THE WORLD of gastronomy holds its breath each year when the Michelin Guide lets us know which superchefs have climbed another step towards immortality – and which have slid back down the greasy pole of perfection.
But in deepest Germany there’s one small town that worries more than most, and scours the rankings for the slightest hint of a change. That’s Baiersbronn, hidden away in the Black Forest. Because if you’re looking for the single town in Germany with the greatest concentration of Michelin stars, it’s not Berlin, Frankfurt, Bonn or Munich, it’s this town of 16,000 people – and no fewer than seven stars.
Top of the pile is Harald Wohlfahrt of Schwarzwaldstube, at Hotel Traube Tonbach, who has held three stars for 15 years, and whose chic little eatery is also ranked one of the 10 best French restaurants outside France – quite an accolade in itself.
Hot on his heels comes Claus-Peter Lumpp, at Hotel Bareiss, who earned his third star last year, and whose elegant little Louis XV-style dining room managed to hold on to it for 2009.
The young pretender, with one star, is Jörg Sackmann, at Restaurant Schlossberg, who was flown to the Black Sea to prepare a 15-course meal for Vladimir Putin, the prime minister and former president of Russia.
With such a line-up, it’s no surprise the gleaming Mercedes of Germany’s great and good have worn a path to Baiersbronn, which has helpfully adopted the title of Germany’s secret gourmet capital.
No surprise, either, that it was the centre of the celebrations last Christmas, when the new editor in chief of the French edition of the Michelin Guide was appointed. Why? Because Juliane Caspar is the first woman to hold the job – and the first German.
** Do you know of a hidden gem? E-mail go@irishtimes.com