Summer Menu challenge 2025

About the Restaurant Vendôme

A Baroque Sanctuary for Modern Gastronomy

Nestled within the stately walls of the Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg, just outside Cologne, Vendôme is where elegance meets experimentation. The restaurant, currently holding two Michelin stars, is a beacon of Germany’s fine dining scene. Its sleek interiors—polished zebranoholz, delicately patterned plaster, and whisper-quiet lighting—reflect its cuisine: artful, refined, and emotionally resonant.

Founded by celebrated chef Joachim Wissler, Vendôme has long pushed the boundaries of European haute cuisine. It earned its first Michelin star in 2001, its second in 2002, and reached the summit with three stars in 2005. Today, under Wissler’s guidance and with Chef Dennis Kuckuck at the culinary helm, Vendôme continues to define what it means to cook with precision, passion, and vision.

Vendôme is a storybook of technique, terroir, and time. It is a place where legacy is respected—and reimagined—through menus that challenge the palate and provoke emotion.

About the Chef – Dennis Kuckuck

From Rising Talent to Culinary Storyteller

Dennis Kuckuck, Head Chef of Vendôme, brings fresh vitality to one of Germany’s most revered kitchens. After distinguished tenures in Berlin and beyond and having first worked at Vendôme five years prior, Kuckuck returns to Vendôme in 2023, working closely with Chef Patron Joachim Wissler. His approach is exacting but intuitive — guided by the seasons, structured by technique, and driven by a desire to create meaningful dining experiences.

Kuckuck’s presence at Vendôme marks a generational shift—one that honours tradition while exploring new emotional and conceptual landscapes through food. His refined perspective has quickly made him a name to watch in European fine dining.

For the All4Chefs Summer Menu Challenge 2025, Dennis Kuckuck brings a deeply sensory and symbolic expression of summer to life—grounded in the dualities of nature, memory, and movement.

The Summer Menu Inspiration

“Land & Sea” – A Culinary Dialogue in 7 Courses
For this Summer’s menu ,Chef Dennis Kuckuck draws inspiration from nature’s contrast—sea and soil, smoke and acid, elegance and power. Each course tells its own story, while contributing to a harmonious sensory arc.

“My goal,” he says, “was to create a menu that impresses with incredible depth of flavor—refined and intensified through reduction, and always guided by balance.”

About the Chef Patron – Joachim Wissler

One of the Leading Voices of European Fine Dining

Joachim Wissler is a towering figure in modern gastronomy. As Chef Patron of Vendôme, his name is synonymous with avant-garde technique, deep respect for ingredients, and emotional culinary storytelling. Under his leadership, Vendôme became Germany’s most decorated restaurant, shaping the identity of New German cuisine.

Wissler’s influence continues through the chefs he mentors, including Dennis Kuckuck, whose summer menu is an homage to his philosophy: precise, expressive, and always grounded in the soul of the product.

Crafted With

Porcelain Artistry: Studio Mattes (Belgium) & KPM Berlin Food Photography: Erik Chmil Chef Portraits: OnelionMedia – Leonie Becker