Christoph Pauls Restaurant

The story

Christoph Pauls Restaurant, Cologne: French Seasonal Cooking in a Former Monastery

Christoph Pauls Restaurant at Brüsseler Straße 26 in Cologne cooks French, seasonal food and received 2.5 Kochlöffel from the Schlemmer Atlas in 2026. The menu is rewritten every week.

The kitchen

Christoph Paul trained at Bremer in Cologne and Waldhorn in Ravensburg. He later worked at Zur Traube in Grevenbroich, a two-Michelin-star address. Today he runs the kitchen with his wife Juliane and longtime sous chef Monika Rypalla. Their rule is to use only products they have chosen themselves, with a clear lean toward regional farms.

On the plate

The current menu opens with two preparations of smoked Bergisch trout, served with cucumber emulsion and pumpernickel crunch. Later courses include Lake Constance perch in lime butter and a milk-veal medallion with the first white and green asparagus from Bruchsal. Dessert is a warm chocolate cake with mocha ice cream and orange sauce. Three courses cost 61 euros and four cost 69, with a vegetarian route available. Beef, veal and pork come from the Eifel, vegetables from a farmer in Stommeln, and the bread is baked in house.

The room

The Schlemmer Atlas describes a venue with high ceilings and two levels in a former city monastery, with a relaxed mood and a terrace for warm evenings. Michelin also lists the restaurant as Recommended for 2026. Dinner is served Wednesday to Saturday, and a weekly to-go menu can be collected on Fridays and Saturdays.