A Russian German became a Michelin star chef in Germany and prepared "Anna Pavlova" for the Bundestag.
DW spoke with Alexander Wolff, the chef of the Russian cuisine restaurant Troika in the town of Arklenz near Düsseldorf. Alexander was born in Siberia and grew up in Kazakhstan. When he was 9 years old, the family moved to Germany. At the age of 12, he washed dishes in a nursing home with his brother. According to him, their boss then saw that the young man was redecorating the plates and said: "You should wash less dishes and stand more in the kitchen."
The idea to focus on Russian cuisine came to Wolff after a chance meeting in Belgium in 2014 with doctors from Moscow and St. Petersburg. They arrived for dinner at the restaurant in the castle where he worked at the time. The man gave them lard and home-style smoked fish to try.
"They sat, ate, of course, drank 100 grams and said: "What are you doing French, if you cook Russian much better". And it dawned on me that I grew up in this kitchen. And we started to make the French kitchen where I worked look Russian," Alexander said.
His restaurant in Arklanz opened in 2021. Today the establishment has one Michelin star. According to Alexander, an international team works with him: people from Germany, Slovenia, Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. Among the guests, 80% are German, the source told DW.
According to him, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some guests canceled their reservations at the restaurant, and the chef received angry letters. In March 2022, he recorded a video message on German television calling to "stop the hatred of Russians". As the chef told DW, he still believes that "the kitchen can save bridges."
"I have Ukrainians, Russians, Kazakhs who sit peacefully and eat," he said. "We have friends in Ukraine, we have family in Russia. Of course, I want there to be peace."
Wolff also said that in early November 2026 he will speak at the Bundestag in Berlin.