Ox & Klee

For many people, there are certain dishes they remember for a lifetime or associate with key moments in their lives. For Daniel Gottschlich, the chef de cuisine and operator of the Ox & Klee restaurant in Cologne, this was a sweet-sour-umami dish his grandmother used to make —minced veal with potatoes, noodles and applesauce — that inspired his Experience Taste concept: an evening-length culinary game that takes the players through the six basic tastes sour, sweet, umami, bitter, salty and fatty.

When you arrive at Ox & Klee, you won’t be given a traditional menu, because here it’s all about experience, an experimental programme and a journey through all the aspects of our sense of taste. Your journey begins in one of the Crane Houses in the Rheinauhafen (Rheinau Harbour) in Cologne. Everything else will be a surprise for your palate — that’s the programme.

No à la carte, just a menu of surprises — also available in a vegetarian version

When you make a reservation, you can choose between two menus and decide on the number of courses you’d like: Klee for the vegetarian variant or Ox if you’re an omnivore and would also like to see fish, meat or seafood on your plate. Ox & Klee does not offer a vegan option. You can also order perfectly coordinated wines or creative non-alcoholic drinks to accompany your meal.

The prices vary depending on the menu variant, the number of courses and the day of the week you select for you and your guests.

Multisensory: Six qualities in each dish

The concept behind the menu is easy to explain but challenging to implement. In all the dishes that are part of Experience Taste, which are presented on your table as small works of art, all six basic flavours are always represented, and you can identify them playfully by means of a punch card.

There’s an art to making sure the components balance one another to form to a harmonious ensemble, in spite of the intriguing contrasts, taste explosions and avant-garde combinations. It all begins with six small appetizers — six apéros that represent the six basic flavours. They’re meant to put you in the mood for all the complex dishes that are to follow. Thus begins your culinary journey and your gourmet guessing game, which will last for several hours.

In spite of all the refinement, the menu often includes reinterpreted classics such as the Halve Hahn that is part of Cologne’s brewery pub cuisine or the initially mentioned childhood favourite prepared à la Daniel Gottschlich. There are also greetings from the kitchen, such as the house classic, the “Maggi egg”.

Dinner, a kitchen party, a flying dinner, a gourmet weekend or a cooking course?

In addition to the Experience menu, Ox & Klee also offers other formats for different kinds of private events and gourmet experiences. They range from a sit-down dinner for private parties, a kitchen party with various food stations between which you and the other guests can freely move around inside the restaurant, a flying dinner, and various cooking courses rounded off with a tasting at the chef’s table that might consist of patisserie or meat, sauces, fish and seafood.

Atmosphere and a venue in the Zollhafen: Design meets living-room cosiness

Easy-going, personal, high-class: Ox & Klee, which is located in the middle Crane House, receives you on two levels with a straightforward and tranquil design environment, small tables, wall-to-wall carpeting and a view of the Rhine. There’s neither a dress code nor a predefined etiquette for the guests. Come wearing the clothes that make you feel comfortable. This too is part of the concept of a nonchalant atmosphere.

On the ground floor there’s a bar for small snacks and cocktails, and the upper floor houses the restaurant and the chef’s table with a view of the kitchen through a huge glass panel.

An experience for all the senses

The basic concept of the experience offered by this top-class restaurant involves all of our senses. In addition to the focus on the senses of taste and smell, a sound concept provides acoustic stimulation and the carefully selected and developed restaurant interior and the tableware stimulate the senses of sight and touch. The result is comprehensive multisensory experience.

The history of Ox & Klee: Stars and locations

Ox & Klee was opened by Daniel Gottschlich on Richard-Wagner-Straße in 2010. The Guide Michelin awarded the restaurant its first star in 2016 and its second star in 2019.

During this period the gourmet restaurant had changed its location and moved into the middle Crane House in the Rheinauhafen (Rheinau Harbour). In 2023 the team consists of 20 members, including Hannes Radeck, the Gault&Millau Pâtissier of the Year 2021, and the sommelier Lucas Wenzl.

Ox & Klee: The chef de cuisine Daniel Gottschlich

Daniel Gottschlich always wanted to be a chef. After a detour during which he trained as a power-systems electronics engineer, he steadfastly followed his intuition. He completed an apprenticeship as a chef at the five-star Grand Hotel Petersberg in Königswinter, then worked as a sous-chef at the Früh brewery pub, and finally opened his own restaurants, Ox & Klee as well as Puls in Cologne’s Old Town. This was followed by numerous awards and the cookbook Zehnvierzehn. In addition to his passion for cooking, Daniel Gottschlich is an enthusiastic drummer and a design fan — which explains his ambition to shape your visit in line with his concept of a comprehensive experience.