i. Biography
In Strasbourg, France, Eric Westermann works in a register that keeps field, farm, and table in view. At Buerehiesel, the cooking is built from named materials rather than vague effect: frog legs, chervil, schniederspaetle, Isigny cream; a whole Klein farm pullet with potatoes, leeks, and melanosporum truffle; beer, pear, and brioche. The point is precision, not display. Westermann’s kitchen leaves each ingredient readable inside the plate, and since 2007 that clarity has defined the restaurant’s identity.
The Path
Continuity is part of the method at Buerehiesel, where Eric Westermann has served as Head Chef since 2007. The title chef de cuisine carries more than administration here; in Westermann’s case, it marks a sustained discipline built around clarity.
The Work Today
The current kitchen remains anchored in Strasbourg and in the same long-running command Westermann has held since 2007. His role as chef de cuisine is most legible on the plate, where poultry, potatoes, leeks, truffle, beer, pear, brioche, cream, and herbs are arranged with purpose and restraint. The cooking avoids concealment. Instead, it keeps its materials in the open, allowing each one to register before the whole does. One seasonal two-person dish listed by the restaurant is Poulette de la ferme Klein cuite entière comme un baeckeoffe, aux pommes de terre, poireaux et à la truffe melanosporum. The wording is long, but the construction is plain: a Klein farm pullet cooked whole like a baeckeoffe, with potatoes, leeks, and melanosporum truffle. It reads as menu language and method at once.
Signature
Signature dishes include Grenouille and Brioche caramélisée à la bière. Taken together, they show the range of Westermann’s cooking: one grounded in the exact handling of a classic ingredient, the other in browned bread and beer, moving from savory precision toward a more tender, dessertlike register.
In Their Words “The Expression and Tasting menus are a balanced synthesis of my cooking.” “I trust our customers and I see stars shining in their eyes.”
Acclaim
Brioche caramélisée à la bière, glace à la bière Perle et poire rôtie au brassin is listed as a signature dessert: caramelized brioche with beer, Perle beer ice cream, and pear roasted au brassin. The dish extends Westermann’s recurring ingredients—bread, beer, fruit—without leaning on ornament, keeping the result tied to recognizable material. His second quoted line places the guest inside the measure of the room: "I trust our customers and I see stars shining in their eyes." It frames the dining room plainly: confidence without distance, hospitality without fuss, and the sense that the guest’s response completes the meal’s final expression.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Eric
How did Eric Westermann get started?
His dated career arc begins in 2007, when he became chef at Buerehiesel in Strasbourg, France.
What is Eric Westermann best known for today?
He is best known today as chef de cuisine at Buerehiesel and for signature dishes such as frog legs with chervil, schniederspaetle, and Isigny cream.
