kitchen divine right

Gschwendtner wanted to be a chef as a child, but for supposedly reasonable reasons he first did an apprenticeship as a wholesale merchant and only gave in to his inner destiny at the age of 24.

He was trained by Fritz Schilling in the legendary "Schweizer Stuben", then went to Stefan Marquard on Lake Constance for three formative years and switched to the "Speisemeisterei" in 2008, whose fame soon faded due to abrupt changes in head chef and unpleasant bankruptcies.

Eight years later, Gschwendtner got his chance there, but was only able to really get going in 2020, after a large housing association took over the restaurant in order to build up a gastronomic division with it as a flagship.

And the mission was clear: Gschwendtner should bring back its former glory, which he managed to do in no time at all - in March the former boss of the "Palmenstüble" won his second star and thus the crown among Stuttgart's top restaurants.

You notice from the first second that it has not been usurped, but is carried with the legitimacy of the kitchen gods.

Even the amuse-bouches in the form of a trout tartare with dashi, sesame, granny smith and oyster mayonnaise or two pralines of deep-fried pork belly dressed in roasted onions and poulard ragout in a balsamic jelly coat are miniature masterpieces full of precision and perfection that set the direction of the evening: No chef here presents himself as an absolutist ruler, even if his restaurant resides in a ducal palace.

Instead, he always puts himself at the service of good taste and gives the main role to one ingredient per course, which is staged effectively but without pomp - like the carabinero from Spain, which is raw like sashimi under a fine hood of yuzu and Chives rest surrounded by a court of yuzu mayonnaise, carabinero tartare, tomato crunch and a broth of smoked tomatoes and coriander, a loyal entourage devoted entirely to the crustacean's aromatic service.

So virtuoso it goes on, one after the other.

The Black Forest trout is only cooked under the pass, because more heat would destroy its finesse, and combined with nothing but caviar, lardo, romaine lettuce, a Japanese onion broth and a malt stick to create a plate minuet of amazing harmony of aromas.

The poached Gillardeau oyster, with wise modesty, is satisfied with caviar, tapioca, an oyster leaf and a beurre blanc with marrow.

And Gschwendtner gently cooks the Danish zander in the pan, sprinkles it with salted almond crunch, rounds it off with morels and radishes and drizzles the whole thing with a verjuice sauce - none of this is rocket science, but it is impressive kitchen craftsmanship, because nothing superfluous, nothing pretentious, These plates have nothing gimmicky about them, but without exception sense and reason, balance and hierarchy, clarity and maturity.

Stefan Gschwendtner is a modest lord of the manor with an egalitarian attitude, and that doesn't change the fact that one sits in a stately manner between stucco, marble, gold leaf, crystal chandeliers and pilasters with Corinthian capitals.

He prefers to cycle to work, prefers to spend his free time with his three children rather than on the big show stage and develops the dishes together with his two sous chefs, who have been at his side for five and six years.

Revolutions are not on their menu, but intelligent further developments of the classic kitchen canon, which they have enriched with many Japanese ingredients and techniques in recent years, without losing the balance between love of home and cosmopolitanism - the lamb comes from the Swabian Jura, the boiled beef from Australia, and both are fabulous in their own way, because in the "Speisemeisterei" they always cook with their heads.

For the lamb, fermented blueberries add the right amount of acidity and ribs of highly-heated lamb fat add the necessary bite, while the jus is seasoned with anchovies for depth and saltiness.

And the boiled fillet from Wagyu with its ideal ratio of meat and fat is banished from any dull clumsiness thanks to sesame, kimchi mayonnaise, a calf's head jus and a brunoise made from green asparagus and paprika.

The result is plates that are dense but not loud, complex but not overloaded, imaginative but not crazy - excellently accompanied by the sommelier Johanna Renz, who relies almost exclusively on German wines and avoids prestige international wines at hysterical prices power.

A Pinot Noir from Aldinger, a Pinot Blanc from Fritz Waßmer and the dessert, an artistic variation of strawberries, basil and tonka beans - and you already feel more royally entertained at Hohenheim Castle than any prince of Württemberg has ever experienced.