Joachim Wissler is a chef that emotionally moves his guests– a seducer of palates, if you will. For all the beauty his dishes express, for the intellectual construction they demonstrate… never revealing what flavors they hold until the moment in which you taste them. Hiding exciting elements that satiate the guest with pleasure. One is conquered by the primary truth of gastronomy – good taste – but at Vendôme one senses not just good taste… exquisite taste. To such an extent that we can, even must confirm that only a very select few chefs in the world have impressed us as much for having such a well-developed natural gift. To not mince our words, Wissler is a GENIUS OF FLAVOR. A genius of flavour, a wise man who, after a long and quiet process of reflection and imagination, is able to assemble and build in a perfect way. A genius of flavor and a PERFECTIONNIST who obtains magnanimous results subordinating special effects to palatal excellence.
Jürgen Dollase, the premier German critic, let us know in no uncertain terms: “He is the best chef in my country, with the most advanced ideas.” It was an accurate, perhaps even moderate statement: Wissler is a world-class chef: a refiner of flavor. Unique of his kind. A magician who, without any tricks, manages to always, and we mean always, balance the flavors in his creations. Even with difficult combinations that might seem impossible, he produces amazingly harmonious constructions. It is not because he is attempting to astonish his guests with obscurity – on the contrary, he is cold, cerebral, studied, technical, precise, meticulous, infallible… a virtuoso projecting immaculate and exciting flavors. The nuances, ever-present in his proposals, are always insinuated, never glaring. Hints hidden away in a sublime, silky ensemble. Joachim has the power to sweeten the acidic and to acidify the sweet. He makes the impossible possible, turning taste into a precise mathematical equation.
The restaurant offers different tasting menus that completely change every year, some of the dishes being modified according to the seasons. The appetizer is a quite complex game. The guest has to guess what kind of vegetable the attractive and delicate crunchy leaves –immaculate– are made of (carrot, cauliflower, kombu seaweed, celery and leek), which is rather difficult, because they have all been dehydrated. Each of them is served with a different yoghurt (cheese-flavoured, for example). 10/10 for delicacy and precision. The royale reflects German technique: crab threads covered by a cold royale made of the animal’s livers, mint and peas cream, sculptural crunchy bread. This dish and its finishing could not be any better. The most subtle refinement melts smoothly in the mouth and tastes like sunflower seeds, contrasting in tact and flavour with an explosive and oceanic caviar, served with a beet stuffed with a technocratic cherry, which is in fact a beet jelly filled with salad and whose tail is a Chinese sorrel. Aesthetic and luxury, chromatism and sumptuousness: this is the way we can qualify the appearance and taste of the liquid yolk, accompanied with brunoised Iberian ham and tapioca, crowned by a thin black truffle jelly and a julienne of the same tuber on it. Strong and brilliant contrasts, incredibly soft: oyster with marrow, pistachios, black garlic and coriander purée. The updated palace-like classicism is definitely present in the bone marrow proposed with tail jelly, morels cream, thinly sprinkled with spring onion, morels and flowers, onto a mossy base. Historical memory that is wonderfully reflected and gives infinite pleasure. The mackerel with pistachios cream and juice plus pear cubes is really essential and pure. It goes without saying that the raw materials are always unbeatable here, as well as the doneness, like in the sole filet with its skin, smooth and tasty, served with shrimps, just heated, asparagus and carrot strips and an exciting touch of green curry, really aromatic, and vegetables. As noble and precise, but without any exotic note, deeply palatal, we find the extremely juicy red mullet, proposed with its crunchy scales swimming into a chickpea soup, with the liver of the fish, wild celery and beans. The lamb brains laid on spinach and capers with tomato juice are praised for their minimalism and execution as well as for their delightful and harmonic combination. The pigeon with truffle juice, sesame cream, canapé made with the innards of the animal and salad is definitely magnanimous.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the 10 best restaurants in the world. Its dining-room, led by Miguel Calero, is another reason why this is one of the 10 best tables we can enjoy both palatally and mentally.
