Restaurant AURA by Alexander Herrmann & Tobias Bätz

Rating: 16
Author: Gault&Millau

Marktplatz 11, 95339 Wirsberg, Germany

16/20
Remarkable Restaurant

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1 PHOTOS

Chef: Alexander Herrmann | Tobias Bätz | Ferdinand Kretz
Cooking: European | Gastronomic | German | International | Local | Vegan | Vegetarian
Services: Accommodation | Electric charging station | Private Parking | Private Room
Style: Bar | Elegant | With family | With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2025

Regionality is often only claimed, but in the "AURA" in the Posthotel Wirsberg it is meticulously exercised. Even tropical fruits such as bitter oranges and watermelons come from specialized producers in Franconia or nearby neighboring regions. In order to track down these specialties, the "AURA" employs its own food scout with Joshi Osswald. In the fashionably called "Future Lab", fermentation, curing, pickling and smoking are then carried out in "grandma's way" for all they can to bring old and new flavors to light. All this is explained to the guest on menu cards and once again by the service staff. In this respect, the autumnal seven-course menu during our visit was quite text-heavy, and the culinary added value of Thomas Bätz' and Alexander Herrmann's concept of the "borderless homeland" was not always immediately apparent. At first glance, the style of the cuisine seems conservative, with familiar tastes and textures repeatedly counteracted in surprising ways. The Franconian watermelons pickled in soy along with bitter orange crème fraîche with the naturally autochthonous shrimp were exciting. The steamed sturgeon was somewhat dominated by chives in the fish farce coating, while the fine saddle of venison "Royal style" duelled with hearty venison blood sausage in chocolatey jus. The cheese course with Franconian "Stilton", marinated in port wine and accompanied by red wine plums and pickled dark radicchio, was extremely tasty. Overall, the four-hour menu with its show elements seemed a little standardised. The service, including the kitchen staff, was highly professional, as you would expect in a well-run large business like the Posthotel. The wine list is also consistently Franconian. Serious drawback: The narrow and strong-smelling toilets are unworthy of an establishment of this class.