We eat our whole life and what we eat will one day come back to you

Chef Sebastian Sandor of restaurant Louis in Saarlouis Germany

The We’re Smart® Green Guide recognises the efforts of new, newly discovered or re-opened restaurants. In countries with at least three newcomers with three radishes or more, The Discovery of the Year award is presented. Restaurant Louis in Germany in #59 of the global top 100. Let’s get to know chef Sebastian Sandor a bit better.

Chef Sebastian Sandor of restaurant Louis in Saarlouis Germany (photo credits Louis)

Saarlouis in Saarland is a small fortress town built for French king Louis XIV, which is still visible in its star shaped fortifications and military heritage. Bordering a parklike garden sits an old courthouse, turned into a designhotel and fine dining restaurant Louis. Having worked in Belgium and France, chef Sebastian Sandor insists that he is ‘a cook who nourishes people’. This quote from Thomas Keller marks his career: “At the end of the day I want to serve tasty food ánd give people a great experience, a good evening and a good time.”

Generous bread course shows the essence

Sebastian Sandor explains: “In Germany ‘Brot und Butter’ is a big thing. I love baking so we make a little theme of our bread and butter course. Now it is  mushroom season, so we serve a whole ‘forest’ with warm welcoming broth, takoyaki with mushroom and truffle, butter seasoned with champignons de Paris and herbs, the same herbs as you find in the homemade bread. It has to be a round experience. There is also a small terrine with mushrooms, lots of little nibbles. Served on big wooden tableau with forest scenery, in the middle of the table. We don’t mind in which order people eat this, they need to be free in their own experience. And this is what the guests remember most. 

I am still thinking about the theme for next season, herbs for spring is a bit too obvious, I want to surprise people and not make life too easy. Probably fermenting, to showcase the cabbages or beetroot from last year, that have been laying in our cellar for months. We should acknowledge the trouble that goes into harvesting and keeping.”  
 

An incredible experience with attention for health

“Vegetables have always been a great part of my cooking”, Sandor says. “But in fine dining people seem to be quite (animal) protein concious. We have both a pure plant menu and an omnivore menu, to be financially healthy, and I quite like fish and meat sometimes myself too. The plan is to put the dishes beside each other and people can simply pick the course that sounds best to them. We will not communicate that it is plant based or vegan. Just write them next to each other and let people choose.

There is so much good food out there; to differentiate ourselves we must create an incredible experience. I am working on a multiroom experience, using some of our hotel rooms. Start in an intimate place to experience the bites and then move next door to a box with ingredients where we can explain a bit. With the normal complexities of a hotel with two restaurants, we need a bit of time to work out all the logistics.”

“As a chef you need to pay attention to the health aspects of food. We make everything from scratch, no processed food and very little dairy. We eat our whole life, everything we eat will someday come back to you, like too much fast-food.”

Inspectors report 2025: "This peaceful oasis offers a refined celebration of vegetables and nature’s finest ingredients. Absolutely worth the detour for anyone seeking flavour, serenity, and sustainability on the same plate….”

Louis Restaurant - Prälat-subtil-ring 22 -  66740 Saarlouis - Germany

First published on we’re smart world, January 2026