Restaurants
Petit Amour The Michelin-starred restaurant on Spritzenplatz with a new line-up
© Marcelo Hernandez
Map
Opening Times
Wednesday to Sunday 18.30-23 h
Address
Petit Amour
Spritzenplatz 11
22765 Hamburg-Ottensen
.How to get there
Contact
Not only the name has remained. Eike Iken and his partner and restaurant manager Monique Lingg were also able to defend their Michelin star here in the heart of Altona. The new owners and former head chef Boris Kasprik have a friendly relationship, with the latter even personally welcoming some old regulars to the opening in October 2023.
The menu at the new Petit Amour is also still sophisticated, although head chef Iken aims to rejuvenate French opulence with plenty of Nordic simplicity. Pure taste, first-class product quality, and flawless execution - even the three-part amuse bouche of pear sorbet with watercress purée, crusade with peas, and hollowed and minced oyster meat with sea salt foam -give an elegant hint of Iken's signature style.
Sommelier Jessica Uhlmann pours a sparkling and elegant Cuvée Elena from Andres & Mugler, whose salty clarity wonderfully caresses the kitchen greeting. This evening, she not only serves us some fine wines but also demonstrates all kinds of ingenuity when it comes to non-alcoholic accompaniments.
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A fermented verbena tea, for example, which nestles up to the mackerel in escabeche. A potato salad à la Petit Amour and the intense horseradish ice cream skillfully balance out the intensity of the mackerel. An exquisite and tasty plate.
This is followed by our personal favourite of the evening: Iken and his team serve hazelnut in various forms and a magnificent fresh goat's cheese mousse seasoned with a bit of wild garlic and lemon gel to accompany the wonderfully crispy blanched and grilled green asparagus.
Iken, most recently sous-chef at Votum in Hanover, not only prepares delightful dishes, but his dishes also taste “simply delicious”, as demonstrated by the following feel-good dishes to spoon away.
The ling fish with sauerkraut puree with almost crustacean-like meat tastes similar to a wonderfully buttery housewife's dish in the best sense of the word. Only the execution is, of course, flawless, from the puree gnocchi to the perfectly cooked fish and the crispy panko flakes to the perfectly draped chervil-dressed frisee salad.
We also really like the 2016 Chenin Blanc from the Loire paired with delicious suckling pig cheeks in a deep, hearty broth and all kinds of onion vegetables. Meanwhile, the deep pink onglet and the morels on the next plate shine with sheer product quality and cause a murmur at both our table and the neighbouring tables.
However, there is no better way to live up to aesthetic expectations than in this pink and white dessert dream: rhubarb in different variations complements a white chocolate mousse and once again demonstrates French finesse paired with Nordic understatement. This little love affair in the middle of Ottensen will likely burn for a long time.
