The Restaurant
Whisperer

(Expertise) His first experience in the restaurant industry was washing dishes. As a young man on a summer job, Andreas Kolbert wasn’t even allowed to touch plates—the so-called “white kitchen.” Instead, he was responsible for scrubbing pots—the lower-tier “black kitchen.”

Decades later, this man’s judgment would help determine the awarding of one, two, or even three Michelin stars—the most prestigious accolade in international gastronomy. Today, Kolbert runs his own company—“ak 3* – Gastrotest & Consulting”—advising restaurateurs and chefs who aspire to earn their place in the Michelin universe and aim at making their culinary signature even more distinctive.

Being a Guide Michelin inspector sounds like a dream job to many who love fine dining. Eating at the world’s best restaurants and getting paid for it? But being an inspector—which Kolbert was for 11 years until 2008—also means dining out even when you’re not in the mood for yet another multi-course meal, remaining objective and fair regardless of your personal feelings, and often working late into the night to fine-tune your evaluations. For a long time, Kolbert dined out nine to ten times a week for the Guide Michelin, traveling all over Europe. Incidentally, he wasn’t allowed to review a three-star restaurant until he had several years of experience.

At first, says the German-born Kolbert—who now speaks with a Swiss accent after many years in Switzerland—he was always excited to review modern, trendy restaurants. “I wasn’t really interested in classic cuisine anymore because it was always the same. Today, I’d prefer a classic top-tier restaurant over a trendy one—because, unfortunately, there are hardly any left.” He adds, “I love wonderful three-star creations. But I also think a great bratwurst is fantastic.”

During Kolbert’s time at the Guide Michelin, all inspectors had to be trained chefs. He himself had completed culinary training and had worked as a head chef. “I wasn’t too good or overly ambitious, which Michelin actually preferred, because it meant I hadn’t developed a strong personal style that could bias my evaluations.” At a young age, he also rose to become a hotel director, having completed the necessary training. All this relevant experience now benefits him in his work as an independent consultant.

Experts Among Themselves
It’s not uncommon for Kolbert to ask chefs interested in his services whether they’re sure they want his help. “If they have one star and are aiming for two, I tell them: Think carefully. Do you want to be one of the best one-star chefs or one of the worst two-star chefs?” In general, Kolbert believes that overconfidence is rampant in haute cuisine: in his opinion, 95% of chefs think they’re better than they actually are, compared to the competition. “But the better the chef, the more open they are to criticism.”

He recalls one chef—already holding three stars—whom he advised after analyzing his menu. Despite some harsh criticism, the chef was genuinely happy. “He said he’d only heard for years how amazing he was, and I finally brought him back down to earth and reignited his ambition. From then on, he really took off and is now one of the most successful Michelin-starred chefs in Europe, with several restaurants.” If you’re wondering who it was: Kolbert never discloses client names. But what exactly did the consultant say to that three-star chef? “I’m disappointed. The cuisine feels a bit tired, lacking spirit. Even if everyone else is thrilled—I’m not.” Sometimes, all it takes is a little push to achieve real success.

One challenge in advising Michelin-starred chefs, Kolbert says, is this: “They’re fanatics, just like me. But they mostly cook for people who just want to have a nice evening and are often spending their hard-earned money.” One trend in gastronomy that bothers him: “For years now, there’s been a tendency to forgo expensive luxury ingredients under the guise of regionality. But I’m not willing to pay €300 or €500 for a menu at a two- or three-star restaurant if I’m going to be served pork neck and trout.”

When asked if there’s anything he fundamentally dislikes eating, Kolbert replies, “Sea urchins and sea snails.” This leads him to another pet peeve: restaurants that only offer a single menu, often made up of countless small courses—without informing guests in advance, because they want to keep surprising them. “I think that’s a problem nowadays.”

Shortly before our interview, Kolbert had been in France, where he debated with a local chef until 3 a.m.: “I always want to know in advance what I’m going to eat, so I can look forward to certain dishes. But he absolutely refused to tell me the menu. I said, ‘Look, I’m supposed to choose six or eight courses. I want to know what the seventh or eighth course is. If it’s something I love, I’ll order it. If not, I won’t.’”

Formula 1 of the Kitchen
The field Andreas Kolbert operates in—the level at which he critiques, analyzes, and advises—is something he compares to Formula 1. “It’s not like those TV cooking competitions where someone overcooks a piece of meat; that just doesn’t happen at this level anymore.”

During the consulting process, in which he tastes a menu multiple times and works collaboratively to perfect it, Kolbert insists on having the recipes and the ideas behind the dishes in writing before he even begins tasting (which he always does seated and alone—never standing or in the kitchen like the chefs). It’s not supposed to be a guessing game about what he, the experienced Michelin inspector, can detect. “It’s always about ensuring that the chefs’ ideas are executed perfectly. I don’t waste time using my taste buds and brain cells to figure out whether there’s cardamom in a dish or not. I need to know if it’s in there—then I can say: okay, it’s too much, too little, it works, or it doesn’t.”

In the long development process that menus at the highest gastronomic level require, Kolbert sees himself as “the very last link in the chain—the one that adds the final polish.” His consulting work isn’t just about dissecting individual dishes; it also involves the ambiance, the sequence, and the overall dramaturgy of the menu. “For example, if someone serves a brown course on a brown plate—and does it twice in a row. Or I tell chefs: you don’t need a crispy element in every single course.”

Kolbert views consulting as a mutually enriching exchange. It often comes down to the tiniest details—minutiae that might not have even mattered during his Michelin inspector days. “Sometimes what I do now is three levels higher and, because of the direct interaction with the chefs, significantly more demanding.”

Tough but Honest
Honesty is essential for successful consulting in the Michelin-starred world, says Kolbert. “I’m known as someone who can be very tough and very honest. That’s probably a German trait. Sometimes not ideal, but I think people can handle it because I make it clear that I’m not criticizing them. Compared to many others, I’m not a critic. I would never criticize someone publicly. I’m someone who wants to help. And my clients realize that very quickly. In the end, I’m not being paid to criticize—I’m being paid to give constructive advice.”

The relationship between consultant and chef is by no means a teacher-student dynamic. Kolbert doesn’t see his role as teaching his clients how to cook. “We’re absolutely on the same level—it’s a partnership of equals. I fully acknowledge that they cook far better than I do. But thanks to my thousands of restaurant visits, I can evaluate a meal much better than they can.”