Gastronomy guide Gault&Millau held its annual ceremony on Monday, celebrating the highlights of Luxembourg’s culinary scene. As always, ten awards were presented to chefs in the Grand Duchy, with Clovis Degrave winning Chef of the Year. He succeeds François Jagut of the restaurant Les Roses, nestled in the Casino 2000 in Mondorf-les-Bains.
At 35, Clovis Degrave has established himself as one of the leading figures in Luxembourgish gastronomy. The chef, who heads up the Grünewald Chef’s Table in Dommeldange, also runs the Hostellerie du Grünewald and Maison B in Bridel, which opened in November 2024, with his partner Aline Bourscheid.
Two years ago, the Frenchman was awarded Young Chef of the Year by the guide.
“Clovis Degrave clearly stands out this time,” says Laurent Fery, director of Gault&Millau Luxembourg. “Since opening the Hostellerie du Grünewald with his partner Aline Bourscheid, through to his carte blanche during the lockdown, he has always demonstrated creativity, perseverance, and resilience.” The guide also praises his ability to gather talented staff, such as Kevin Gismondi and pastry chef Pauline Michelin.
According to Gault&Millau, Degrave embodies “a modern vision of gastronomical management”, that of a chef who shares his success with his team while serving “high-flying dishes”.
Aged 33, Archibald De Prince was elected Young Chef of the Year 2026 at this year’s awards. He took over the Vieux Moulin in Echternach at the end of 2024 with his partner Rachel, creating Archibald De Prince – Table & Chambres. The high-end hotel-restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in March 2025.
Former second in command to René Mathieu at La Distillerie, De Prince spent eight years refining his craft with the master of plant-based cuisine, and was also coached by Cyril Molard, chef at the two-star restaurant Ma Langue Sourit, when he participated in the Bocuse d’Or. Fery describes his dishes as “a mix of René Mathieu’s vegetarian dishes and Cyril Molard’s essentialist cuisine. Like his mentor, he focuses on forest gathering, working with plants and graphics.”
The guide says De Prince’s cuisine is as refined as it is sincere, highlighting carefully curated local produce, such as Mathonnet trout, with an elegant dining room and open kitchen, that is both friendly and technically precise at once. “The risk with young experimental chefs is that they might simply reproduce what they have learned without originality. Even if these dishes are inspired, they have a real personality of their own,” notes the guide.
La Perle Noire opened in mid-September on the Place d’Armes, and is already causing quite the stir.
Despite being new to the scene, the bar won over the guide with ease. “We have known Ayrton Mongenie for years and followed his work,” says Fery. “Here he really lets loose and shows off his genius in precise cocktails.”
Owner Louis Scholtès, who also runs the brasserie La Lorraine, located below the bar, has high ambitions for his new establishment, hoping it will one day be ranked among the World’s 50 Best Bars. “Despite only being open for six weeks, we are certain this is not a wasted award,” says the guide’s director.
The 2026 edition of Gault&Millau Luxembourg adds fifteen new establishments to its roster. Among the eateries joining the guide are Archibald De Prince in Echternach, La Cristallerie in Luxembourg, Fields by René Mathieu in Findel, Le Lys at Villa Pétrusse, Maison B in Bridel and L’Orgue in Lintgen.
Three new bars also appear in the list: La Perle Noire, Trianon and Wäinstuff, while Chocolaterie RG in Dudelange makes its debut in the Belux chocolate guide.
Two restaurants have seen their rankings increase, as OIO (+1) and Equilibrium (+1.5) now have three chef’s hats (15/20). The guide also awarded René Mathieu’s Fields, with four chef’s hats and a score of 17.
The restaurant Les Jardins d’Anaïs, which changed chefs earlier this year, has dropped 2 points with a score of 13.5 out of 20. Other restaurants such as A Guddesh (Beringen, 12/20), Skybar (Bertrange, 13/20) and Plëss (Luxembourg, 12/20) all lost a point each. Maison Lefèvre (Esch, 13,5/20) and Côté Cour (Bourglinster, 15/20) lost half a point each.
Restaurants which are no longer included in the guide are Leweck in Lipperscheid (12/20 in 2025), Madeleine in Marnach (12.5) and Fevi Gaudium in Esch (13), as the concept has changed. Logically, La Distillerie (18 points) is also not included since chef René Mathieu moved to Findel to manage the Fields restaurant. The old Airfield restaurant has also been removed from the guide.
In total the guide includes 134 Luxembourgish eateries, from restaurants, to bars and chocolatiers, all visited by anonymous inspectors. According to the guide, their website gaultmillau.lu and their mobile app receive nearly 30,000 monthly visits from Luxembourg.
