Zur Wolfshöhle

Rating: 18
Author: Gault&Millau

Münzgasse 3, 79098 Freiburg, Germany

18/20
Prestige Restaurant

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Location: Freiburg
Chef: Martin Fauster
Cooking: Austrian | French | German | Local | Vegetarian
Services: Terrace
Style: Casual, Romantic, With children, With family, With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2025

18/20

Prestige Restaurant

When wolves still lived on Freiburg's Schlossberg, the name of the traditional restaurant was born. The only thing that has in common with its use as a "wolf's den" at that time may be the preference for large pieces of meat, which you can get served with a little luck and on pre-order from Martin Fauster in a quality for which you otherwise have to walk long distances. And when you do get them, then just as they are: perfectly cooked, without much fuss. In any case, Instagrammability is not the chef's thing at the Wolf's Den, but rather the constant search for perfection, although the awareness of what has already been achieved is certainly present: "MY WAY OF COOKING HAS ENDURED" is the first and most important thing on the website, and this is much more than self-fulfilling prophecy: it is the certainty, cooked up over many years, that Fauster's style simply cannot be wrong. Why, is quickly explained: Fauster is a product fetishist. A good ingredient in the center, perfectly flavored and cooked, with a bit of matching side dish. And that's it. If that's not enough for you, you don't fit here. But if you get involved in a surprise menu at Fauster and simply feel like a very good, nutritious meal, you certainly won't regret it. Just as little as we did on our last visit: as an amuse, the chef served a fried beef tongue and beef tartare with mustard mousse and quail egg, followed by a tartlet with octopus, puffed quinoa and again a fine mustard sauce, which was not a doublet, but completely tailored to the seafood. The lukewarm char in elderberry buttermilk broth with apple julienne, avocado and samphire harmonized perfectly with soft slices of green almond. This was followed by a formidable, summery, light langostino crustacean patty with colourful tomatoes, before a spicy coalfish roasted on the skin with firm chanterelles and potato ravioli in the lovage broth set a real exclamation mark. The leg and belly of Poltinger lamb with a Schüttelbrot crust were accompanied by strained aubergines and lamb sweetbreads raviolo: aromatically perfectly worked out, of course perfectly fried to the (done) point. Perhaps most emblematic of Fauster's cuisine: the oxtail in the form of a lukewarm terrine in melted goose liver with roasted beetroot. This could also fit into a classic inn on the menu under the Saure Nierle, but will only be found there very rarely due to a lack of access to such good product quality. Hearty, fierce - and incredibly good, but certainly not woke mindful cuisine. For dessert, Fauster dismissed us with a greeting from his Austrian homeland: pickled apricot with buttermilk mousse, hazelnut cream, mousse and crackers, plus a salted caramel ice cream. We are already looking forward to next season!