Dinner at the 3-star Michelin Restaurant Schwarzwaldstube at Hotel Traube Tonbach, with Chef Thorsten Michel, Baiersbronn, Germany

Pictures: Dinner at the 3-star Michelin Restaurant Schwarzwaldstube at Hotel Traube Tonbach, with Chef Thorsten Michel, Baiersbronn, Germany

In September 2020, shortly before the second corona lockdown in Germany, I had dinner at Restaurant Schwarzwaldstube of the Hotel Traube Tonbach in Baiersbronn, with my wife Annette and two daughters Cornelia and Katharina. Ernst and Viatrix, Cornelia`s children, were also with us, but happily sleeping while we had dinner.

Cornelia, who is stationed with her husband Chris and their 2 children in Libreville, Gabon, had been separated most of 2020 as he had to stay at his duty post and the family had to leave. Cornelia and the kids spent several months in the USA, before moving temporarily to Karlsruhe, where Viatrix attended school.

Most of the photos are mine. Some photos are from my friend Dirk Eisel who ate there a couple of days after us.

Restaurant Schwarzwaldstube, Torsten Michel and Harald Wohlfahrt

For the last 30 years, Restaurant Schwarzwaldstube of the Hotel Traube Tonbach in Baiersbronn has been in the group of a dozen or so 3 star Michelin restaurants in Germany. No other restaurant in Germany has been awarded with three Michelin stars as long as Schwarzwaldstube. For most of the time, Chef Harald Wohlfahrt was at the helm of the kitchen team; a few years ago, Torsten Michel took over from him and defended the 3 stars. Harald Wohlfahrt became Executive Chef of Restaurant Schwarzwaldstube in 1980, gained the 3 stars in 1992 and retired in 2017. Torsten Michel joined the team of Harald Wohlfahrt in 2004, was promoted to Sous Chef in 2007 and to Executive Chef in 2017.

Harald Wohlfahrt was the fifth chef to be awarded 3 stars by the Michelin Guide in Germany and the second German chef (after Herbert Schönberner) to be thus honoured. The Michelin Guide Deutschland was published for the first time in 1964, without any stars. In the 1966 Michelin Guide Deutschland 66 restaurants were awarded one star. In the 1974 Michelin Guide Deutschland, 7 restaurants received 2 stars.

In the 1980 Michelin Guide Deutschland, Eckart Witzigmann was the first Chef in Germany to be awarded 3 stars, at his restaurant Auvergine in Munich. In the 1981 Michelin Guide, two chefs were added to the 3 star class: Chef Heinz Winkler of the Tantris in Munich, where Eckehart Witzigmann used to cook before he opened his own restaurant, and Herbert Schönberger of the Restaurant Goldener Pflug in Köln. In the 1987 Michelin Guide Deutschland, Jean-Claude Bourgeuil of the Restaurant Schiffchen in Düsseldorf was awarded 3 stars.

In the 1992 Michelin Guide Deutschland, after Eckart Witzigmann, Herbert Schönberner, Heinz Winkler and Jean-Claude Bourgeuil Harald Wohlfahrt was the fifth chef to be awarded this accolade for a restaurant in Germany and the second German chef (after Herbert Schönberner) to be thus honoured.

Grosses Degustationsmenu

We had dinner at the Schwarzwaldstube 3 years after Chef Thorsten Michel had taken over and defended several times the 3 stars in the Michelin Guide Deutschland. Also, early 2020, part of the Hotel Traube Tonbach was destroyed by a fire, including the Restaurant Schwarzwaldstube. When we ate there, Restaurant Schwarzwaldstube was in a temporary home - in the temporaire, just a few meters from the familiar place.

We all took the Grosses Degustationsmenu for Euro 245. Alternatives were the Kleines Degustationsmenu for Euro 195 and the Vegetarisches Menu for Euro 185. We had 4 bottles of wine. The total came to Euro 1396.

Sommelier Stéphane Gass and Maître David Breuer

Sommelier Stéphane Gass and Maître David Breuer and his service team took very good care of us hosting us throughout an unforgettable evening.

Dinner

Aperitif and Amuses Gueules

Medaillons vom bretonischen Hummer in Tomatengelee mit Basilikum und Safran aus Graubünden, Limonenmarinade

Zart angebratene Gänseleberscheibe mit Himbeer-Olivenöl-Ravioli und reduzierter Geflügeljüs mit Ingewer

Sankt-Petersfisch in Algenbutter gegart auf gedämpften Brunnenkressespitzen, Austernsauce und Imperialkaviar

Feines vom heimischen Milchkalb mit Steinpilzen, kleinen Zwiebelchen und Kalbskopfsauce mit gehacktem Trüffel

Käseauswahl von Maître Bernard & Jean-François Antony

Baba "Fleur de Cazette" mit Mirabellen Sorbet und leichter Chantilly von Azélia Schokolade, eingelegten Preiselbeeren und Mirabellen Kalamansicoulis

Heidelbeersorbet mit feiner Opaline, Kräuterlikör-Knusperbonbon und Mousseline von Chartreuse auf Heidelbeerkompott und Tannenharzaroma

Petites Fours

The Wines

Finkbeiner Family (Owner)

Good news for gourmets: our Schwarzwaldstube is coming back. For now in a temporary home - in the temporaire, just a few meters from the familiar place. Here we are creating a place for Torsten Michel, his team and the famous cuisine with the ambience of the temporary.

Traube Tonbach and Schwarzwaldstube – a symbiosis that offers top-class cuisine since decades and achieved new culinary heights under the leadership of chef de cuisine Torsten Michel. No other restaurant in Germany has been awarded with three Michelin stars as long as Schwarzwaldstube. Let yourself be taken away on a special journey that is wonderfully complemented and a congenial wine pairing from sommelier Stéphane Gass. Maître David Breuer and his service team look forward to host you throughout an unforgettable evening.

Pictures: With Chef Thorsten Michel

Schwarzwaldstube, Baiersbronn, Germany (50 Best Restaurants of the World)

Hidden within the fairy-tale landscape of the Black Forest lies a hot bed for culinary talent. Masked by firs and boasting bucolic views, minimalist-luxe Schwarzwalstube – part of Hotel Traube Tonbach – is at its heart. It opened in 1976 and has since led an army of Germany’s top chefs. At the helm is Torsten Michel, whose delicately rich, French cuisine is as spellbinding as the locale. Painstaking attention is given to the likes of Gillardeau oysters with caviar and champagne sauce, braised local deer and lamb royale with a sauce rouennaisse.