Memories of the meal have faded over time but I remember excellent food, including a standout grilled toro dish, somewhat marred by slow pacing and an overly stuffy atmosphere. I am happy to say that the return visit was more than warranted. The FOH, run by the twin Klaas brothers, was also a highlight. Beyond keeping the dishes coming at impeccably timed intervals, the entire team was friendly and enthusiastic about the food and wine in a way that went above and beyond the normal trappings of a Michelin restaurant and improved the overall experience.
I would say things tended towards the Japanese side but there were still plenty of touches that reminded you of Germany like the use of trout and aspic. The wine program is well put together with good depth for a new restaurant.
At Tohru, sommelier Tobias Klaas does away with this by listing the paired wine for each course and pricing them individually. This lets you drink as much or as little as you want and tailor the wine to your budget - you could skip the more expensive glasses or if looking to splash out opt for some more prestigious glasses poured by the glass via Coravin. The resemblance was uncanny and made for quite the sight, giving a bit of deja vu as the twins seamlessly kept the dining room humming smoothly.
While the ambiance at Werneckhof was stuffy, the new restaurant is much more relaxed. The lighting is bright with plenty of natural wood and the FOH seems casual but with plenty of attentiveness and passion for the products. Most importantly, the meal moved at a steady pace with dishes coming out at a consistent and appropriate speed which made the lengthy tasting menu fly by. Here, there was a dashi made with crustaceans but also sea buckthorn, a favorite acidic fruit of New Nordic cuisine.
The result was a beautifully balanced and delicate sauce that was paired well with the small shrimps from France. This particular type of shrimp lives beneath the mussel farms, eating seaweed that grows on chains around the mussels which gives them an extra sweet flavor. My only complaint is the dish would have benefited from being served on a deeper bowl rather than a flat plate which made it difficult to scoop the sauce on the spoon. The second course was even better as it featured a Chinese chive and Iberico pork chin dumpling that was topped with top-notch Royal Belgian caviar.
