After being named Gault&Millau's Young Chef of the Year in 2025, Anne Knepper has now been appointed a Knight of the Order of the Oak Crown.
Over the past three years, the Public House at Casino Luxembourg has established itself as one of the country's notable culinary addresses. Knepper's ambition to run her own restaurant, however, emerged by a somewhat indirect route.
She originally studied economics and imagined herself working for one of the Big Four firms. A student job eight years ago led her to rediscover her love of cooking and encouraged her to pursue an interest that had fascinated her since childhood.
Knepper explained that her mother had instilled in the family an appreciation for ingredients and locally sourced produce from an early age. She said that helping out at home introduced her to the quality fruit and vegetables available in Luxembourg and helped nurture her passion for food.
In 2025, Gault&Millau named her Young Chef of the Year. The distinction significantly raised the restaurant's profile, but Knepper acknowledged that it also created pressure to live up to a particular score and reputation.
She said the team had since found a healthier way of dealing with those expectations. At the beginning of this year, the restaurant also adjusted its concept, moving away from traditional fine dining towards a more relaxed bistronomic approach, according to Knepper.
Knepper stressed that this did not mean compromising on quality, but rather creating a style of cooking that felt more authentic to her.
The 29-year-old chef described her cuisine as strongly influenced by Nordic cooking, having spent much of her career working in that tradition. It was there that she developed the sustainable approach she now applies at the Public House, with an emphasis on local and seasonal ingredients.
For Knepper, however, sustainability extends beyond the food itself. She said it also includes working hours, staff wellbeing, and the overall atmosphere in the kitchen.
The past year has brought major changes in her personal life as well as her career. After becoming a mother, Knepper had to find a balance between the restaurant and family life, something she said would not have been possible without the people around her.
Knepper said that balancing motherhood with running the restaurant had only been possible thanks to the support of her family, her partner, and her young team, who keep things running whenever she cannot be there or needs to devote more time to her son.
"It is not a one-woman show. There are several of us behind it", Knepper noted.
Receiving another distinction at the Philharmonie on National Day is therefore a great honour, particularly as she had not expected it. Knepper said that chefs tend to focus on familiar culinary distinctions such as Gault&Millau or Michelin recognition, while the Order of the Oak Crown had not been on her radar at all.
"It is a wonderful honour, and I am very grateful", Knepper concluded.
