Restaurant in Montenach, France
Book early. Ogura's Michelin star is no accident.
Kaito Ogura's Michelin-starred Le K in Montenach is a deliberate destination — €€€€ modern cuisine in an Alsatian village setting, holding its star across 2024 and 2025 with a 4.7 Google rating. Book four to six weeks out minimum. Best suited to returning guests ready to explore the wine pairing, or diners building a northeastern France itinerary.
If you want a realistic shot at a table, contact Le K well before your intended visit — this is not a restaurant you call the week before. Kaito Ogura's Michelin-starred address in Montenach is operating at the kind of demand that makes last-minute reservations unlikely. The timing trick worth knowing: weekday lunches, if offered, tend to be marginally more accessible than weekend dinner sittings, and reaching out directly rather than waiting for a third-party booking window to open is the most reliable path in. At €€€€ pricing in a village setting rather than a major city, the guest pool is self-selecting and committed — which means seats go to those who plan ahead.
Le K has been building a serious regional reputation under chef Kaito Ogura, earning a Michelin star in both 2024 and 2025 and consistently placing in the Opinionated About Dining rankings , ranked #129 in 2023, #222 in 2024, and #249 in 2025. The OAD trajectory tells you something useful: the ranking position has shifted across years, which is not unusual for a restaurant still defining its audience, but the Michelin star has held firm. That consistency at the one-star level, in a location as unlikely as Montenach in the Moselle department of northeastern France, is the clearest signal that this is not a destination propped up by local goodwill. Ogura's modern cuisine draws diners who are making a deliberate trip, not passing through.
The address , 2 Impasse du Klaussberg , is in village Alsace-Lorraine borderland, close enough to Strasbourg that the restaurant sits within reach of a broader regional dining circuit that includes Au Crocodile in Strasbourg and the Alsatian landmark Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern. If you are building a multi-day itinerary through northeastern France, Le K fits logically into that sequence. For the broader Montenach dining context, see our full Montenach restaurants guide.
The visual register at Le K reflects the Klaussberg hillside location: the setting is intimate rather than grand, and the proportions of the space are more attuned to a focused, quiet dinner than to a large-format celebration. For a returning guest, this matters when choosing where to sit. If the layout offers counter or chef-facing seating, that position rewards the detail-oriented diner who wants to read the kitchen's pace and presentation. The cooking is classified as Modern Cuisine, and at this price tier with a Japanese chef in an Alsatian village, the approach almost certainly bridges French technique with Japanese precision , though Pearl does not fabricate dish specifics. What the Google rating of 4.7 across 283 reviews confirms is that the room and the execution are landing consistently with a demanding audience.
Le K's location in Moselle places it within one of France's more underappreciated wine corridors, with Alsace's producer depth immediately accessible and Luxembourg's Moselle vineyards not far beyond the border. A restaurant at this level, with this kitchen profile, will typically maintain a wine list that leans into the regional advantage , Alsatian Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Gewurztraminer alongside French and international selections. For a returning guest, this is the visit to explore the wine pairing option if you did not take it on the first visit. A chef with Ogura's background often works with umami-forward profiles that interact distinctively with Alsatian whites. The broader regional drinks scene is covered in our full Montenach bars guide and our full Montenach wineries guide.
If you have been once, the case for returning is grounded in the stability of the Michelin recognition and the specificity of what Ogura is doing in this location. Modern cuisine at the €€€€ tier in a rural French setting is a different proposition from the same price point in Paris or Lyon. You are paying for focus and intention, not for theatre or a famous address. The OAD ranking, which draws on votes from a community of serious diners rather than critics alone, has kept Le K in its top tier across three consecutive years , that is a peer-consensus signal worth weighing. If the first visit was driven by curiosity about the concept, the return visit is where the menu depth and the wine program become the actual subject. Compare that to nearby regional alternatives: Flocons de Sel in Megève offers a similarly destination-driven proposition in an Alpine context, while Assiette Champenoise in Reims operates at a higher star count but with more institutional energy. Le K is the right choice when you want the meal to feel personal rather than ceremonial.
For a longer regional itinerary that includes Le K, consider pairing with Le Domaine de la Klauss in Montenach for context on the local address, and see our full Montenach hotels guide for where to stay. Those building a wider France circuit can cross-reference Troisgros in Ouches, Bras in Laguiole, Mirazur in Menton, AM par Alexandre Mazzia in Marseille, and Paul Bocuse in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or for a sense of where Le K sits in the national hierarchy. For modern cuisine operating at a comparable level of technical ambition in northern Europe, Frantzén in Stockholm is the clearest peer reference. Also see our full Montenach experiences guide for what to do around your visit.
Book at minimum four to six weeks out, and longer for weekend dinner sittings. Le K holds a Michelin star and consistent OAD recognition at the €€€€ tier in a village location , the guest base is small and purposeful, which means tables move quickly once availability opens. Direct outreach to the restaurant is more reliable than waiting for third-party platforms to show openings.
Modern Cuisine restaurants at the Michelin one-star level routinely accommodate dietary requirements when notified in advance. Contact Le K directly when booking , details are not confirmed in Pearl's data, but the expectation at this price and award tier is that the kitchen can adjust. Do not wait until arrival to raise restrictions; at a small, focused restaurant, last-minute changes are harder to absorb.
No dress code is confirmed in Pearl's data, but at €€€€ with a Michelin star in a rural French setting, smart casual to smart is the appropriate range. Overdressing is unlikely to be a problem. Turning up in casual sportswear would be out of register with the room and the occasion.
Yes, for the right diner. At €€€€ in Montenach rather than a major city, you are paying for a focused, destination-calibre experience rather than for prestige address or scene. The Michelin star has held across two consecutive years and the OAD ranking reflects peer-diner consensus. If you are comparing on pure price-to-star ratio, rural one-star France at this level typically delivers more attention per table than equivalent spend in Paris. If you want a big-city energy or a famous room, this is not the right choice , consider Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen instead.
At a Michelin-starred modern cuisine restaurant at the €€€€ tier with a Japanese chef in Alsace-Lorraine, the tasting menu is almost certainly the intended format , and the format that leading expresses what Ogura is doing with the combination of French and Japanese culinary logic. Pearl does not have confirmed menu details, but for a returning guest, the tasting menu with a wine pairing leaning into the regional Alsatian list is the logical next step if you ate à la carte on the first visit. If tasting menus are not your format, compare with FZN by Björn Frantzén for a chef-driven modern cuisine alternative with a different structure.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le K | Modern Cuisine | Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Japan Ranked #249 (2025); HIGHLIGHTS: • 1 MICHELIN STAR 2025 • CREATIVE COOKING; Michelin 1 Star (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Japan Ranked #222 (2024); Michelin 1 Star (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Japan Ranked #129 (2023) | Hard | — |
| 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 | — |
| L'Ambroisie | French, Classic 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 | — |
| Mirazur | Modern French, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Le K measures up.
Book at minimum four to six weeks out. Le K holds a Michelin star and an OAD Top 250 ranking for 2025, which means demand reliably outpaces availability. check the venue's official channels rather than waiting for an online slot to appear — the window closes fast, especially for weekend sittings.
Declare any dietary restrictions when you make your reservation, not on arrival. Le K operates at the €€€€ level under a single creative chef, Kaito Ogura, so adjustments are possible but require advance notice — a tasting menu format leaves little room to improvise on the night.
Dress in line with a one-Michelin-star room: neat, considered, and not casual. There is no documented dress code in the venue record, but at €€€€ pricing in an intimate setting, jeans and trainers will feel out of place. When in doubt, err toward business casual.
Yes, if creative modern cuisine is what you are after. Le K has held its Michelin star in both 2024 and 2025 and ranked #249 on the OAD global list in 2025 — that is consistent external validation at the €€€€ price point. For context, comparable recognition in Paris costs materially more and requires harder-to-get reservations.
For a single visit, yes. Kaito Ogura's creative cooking is the reason Le K has sustained Michelin recognition across multiple consecutive years, and a tasting menu is the format designed to show that range. If you want à la carte flexibility or a shorter commitment, Le K is probably not the right fit.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
