Restaurant in Drusenheim, France
Serious pedigree, garden setting, outside the city.
A Michelin-starred country inn on the Alsatian plain, Au Gourmet earns its star through rigorous sourcing — chef Ludovic Kientz draws vegetables from his own garden and applies techniques honed at Au Crocodile in Strasbourg to produce a menu where classical French architecture meets precise modern execution. Paired with sommelier Sandie Ling's wine direction, it sits well above its rural postcode.
Au Gourmet earns its Michelin star with a combination that is genuinely rare outside a major city: serious pedigree in the kitchen, a garden setting that makes the room feel considered rather than accidental, and a price point that sits at €€€ rather than the €€€€ you would pay for comparable cooking in Paris or Strasbourg. If you are driving through Alsace or basing yourself in the region, this is worth a detour. Book well in advance — the room fills fast and the weekly schedule is limited.
Au Gourmet is a country inn on the Route de Herrlisheim in Drusenheim, set within a large garden. The physical space is the first thing that will orient your expectations: this is not a sleek urban dining room but a room that earns its atmosphere from its surroundings. For a first-timer, that matters — you are not arriving at a minimalist tasting-menu temple. You are arriving at a place that has been shaped by its setting, and the cooking reflects that grounding. Vegetables come from the chef's own garden, and the menu leans into seafood and sauces executed in a classic idiom with a modern edit.
The kitchen here has genuine lineage. Chef Ludovic Kientz trained at Au Crocodile in Strasbourg under Émile Jung, one of the defining figures of Alsatian haute cuisine. His partner and sommelier, Sandie Ling, brings experience from Michel Bras in Laguiole , a house with a very different philosophy, focused on produce and terroir. That combination of classical Alsatian technique and Bras-school ingredient sensitivity shows up in the cooking. A scallop carpaccio with young vegetables, caviar, quinoa salad, and lime gel is a dish that walks that line precisely: technically grounded, not frozen in time. Duck fillet with truffled potato, red wine jus spiked with ginger and juniper berries reads the same way.
The dining room carries a Google rating of 4.5 across 393 reviews, which for a Michelin-starred address in a village this size is a reliable signal of consistent delivery rather than occasional brilliance. Pearl rates booking difficulty as Hard , factor that into your planning.
This is the most practical question a first-timer can ask here, and the answer is not obvious. Dinner runs Wednesday through Saturday from 7 PM to 10 PM. Lunch runs Thursday through Saturday from 12 PM to 2 PM, with Sunday lunch extended to 3 PM. The restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday entirely.
Sunday lunch is the session to prioritise if your schedule allows it. The extended service window to 3 PM suggests a more relaxed pace, the garden setting plays better in daylight, and a Michelin-starred lunch at €€€ pricing is almost always the better value proposition against the same kitchen's dinner. If Sunday does not work, Saturday lunch gives you the same setup with a slightly tighter window. Dinner is the right call if atmosphere and occasion formality matter more than value , the evening room will feel different, and the kitchen operates at the same standard regardless of service.
For a special occasion where you want the full formal arc of a Michelin meal, dinner is the conventional choice. For value-conscious diners, or anyone who wants to pair the meal with a drive through northern Alsace while the light holds, Sunday lunch is the smarter booking.
Drusenheim sits in the northern Alsace plain, roughly between Strasbourg and the German border. The address is 4 Route de Herrlisheim, 67410 Drusenheim. No phone or website is listed in our data, so your most reliable booking route is via a reservation platform or direct contact confirmed through an up-to-date local source. Given the Hard booking difficulty rating and the limited weekly service windows , only nine sessions across five days , plan a minimum of three to four weeks ahead for a weekend slot, and longer if you are targeting a specific date for a celebration.
For the broader context of dining and staying in the area, see our full Drusenheim restaurants guide, our full Drusenheim hotels guide, and our full Drusenheim bars guide. For wine, see our full Drusenheim wineries guide, and for activities in the area, our full Drusenheim experiences guide.
The pedigree here connects to some of the most significant addresses in French cooking. Kientz's formation at Au Crocodile places him in the Alsatian classical tradition , a lineage that runs through Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern. Ling's background at Michel Bras connects the house to Bras in Laguiole, a kitchen that reshaped how French fine dining thinks about vegetables and landscape. That double thread , classical rigour and produce-led sensibility , is what makes Au Gourmet more interesting than a direct one-star country restaurant.
For context on what a similar commitment to technique looks like across France, Maison Lameloise in Chagny and Georges Blanc in Vonnas occupy comparable positions as serious country-inn fine dining. Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse is another useful comparator: remote address, deep pedigree, worth the journey. At the other end of the scale for ambition and price, Arpège in Paris, Mirazur in Menton, and Troisgros in Ouches show what the category looks like at multi-star level. Au Gourmet is not competing with those rooms on scale or price, but on the quality-to-cost ratio it holds its own.
Yes, with one caveat. The Michelin star, the garden setting, and the calibre of the cooking make it a strong choice for an anniversary or celebration dinner. The caveat is the limited schedule: dinner runs Wednesday through Saturday only, so your date flexibility matters. Book as early as possible , this is rated Hard to book, and popular dates fill quickly.
Three things. First, this is a country inn, not an urban fine-dining room , arrive with that framing and you will be calibrated correctly. Second, the cooking is classically grounded with a modern edge, focused on seafood, sauces, and garden vegetables. Third, with only nine service sessions per week and a Hard booking rating, planning ahead is not optional. The restaurant is at 4 Route de Herrlisheim, Drusenheim, in northern Alsace.
A minimum of three to four weeks for a weekday dinner, and four to six weeks for a Saturday or Sunday slot. The limited weekly schedule (closed Monday and Tuesday, with lunch only on Thursday through Sunday) means available sessions are few. For a specific celebration date, book further out than you think you need to.
No dress code is listed in our data, but a Michelin-starred restaurant at €€€ pricing in rural Alsace typically expects smart-casual as a baseline. A jacket for dinner is a reasonable default. Avoid beachwear or overly casual dress; the room and the price point signal a degree of formality.
Lunch, particularly Sunday lunch with its extended 12 PM to 3 PM window. You get the same kitchen, the garden in daylight, and a more relaxed pace. At €€€ pricing, a Michelin-starred lunch consistently offers better value per euro than the same restaurant's dinner. Dinner is the right call if occasion formality is the priority.
At €€€, yes. A Michelin-starred kitchen with this level of formation , Au Crocodile and Michel Bras in the same team's background , at below-Paris pricing is a good deal. The garden setting adds something that a city restaurant at the same price cannot offer. Compare it against Alsatian alternatives at €€€€ and the value case is clear.
Drusenheim's fine dining options are limited, so the practical comparison is against northern Alsace more broadly. Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern is the regional benchmark at a higher price tier and multi-star level. For Paris-based alternatives at €€€€, Plénitude, Kei, and Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V are the comparable contemporary French addresses, all at a higher price point. Au Gourmet's advantage is the setting and the value ratio, not the scale.
Workable but not the obvious format. A country-inn room in Alsace is not typically designed around solo diners the way a counter-seat omakase or a busy urban bar might be. If you are travelling solo and want to eat at this level, lunch is the better session , the pacing is more forgiving and the room tends to be less couple-oriented in atmosphere than a Saturday dinner. Nothing in the available data suggests solo diners are turned away, but the room and setting suit two or more.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Au Gourmet | Modern Cuisine | Ludovic Kientz (who previously worked at Au Crocodile in Strasbourg under the great Émile Jung) and sommelier Sandie Ling (his partner, ex Michel Bras notably) have turned this country inn set in a large garden into a taste sensation. The chef takes obvious pleasure in preparing seafood and sauces, plus vegetables from his own garden, in a classic style of cooking with a modern twist. For instance, scallop carpaccio with young vegetables, caviar, quinoa salad and lime gel; or duck fillet, truffled potato, red wine jus spiked with ginger and juniper berries.; Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Hard | — |
| Plénitude | Contemporary French | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Pierre Gagnaire | French, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Kei | Contemporary French, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V | French, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
How Au Gourmet stacks up against the competition.
Yes, this is a strong special-occasion booking. The Michelin star (2024), garden setting, and the sommelier's background at Michel Bras mean both the food and the wine service are operating at a level that justifies the €€€ price point. It works best for two people or a small group comfortable with a relaxed, countryside pace rather than a city dining-room energy.
Au Gourmet is a country inn on the Route de Herrlisheim in Drusenheim — not a city restaurant, so you are driving out for this. Chef Kientz trained at Au Crocodile in Strasbourg under Émile Jung, and the cooking leans classic French with modern touches: vegetable-forward, seafood-strong, with produce from the kitchen garden. Plan for a full meal, not a quick lunch.
Book at least two to three weeks ahead for weekend lunch or dinner. The restaurant operates on a tight schedule — Wednesday evenings only, then Thursday through Saturday for both lunch and dinner, and Sunday lunch until 3 PM — so available slots are limited. Monday and Tuesday are closed entirely.
The venue data does not specify a dress code, but a Michelin-starred country inn in Alsace at €€€ pricing generally calls for neat, put-together attire — think a step above casual. Overly formal city dressing would feel out of place in a garden inn setting; aim for relaxed but considered.
Lunch is the more practical choice for a first visit. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday lunch runs 12 PM to 2 PM, giving you a full afternoon in northern Alsace without a late drive back. Sunday lunch extends to 3 PM, making it the most leisurely option. Dinner suits those who prefer the full evening format and are staying nearby or in Strasbourg.
At €€€ with a 2024 Michelin star and two CVs that include Au Crocodile and Michel Bras, the value case is solid for serious diners. You are paying for precise, classically grounded cooking with garden-grown produce and a sommelier who knows what she is doing — not for a fashionable address. If location prestige matters to you, this is not it; if quality per euro matters, it stacks up.
There are no direct Michelin-starred alternatives in Drusenheim itself. The nearest comparable options are in Strasbourg, which is the logical base for exploring northern Alsace fine dining — Au Crocodile, where Kientz trained, is the most directly comparable reference point in the region. Au Gourmet is essentially the only option at this level in the immediate area.
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