Lafleur

Lafleur, inside the Palmengarten's Gesellschaftshaus, is the most technically ambitious restaurant in Frankfurt and arguably one of the most interesting dining rooms in Germany. Andreas Krolik has held two Michelin stars here for years, and the kitchen runs two parallel tasting menus — one classical, one fully vegan — at the same standard. This is not a vegetarian accommodation; it is a co-equal expression of the kitchen.

The classical menu is French in its technique and German in its sourcing. A turbot preparation that is sliced, salted briefly, and finished with a beurre blanc that is assembled table-side. A venison course in season that references the Hessian hunting tradition without belonging to it. A dessert programme that has been Krolik's long-running obsession and shows it in the plating.

The vegan menu is the more ambitious argument. Krolik has effectively built a parallel grammar for the kitchen — sauces that rely on fermentation and reduction rather than butter, proteins built from legumes and grains that read as mains rather than substitutes, a cheese course in the vegan menu that is actually dessert-adjacent and rewards the reframing.

The room is formal. The service is formal. The wine list is deep. This is the dining room in Frankfurt that a banker books when the meeting has to be remembered, and it is reliably the most serious dinner the city produces.

Two stars, a formal room, a sommelier-paired tasting menu, and a kitchen that happens to be one of the best in Germany makes Lafleur the most unambiguous 'closing dinner' in Frankfurt. The vegan option is an under-appreciated advantage — clients with dietary preferences are met at the same level, not accommodated.