09.04.2018 Magazin , Flussgenuss

Stars on-board

KD is bringing top chefs back on-board in 2018 – now also in Düsseldorf

The idea behind the KD dinner cruises is as simple as it is successful: Top chefs switch from their usual restaurant kitchen to the kitchen of one of the KD ships for one evening and with a specially created menu. Thanks to the unique combination of culinary excellence and a relaxed cruise, the passengers experience what is guaranteed to be an unforgettable evening. The KD dinner cruises are now entering their fourth season with a significantly expanded offer.

The people of Cologne are considered to be joyful and open-minded, cheerful and sociable, and passionate about their city. It is therefore not surprising that a series of events which combines culinary delights in a wonderful atmosphere with a tour across the Rhine and past the cathedral and the Old Town, has found its way straight into the hearts and calendars of the people of Cologne. This is what has happened with the KD dinner cruises, which have established themselves as a fixture in Cologne’s calendar of events in what is now their fourth edition. And because the trips, during which selected top chefs on-board the KD show off their skills, are so successful in Cologne, KD is once again expanding its portfolio: For the first time, it is also offering the successful 2018 format in its second home of Düsseldorf.

Gerhard Baumann – KD

"Düsseldorf has a great gastronomic scene at a high standard, and the people here appreciate good food. Our dinner cruises on the newly designed event ship are therefore just the right thing.”

Three stars for Düsseldorf

For Holger Berens, his second season on-board the KD will be a home match. In 2017, the Düsseldorf Michelin star chef was featured in the KD event calendar with his own evening for the first time. But the fact that he can now board the ship less than 500 metres from his popular restaurant “Berens am Kai”, which was awarded a Michelin star some time ago, is not the only reason why he is delighted to be back on the river.

Holger Berens – Berens am Kai

"... good food should always stimulate all the senses, and an unusual place like a ship certainly contributes to this.”

Philipp Wolter agrees. Like Holger Berens, the chef of the Phoenix has been awarded Michelin stars, is at home in Düsseldorf and is returning to the KD in 2018. In 2017, he already pampered his guests on the MS RheinFantasie in Cologne with tomato variations and fillet of catfish, among other things. What will he be serving in Düsseldorf in 2018? At the time of going to press, this was just as unclear as the menus of his colleagues. And that’s a good thing. After all, part of the dinner cruise concept is that the guest chefs devise a four-course menu especially for their evening on board that is regional and seasonal in character and therefore cannot be planned too far in advance.

One of the few women with Michelin stars, Erika Bergheim, completes the team of guest chefs for the dinner cruises in Düsseldorf. The chef of the restaurant Laurushaus, which belongs to the Schlosshotel Hugenpoet in Essen, had already earned herself a star in 2009 − back then in the restaurant Nero. She had to give it back again after the restaurant was closed, but regained it for the new premises in 2017. Like Berens and Wolter, she now knows her way around the kitchens of the KD ships, as she has already delighted passengers in Cologne with her wonderful skills on two occasions.

Culinary delights for Cologne

The fact that three of the chefs who have been successful in cooking for the Cologne public in the past few years will be boarding in Düsseldorf in 2018 does not mean that KD’s culinary offerings will be any less attractive in Cologne this year. Because of course, there will also be dinner cruises in Cologne in 2018. The KD event ships will be setting sail in the shadow of the cathedral half a dozen times with top culinary experts on board − first and foremost dinner cruises “old hand” Hans Stefan Steinheuer. The chef from Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler with two Michelin stars has been a guest chef on the dinner trips from the very beginning and is therefore a wonderful example of the fact that the combination of top-class cuisine and cruises is not only great fun for passengers, but also has a lot to offer for a kitchen professional like Steinheuer. Steinheuer will host the dinner once in June and once in October.

Anyone who doesn’t want to go all the way to Düsseldorf to experience Philipp Wolter as a ship’s chef can also do this in Cologne. He will also be joining the ship here in September. Olaf Baumeister, another familiar face in the KD programme, has a somewhat longer journey than that of Wolter from Düsseldorf. The chef runs the hotel-restaurant Seegarten in Sundern in the Sauerland region and is known to many gourmets as an active TV chef. Jan Cornelius Maier and Tobias Becker, on the other hand, can walk to the ship. The two have been operating their highly successful MaiBeck since 2015 within sight of the KD jetty in Cologne’s Old Town. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star six months after opening.

Daniel Gottschlich only has a little further to travel for his first appearance on-board with KD. His restaurant Ox & Klee, also in possession of one Michelin star, has been at home in Cologne’s trendy Rheinauhafen since May 2016. Here, the 35-year-old cooks in one of the distinctive crane houses overlooking the Rhine and serves his guests menus with a surprise factor. This is well-received in Cologne and will be the perfect complement to KD’s exquisite dinner trip menu.