Cologne loses three stars: The new Michelin restaurant list 2025!

Cologne loses three stars: The new Michelin restaurant list 2025!

On the evening of June 17, 2025, the Michelin Guide published the latest star awards and this was a bitter disappointment for Cologne's gastronomy. As ksta.de reports, the number of star restaurants in Cologne was downgraded from twelve to nine. This means a loss of three popular star restaurants.

In Cologne, the “Ox & Klee” restaurant remains the only establishment with two Michelin stars. It is located in the Rheinauhafen and offers creative, modern cuisine with surprising menus that focus on regional cuisine. The other star restaurants in Cologne are: “Le Moissonnier”, “La Cuisine Rademacher”, “La Société”, “maximilian lorenz”, “Pottkind”, “Sahila – The Restaurant”, “taku” and “Zur Tant”.

Losses and causes

The loss of the star is particularly painful for “Maibeck”, which after 14 years is now without this award. Chef Jan C. Maier is disappointed and emphasizes that there have been no changes in the kitchen. The “Neobiota” restaurant also had to give up its star, which was a major setback for Erik Scheffler. He says that the timely communication from Michelin left something to be desired, which meant that his restaurant was considered closed and therefore did worse in the rating.

Eric Werner, who closed the “Astrein” restaurant in January 2025, is now pursuing new paths at “Augustin” without star-rated ambitions. As verliebtinkoeln.com reports, every loss is a hard blow for Cologne's gastronomy. The “Fine Food Days Cologne”, an initiative to promote gastronomy in the city, regrets the negative rating and hopes for future star awards.

Cologne restaurants at a glance

Despite the declining number of stars, the remaining restaurants in Cologne are still impressive. Here is the full list:

• 2-Sterne-Restaurant: Ox & Klee
• 1-Stern-Restaurants:
  • Le Moissonnier Bistro
  • La Cuisine Rademacher
  • La Société
  • maximilian lorenz
  • Pottkind
  • Sahila – The Restaurant
  • taku
  • Zur Tant

As ruhrnachrichten.de notes, as of 2022 there is no longer a restaurant with three stars in North Rhine-Westphalia, which puts Cologne's gastronomy in a broader context. In total, the region including Düsseldorf now also has nine star restaurants, while the total number in North Rhine-Westphalia has been reduced to 46.

In Cologne's summer gastronomy scene, there remains hope for future stars and exciting culinary developments, while restaurateurs still have to demonstrate a good knack for creative dishes - perhaps this is the next step to bring back the lost stars.