The restaurant Haerlin is a credit to its name and long standing tradition and not without reason is it the flagship of all four restaurants in the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten. It is a top class, gourmet restaurant with an elegant ambience, an exquisite table culture with fine porcelain and silver and a perfect service with friendly and attentive staff giving qualified advice.
Adding more to its reputation are the recently awarded Michelin star and 17 Gault Millau points.

Christoph Rüffer

Since summer 2002, the menu of the restaurant Haerlin bears the signature of Christoph Rüffer. His original creations of Mediterranean and Francophile cuisine are prepared exclusively with fresh market and seasonal products of the highest quality. Rüffer's motto is "taste counts more than the optic" but this doesn't prevent him from arranging his creations with an affectionate passion for the guests. His ability to concentrate on the essential, however, teasing out the different taste nuances optimally blended together, receives the highest recognition and has gained the restaurant awards like bonnets, cooking spoons, points and ultimately a Michelin star.

Although only 34 years old, Rüffer looks back on a long standing career and is an integral part of the German gourmet scene. Rüffer learned the art of classic haute cuisine under the supervision of the chef, "Henri" Bach in the "Hotel Residence in Essen (2 Michelin stars). He gained more experience working with Claus-Peter Lumpp in the "Hotel Bareiss" in Baiersbronn (2 Michelin stars) and in the "Traube Tonbach" in Baiersbronn (3 Michelin stars) under the supervision of Harald Wohlfahrt, as well as in the restaurant "Le Gourmet" in Munich (at that time 1 Michelin star). His successful career also includes the "Fährhaus" in Munkmarsch on the island of Sylt.

The qualified service team under the proficient management of Hagen Hoppenstedt offers, as an example, Eiderstedt salted lamb, grilled Breton turbot and Mille feuille from Valrhona. Every guest is welcomed with an "Amuse-gueule" and coffee is served with in-house made chocolates.

Wine

This culinary experience is rounded off by the excellent choice of fine wines, comprising a selection of 1,500 various wines, from which the Head Sommelier, Hagen Hoppenstedt recommends the appropriate wine to compliment your selection of menu. In 2007 our wine list received the "Award of Excellence" by the "Wine Spectator" as "one of the most excellent wine lists in the world".

Hagen Hoppenstedt has realized his long time dream of an own house wine.
Together with Theresa Breuer from the vineyard Georg Breuer in Rüdesheim/Rhine, Hoppenstedt will present his first own house wine on that evening. The "Jahreszeiten Cuvée 2006" has been created out of three Riesling species as well as Pinot Blanc and Gelber Orleans by the cellarer Hermann Schmoranz and Hagen Hoppenstedt.
The type of grape Gelber Orleans is cultivated on a micro vineyard - it is the only still existing Orleans that is vinified dry and produces not more than 360 liters per year. As a legacy of Bernhard Breuer, a little flavoring note of this outstanding juice of the grape is applied to each bottle of "Jahreszeiten Cuvées 2006". A total of 4,000 bottles of 0.7 liters and 1,000 of 0.375 liters have been bottled.
The vineyard Georg Breuer belongs to the family Breuer since the beginning of the 20th century. Since the early 80s Bernhard Breuer, one of Georg Breuer's sons, has led the vineyard, which is located in Rheingau, to international reputation.

The History of the Restaurant

What appears today as simply natural, the service, the food and also the ambience, are the results of a tradition more than one hundred years old, which goes back to the early times of the founder of the hotel, Friedrich Haerlin. When he bought the hotel "Zu den Vier Jahreszeiten", with the house number 11, at an auction in 1897 on his fortieth birthday, he was completely unaware of the worldwide fame the hotel would later attain.

One thing is certain though, the Swabian knew exactly how he wanted to develop the narrow building on the "Binnenalster". With proverbial Swabian industriousness he won not only the Hamburg authorities but also the Hamburg citizens as guests in his hotel. Within a short period of time he bought various other buildings to the left and right of number 11 and blended them harmoniously with the existing "Vier Jahreszeiten". The first large extension was completed and opened in 1905. Shortly before the beginning of World War I, Friedrich Haerlin bought the house number 14, in which he established the Restaurant Haerlin on the ground floor in conjunction with the hotel. The restaurant was opened in 1919 and was soon to become one of the top addresses in the Hamburg gastronomy.

The positive course of business up to 1930 encouraged the business-minded Swabian to do further reconstruction. He wanted to profitably integrate the expensively acquired house number 14 into the overall concept plan of the hotel. At first the Restaurant Haerlin was moved to house number 10 in which the so-called casino existed since 1925 and is now in present times the Jahreszeiten Grill. The Restaurant Haerlin was moved to the front part of this building so that house number 14 could be demolished to erect a five-storey building on the same spot.

In 1936 Friedrich Haerlin entrusted his hotel into the hands of his son, Fritz Haerlin. Even he didn't let himself be held back by the adverse circumstances of that time and carried out fundamental moderations. For him, World War II didn't mean the end of his livelihood - at the most an interruption of continuity. On January 30th 1952 Fritz Haerlin was able to take over his hotel again. Within a few weeks over 200 craftsmen managed to make the hotel ready again for guests to reside. On April 4th 1952 the opening was celebrated - also in the Restaurant Haerlin.

The Ambience of the Restaurant

Ever since then, the restaurant has remained true to its style and the present director, Ingo C. Peters also adheres to this style. With the exception of minor changes and stylistic customisations, nothing has really changed. The guest is still well protected and guarded by the four allegories by the Nymphenburg porcelain manufacturer.

This artistic, figurative adornment, which symbolizes the Vier Jahreszeiten, was designed especially for the hotel restaurant in the twenties and it is said they were buried by the hotel staff during World War II and returned undamaged to their original place for the reopening in 1952. The Flemish tapestries are likewise irrevocably related with the history and the ambience of the restaurant, which show the guest the happy camp life of high-spirited drinking, instrument playing and barrel rolling farmhands in front of a classical scene.

Restaurant Haerlin

Main Courses: 6 € 36.00 to € 48.00
Evening Menu: 3 € 92.00 to € 125.00
Tuesdays to Saturdays: 6.30 p.m. to 09.30 p.m.
Sundays, Mondays: closed
Tel: + 49 (40) 34 94 33 10

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