i. Biography
Bergisches Land gives the kitchen its grain: regional venison, beef for tartare, veal sweetbread, and the market’s changing measure of the season. In Odenthal, Germany, Alejandro Wilbrand works from that material at Hotel Restaurant Zur Post, where his cooking with Christopher Wilbrand has been described as using almost exclusively regional ingredients rather than treating locality as decoration.
The Estate
At Hotel Restaurant Zur Post in Odenthal, Germany, Alejandro Wilbrand is partner, shareholder and head chef. The restaurant is also family ground: he and his brother Christopher lead their parents’ restaurant together, a continuity that gives the work a direct line from household inheritance to professional kitchen. The setting is central: the cooking is tied to the Bergisches Land, not only by address but by method. Market-driven, seasonal and regionally sourced cooking is the specialty associated with Postschänke in Odenthal, Germany, and that same regional lens shapes how the brothers’ work is described at the Odenthal restaurant. In 2004, Guide Michelin awarded one Michelin star for the cuisine of brothers Christopher and Alejandro Wilbrand at Hotel Restaurant Zur Post in Odenthal. Framed that way, the star belongs to the cooking they made together: a marker of achieved recognition for a family restaurant shaped by regional supply and shared leadership.
In the Cellar
The kitchen’s language is built from ingredients close to home. Bergischem Hirschrücken, Tatar vom Rind and gebackenem Kalbsbries are named among the dishes tied to the brothers’ work in Odenthal: venison, beef tartare and baked veal sweetbread handled through a regional, seasonal lens. There is a grounded clarity in that list. The dishes are not described through spectacle; they are described through sourcing and product, with almost exclusively regional ingredients carrying the identity of the cooking. That emphasis makes the plate read like a local inventory: animal, season, market, hand. That phrase places refinement and ease in the same room: technical ambition without the stiffness often assumed to come with it.
The Bottlings
The signature releases of this kitchen are best understood as dishes and methods rather than packaged labels. Bergischem Hirschrücken signals the forested, regional register of the work; Tatar vom Rind brings the precision of raw beef to the table; gebackenem Kalbsbries points toward offal, texture and careful cooking. Together, those dishes make a concise portrait of Wilbrand’s craft: seasonal supply, market rhythm and a Bergisches Land sensibility carried through a family-run restaurant in Odenthal. The achievement is not only the 2004 Michelin recognition, but the way the brothers’ cuisine is identified with regional ingredients and a less formal style of starred-level cooking.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Alejandro
What style or method defines Alejandro Wilbrand's work?
Market-driven, seasonal and regionally sourced cooking representative of the Bergisches Land defines his work.
What are Alejandro Wilbrand's signature releases or dishes?
Named dishes include Bergischem Hirschrücken, Tatar vom Rind and gebackenem Kalbsbries.
What is Alejandro Wilbrand known for making?
He is known for modern cuisine with Christopher Wilbrand, using almost exclusively regional ingredients at Hotel Restaurant Zur Post in Odenthal.
