Umami

The story

Umami Strasbourg – Modern Cuisine with Michelin Star in Alsace

Umami in Strasbourg

On a quiet street in Strasbourg, a small restaurant with just sixteen seats is doing something quietly remarkable. The name is a direct reference to the fifth taste—umami, the savoury flavour identified by Japanese professor Kikunae Ikeda in 1908. Here, chef René Fieger and his wife Jessica welcome guests into their intimate dining room, where simplicity and conviviality are the guiding principles.

René works alone in the kitchen, Jessica manages the front of house alone. The result is a focused, personal experience. The cuisine is modern, drawing on fusion, fragrance and creativity—but it is not complicated for its own sake. "My cooking simply reflects my experience and my desire to do well," René says. There is no à la carte; instead, two menus allow the chef to let the ingredients speak, shaped by his travels, influences and technique.

The Menus

At lunch, the Lunch Umami menu at €55 features Scottish smoked salmon with soba noodles and sesame cream, followed by duck breast with hoisin jus, and a pavot-snow egg with mango soup and citrus sorbet. A vegetarian version at €45 replaces the salmon with smoked kohlrabi and the duck with chickpea panisse, served with miso and roasted garlic emulsion. Both are served Saturday and Sunday only.

For dinner, the Umami menu at €95 is a longer journey: tuna tataki with spiced crust, pan-fried foie gras, the day’s fish with coral lentil sauce, Charolais beef with miso emulsion, and a dessert of mango with Sichuan pepper. A vegetarian dinner menu at €78 is available on request.

A Michelin Star

In 2026, Umami was awarded a Michelin star, a recognition of high-quality cooking. The star is a natural fit for a kitchen that prizes precision and depth of flavour. The restaurant’s permanent use of soy sauce means it cannot accommodate allergies to gluten, garlic, sesame or dairy—a clear, honest stance that reflects the integrity of the cooking.

Umami is a place where the fifth taste is not just a name but a philosophy. It is a small, personal restaurant in Strasbourg that delivers big, savoury flavours.