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Kochsternstunden Boat 2026: Our favorite courses of the Kochsternstunden 2026 as a fictitious tasting menu

Menu plate
Saxon fish soup à la bouillabaisse at the Caroussel Nouvelle/Hotel Bülow Palais (Image: Ulrich van Stipriaan)
From: Ulrich van Stipriaan
A personal review of STIP's 2026 tasting menu: 23 visits, 113 courses, praise for successful service moments, criticism of wine suggestions and recommendations for bread, amuse-bouche and non-alcoholic accompaniment.

The annual special diet competition Kochsternstunden where the aim is to try as much as possible while gaining as little weight as possible, is over. I visited 23 of the 50 participating restaurants this year and mostly enjoyed 113 courses (without kitchen greetings!), sometimes just eating them. But when it comes to the question of what I remember as a good memory, there is an astonishing amount. Before I present my six-course tasting menu (mostly with the choice of vegetarian-fish-meat in the individual courses), a few general comments on this and that.

I am always delighted to be addressed by the service. There are fashions, the most persistent of which is the "soooooh". Don't you know it? These are waiters (as always here: m/f/d) who start to say "so!" at least one foot in front of the guest when they hover in with the plates and only stop when they have reached the table. Depending on the speed: "soooooooh...". Last year, it was all the rage to respond to everything possible, but also to everything impossible, with "gerne! with pleasure!". This has subsided considerably, with the occasional "gärrne!" still creaking out at us.

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In a restaurant (no, no link here!), we experienced number one in the response with a waitress (I can do gender neutral without an asterisk!) with the combination of two waiter favorites: "The lady! The gentleman!" always makes me cringe, because I always wince at this form of address. Not because of the "lady", who is often sitting next to me, but because of the stiffness behind the phrase. How easy it would be to look at the guest and say: "I've got the halibut for you!", turn to the second person and then say with a smile on your face: "And for you, the halibut" - or whatever else is on the plate. It sounds much more personal than the distant third-person form of address...

However, that was only number one for our top spot; more is needed to become the winner of the speech. Namely the seamless transition from the Prussian, respectful "DieDameDerHerr!" to the chummy "Ihr Lieben!" This often happens on its own, but we only had it once in this combination - but then with a system: strict when greeting and presenting the card, then relaxed and relaxed afterwards. Incidentally, the overall presentation plus the other aspects of the service were so good that we were awarded a full five stars in the service category.

Another topic: accompanied drinks. It's a mystery to me why wines are often offered so listlessly that don't do justice to the rather sophisticated food. Of course, one answer is: wines that cost €5 a bottle to buy and are then sold for €8 in a 0.1-liter glass bring in more profit. But certainly not customer loyalty to guests who experience this for the first time in such a restaurant (fans always come back, otherwise they wouldn't be fans).

And even if there is a lot going on at the moment: this also applies to alcohol-free beverage accompaniment. They can be created with expertise and love or with the simplest of means. Where it was special in my (mostly: our) experience can be found below in the menus.

As always, a brief reading aid for the tasting menu: It summarizes the noteworthy courses, i.e. what comes to mind when you (me) ask "What was the best thing about the evening?" even after a few days. The attempt to have a restaurant appear at most once in this list can be considered a failure: that was the plan, but it didn't work out. There were even three menus that I would have loved to eat again in their entirety as they were. I could have written them down as they were - but that would have been less exciting.

PS: This text was published before the announcement and independently of the official evaluation of the competition.

STIPs tasting menu 2026

Bread

Bread before the menu is available in one form or another almost everywhere - there is also none at all, but this is only a shame if nothing else happens before the first course: the waiting time can usually be bridged well with whatever, and if it's good bread with a fine spread (better: fine spreads), it immediately takes away some of the nervousness of the guests: when are we finally going to start? It's already started! By the way: "Can we have our aperitif with the bread?" would also be an appropriate and profitable question... The focaccia at Weingut Aust, sourdough bread at 1328, bread in a box at Das Palais/Kempi, aronia bread at Schmiedelandhaus and three kinds of home-baked goods at Heiderand.

Amuse bouche

Starters

  • vegetarian
  • Smoked stracciatella | spicy honey | grapes | sumac | buckwheat (Gioia, Radebeul)
  • Meat
  • Smoked Duck Breast from Feinkost Müller | Pumpkin | Miso | Kumquat (Stresa, Dresden)
  • Mosaic of duck and black salsify: tamarind | orange | nori seaweed | peanut (Das Palais, Dresden)
  • Fish
  • Sashimi of Saxon char (Forellenhof Ermisch) | Bacalao | Orange | Radish | Chili | Coriander | Hazelnut (Anna im Schloss, Dresden)
  • Ceviche vom Saibling | Portulak | Curry-Zitronengrasschaum (Mario Pattis Feine Kost)
  • See char | horseradish | apple | dill (Opera, Dresden)

Soup

  • Vegetarian
  • Mushroom consommé | smoked mushroom tartare | baked pea (Gasthof zum Anker, Wachau)
  • Kulajda: Mushroom foam soup | quail egg | dill (Alte Meister, Dresden)
  • Meat
  • Spicy Beef Consommé | Dim Sum | Celery (Stresa, Dresden)
  • Fish
  • Sächsische Fischsuppe (Caroussel Novelle, Dresden)

Intermediate course

  • Vegetarian
  • Poached country egg | barley risotto | vanilla & mustard (Schmiedelandhaus, Greifendorf)
  • Meat
  • Ravioli | apple chutney | black pudding | champagne sauerkraut | herb beurre blanc (1328, Dresden)
  • Roasted sweetbreads | pointed cabbage | potato fritters | sherry jus (Felsenbirne, Pirna)
  • Fisch/Krustentier
  • Lobster Mac'n Cheese (Gräfes Wein & fein, Radebeul)
  • Grilled poulpe | chimichurri | harissa (Brasserie Bateau, Dresden)
  • Cod | hay | pine nut | cauliflower (Heiderand, Dresden)

Main course

  • Vegetarian
  • Chicory | Beetroot | Pistachio | Long Pepper (Heiderand, Dresden)
  • Poultry
  • Breast of the happy duckling - cooked backwards - | crab jus | radicchio | Saxon truffle | fermented fig | roasted celeriac cream (Schmidt's Restaurant, Hellerau)
  • meat
  • Bäckchen vom Sächsischen Strohschwein (Genießergenossenschaft Sachsen) | spinach | millet | chives (Anna im Schloss, Dresden)
  • Filet Wellington | tarragon emulsion | parsnip puree | red wine jus (Verena Leister, Dresden)
  • Game
  • Back of venison "Baden-Baden" | pear | cranberry (Atelier Sanssouci, Radebeul)
  • Fish
  • Catfish | smoked red sausage | barley | pumpkin | Riesling mustard (Weingut Aust, Radebeul)

Dessert

Accompanied drinks

Concept ideas

  • Charming playfulness with the place name Wachau and the Wachau region (Gasthof zum Anker, Wachau)
  • not visited this year, but definitely worth a mention from experience (2024 | 2025): the menu of the trainees at Carolaschlösschen
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Ulrich van Stipriaan
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