Agata Reul – Host with a star
Agata Reul, née Wójcik, reached for the stars and made some of her dreams a reality. On the initiative of her guests, she was awarded a Michelin star after just 13 months and she is currently trying to get the second. Her restaurant called “Agata’s” became one of the best culinary addresses in Düsseldorf, the oh-so sophisticated capital of NRW.
But she was never supposed to work in gastronomy. Her parents did not want that for her, despite Agata having had to learn such a lot about cooking and seasoning from her grandmother when she was a child. She often remembers that whilst other children were allowed to play, she was cooking with her grandma and then had to decide which spices needed to be added. She was five years old and she was a lot more interested in playing than cooking. But “what will be, will be”, and that was to bear fruit in Agata Wójcik’s later life. Her grandparents had a piece of land and a large garden in Pomerania. That is where she learnt, mainly from her beloved grandfather, how to grow fruit and vegetables and all the things you can magic up out of various ingredients in the kitchen. At home with the family, it was very important that everybody ate together, that everybody was together at the table. Agata was also influenced by the famous Polish hospitality and by the memories of life’s significant moments that were celebrated at the table with family and friends, good food and a great atmosphere. Even today, she is still at pains to point out that eating was a very important part of life together in her family.
After the school-leaving exam, she decided to give in to her parent’s wishes and went to study administration in Szczecin. She was a good student and if it had not been for a bit of bad luck in her personal life, she would perhaps have become an outstanding Polish civil servant. Things were, however, to take a different path: During the summer holidays she decided to visit her mother who lived in Germany and to get away for her own life for a while. That is how she came to Düsseldorf. And she stayed.
After she met and fell in love with her husband Bertold Reul, who came from Aachen and was the former manager of the famous Nikko Hotel in Düsseldorf, she surprised everyone by deciding to train as a chef at catering college in Düsseldorf – and later, after training and working in good restaurants, to open her own restaurant. At the time, that sounded completely unrealistic. But Agata made it happen. In October 2012, at the age of just 31, she opened her first restaurant “Agata’s” at Münsterstraße 22 in Düsseldorf-Pempelfort. At the beginning, nobody, apart from her, believed she could make a success of it. Neither the location of the restaurant or the age and experience of the ambitious dreamer gave any indication that she would reach such heights so quickly.
When she decided to open her own restaurant, she already had her own vision. She decided on the décor and furnishing for the restaurant. And because of this, her guests experience something only a few restaurants manage to do: they feel that they are visiting friends rather than entering a culinary temple, all thanks to the light, colours and décor, but mainly thanks to the atmosphere. The staff are warm, accommodating and very professional. But Agata Reul’s charm and her desire for casual perfection trump everything else. She does not want to be described as a gastronome, a restaurateur and restaurant owner or even as a business woman. She calls herself a host and that is exactly how she sees her role.
At first glance and first ‘bite’, no one would guess that Agata Reul is from Poland. But when you look more closely, you can recognise her Polish roots, both in her accent and in her hospitality. Agata also consciously decided not to have an “H” in the restaurant name to show her Polish origins. Her heritage can also be seen in the bar and on a stylish sideboard on top of which can be found the best sorts of Polish vodka. And on the menu, there are Polish ravioli in truffle sauce which are nothing more than perfectly made Pierogi (ravioli), one of the typical Polish specialities. And many of the ingredients on the menu come directly from Poland, often from her grandparents’ garden. She makes a point of telling her guests that, for example, the Asian-looking dessert was made from apples that came directly from her grandparents in Poland. On the menu, these elements of Polish cuisine are combined with Asian influences.
Chef Jörg Wissmann’s has some of his roots in Korea. He gained his experience in renowned restaurants, such as “Vendome”, which was awarded three Michelin stars, and in the Japanese starred restaurant “Nagaya” in Düsseldorf, before moving to “Agata’s” in 2012 and being named the best chef in Düsseldorf a year later.
Not to be overlooked or ignored is ‘perhaps the capital’s best sommelier” – Roman Goldshteyn who, after leaving Russia for Germany, also lived in Poland and speaks several languages. Roman currently has an arsenal of around 500 types of wine in the cellar at “Agata’s”. He is an absolute professional in his field, has a great sense of humour and imagination, and managed his own restaurant back in the day.
Perhaps it is this mixture that is the source of their success? A Pole who trained to be a professional chef in Germany, a German chef with Korean roots and an experienced and imaginative citizen of the world as sommelier?
After the success of “Agata’s”, she was ready to try something different: Another restaurant with a different focus. In “Reul’s” at Kirchfeldstraße 59 in Düsseldorf – Agata wanted to combine the best of regional Mediterranean, Asian and Polish cuisine. Very good food for the more modest wallet. The chef at “Reul’s” – Takuji Matsunaga – was on board with that idea and that’s how an outstanding menu was born, including Reul’s fish soup and veal tartar with pickled egg yolk, spring onions, capers, sardines and smoked paprika, or creations such as Red Label salmon with potato crust, ratatouille, carrot and ginger purée and wasabi foam. And there is also beetroot soup that is reminiscent of the unmistakable Polish soup “Barszcz Czerwony”. But it is only reminiscent, because here it is served to you from a stylish Chinese pot, along with strips of roast beef, an egg poached for 40 minutes and potato purée.
Agata Reul’s strength is undoubtedly her cosmopolitan outlook. She is of the opinion that, as in life, almost all directions can be combined in the kitchen, that you can always learn from each other when you approach the things with commitment and openness.
She also has a good feel for the employees she brings on board. Her teams are international, multicultural and perfectly attuned with each other. Agata is keen to point out that she is also part of these teams. She says that her restaurant can only be as good as the teams. She does not shy away from any kind of work in her restaurants and is hands on in all operations. She often stands in the kitchen and serves if one of the staff is missing. But that does not stop her from having at least a quick chat to each guest, greeting them in person or saying goodbye to them.
Agata Reul still has a lot of plans and visions. She will shortly consolidate her previous restaurant concepts and, as in her real life, will merge “Agata’s” “Reul’s” in one location. She is already trying to get her second Michelin star. She is also going on the move and following the trend for kitchens on wheels: She has a foodtruck at Düsseldorf airport. She cooks with her famous chef and creates wonderful, small lunchtime meals on the spot that are already being described as “street food creations”. Within the context of her campaign “Agata’s goes Foodtruck” she wants to venture outside and reach those people who have not previously had the opportunity, the time or the possibility to visit her restaurants. She is not scared of approaching people and is already thinking, thanks to how well this one has been received, of setting up other foodtruck sites.
She has remained humble despite her success. She says that, if it should ever come to it, she would also be happy to cook in a market wagon. This is because what matters to her in her professional life is that people truly enjoy the flavour.
Roma Stacherska-Jung, May 2018
Agata Reul’s website: http://agatas.de/cms/
