Alina Meissner-Bebrout: Tiny kitchen? Big flavour!

Alina, we’re standing in your kitchen at bi:braud. Tiny is no exaggeration … Rolling Pin wasn’t kidding when it described it as ‘perhaps the smallest “starred kitchen” in Germany.’ About four square metres to move in – what challenges does that pose?

You work carefully in such a small kitchen. No more than four people can be in here at once – dishwashing staff included! The biggest challenge is: where do you set things down? You must be extremely well-organised, or you end up standing there with a baking tray, thinking ‘where do I put this?’ And you have to work as a finely orchestrated team. Otherwise, it’s a constant game of ‘careful’, ‘watch out’ … But you grow eyes in the back of your head. (laughs)

Is that another reason your dishes are made up of only three or four components?

Actually, I started Bi:braud very differently. It wasn’t even thinking about cooking to win a star. When I was 24, I already had a well-developed palate and created some nice things, I guess, but I was still pretty clueless. At the beginning, my cooking was over-seasoned, much too in-your-face. Another problem was that the guests had to wait too long to be served. That’s a learning process. You get better from year to year.

So, for that reason, fewer ingredients?

Exactly. There wasn’t even enough time for me to put dozens of things on the plate. I tried this and that, of course, and thought for a while that I should be edgy, that I should incorporate mustard in the dessert or play around with the presentation. But those aren’t the dishes that you keep going back to.

But rather …?

Dishes that convey something – that really have something to say. Focused on the main component, with the right accompaniment, beautifully composed on the plate. Like our signature dishes that we keep optimising from year to year.

For example?

And your tip for an underrated all-rounder?

Celeriac, or celery root. Steamed, pickled, smoked … Or, like we do it a lot, slow-roasted at low temperature. That is, we put it in the oven in oil or butter for a day or two on low heat. It loses moisture and takes on a waxy consistency. The texture is similar to marinated fish. You can do a lot of different things with it then. Vegetarian doesn’t always have to mean crisp or tender vegetables … If you leave the celeriac in the oven for an extra day, it darkens and becomes caramelised. That gives it an umami touch – amazing. Yeah, it’s mega cool. (grins) I even managed to turn Tim Mälzer on to celeriac.

Can anyone learn how to cook like that?

Yeah, you just have to be open and not always use the ingredients that everyone can make something good out of, but instead take a little detour. That might take a bit more effort, but it’s worth it. And don’t resist trying out new things like a stubborn child. When you play with the texture and get a result where the guest doesn’t even notice that there’s no animal on the plate, it’s fun. You don’t have to do an ‘imitation of meat’. Just say, I’m going to make something delicious out of vegetables. It doesn’t matter what it’s called in the end.