Christan Bau is chef of the year

FRANKFURT AM MAIN. The food critics of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung have once again chosen their "favourites of the year" this year. Jürgen Dollase is responsible for selecting the gastronomic awards, while Stephan Reinhard has chosen the winemakers and wines of the year.

Christian Bau from Victor's Fine Dining in Perl-Nennig was honoured as Chef of the Year. The 53-year-old could also be honoured for his life's work, according to the welcome address: "Inspired by a trip to Japan, he developed a European-Japanese cuisine that had never been seen anywhere before and which became one of the most influential and most frequently copied cuisines in Germany. His "Japanese Sea", for example, became an emblematic dish for the best of both worlds in ever new variations. It is no coincidence that his tasting menu with twelve of the finest courses is entitled "Paris - Tokyo". Bau uncompromisingly uses the very best products and creates great culinary art in craftsmanship as well as visual and aromatic design," it says in the citation.

The"Sankt Urban" and "Schwarzer Hahn" in the "Deidesheimer Hof" in Deidesheim werehonoured as Restaurant of the Year.Although the restaurant is still associated with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Jürgen Dollase believes it is "still one of the great institutions for confidently staged and varied regional cuisine." Nils Henkel was honoured as Vegetable Chef of the Year. In the various restaurants in which he has worked and for which he is currently responsible, he has "demonstrated his enormous feeling for good food in a wide variety of formats", according to the citation. He is one of the pioneers of the scene when it comes to working with vegetables. He has achieved what many friends of vegetable cuisine have long been waiting for: dishes full of splendour and persuasiveness, magnificent to look at and with a taste that one would never have thought possible, according to the citation.

The Newcomer of the Year award goes to Christian Stahl, who has already made a name for himself as a winemaker. "Today, this highly talented culinary newcomer impresses with a style that is clearly product-focussed, strikingly well-crafted, with lightness and elegance and a menu in which each dish is designed to go with a different wine from the house," the citation reads. Host of the Year is Ingo Sperling. You can tell that he was sensitised to food and wine by his father from an early age, according to the citation. In the Krasserie in Krefeld, he has realised his own concept: accessible cuisine of a high standard, a relaxed atmosphere and a genuine, approachable host full of esprit.

The Patissière of the Year award goes to Larissa Metz from the Vendôme in Bergisch Gladbach, where she has been working since 2022. Her head chef Joachim Wissler describes her as "the best I've ever had", the FAS quotes him as saying in the citation. "With her talent, her creative openness to all flavours and her persistent search for perfection", she is playing in the right field for her with the restaurant patissiere.

The following awards were also presented:

• Rising star of the year: Lenhardt Winery, Mehring, Mosel
• The special one: 2023 Franken Sylvaner Creutz ***, Zehnthof Luckert, Sulzfeld am Main
• White wine of the year: 2018 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett, Zacharias Bergweiler-Prüm Erben - Dr Loosen
• Winemaker and Red Wine of the Year: Sebastian and Paul Fürst, Bürgstadt, with the 2022 Franconian Pinot Noir "Tradition"
• Sparkling wine producer of the year: Griesel & Compagnie, Bensheim, Hess. Bergstrasse