Die Schwarzaldstube

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Four Decades of Haute Cuisine in the Black Forest

At the Traube Tonbach hotel in Baiersbronn, Die Schwarzwaldstube has carried the standard for outstanding haute cuisine for over four decades. The restaurant holds three Michelin stars and, between 2004 and 2010, appeared in the World's 50 Best Restaurants list five consecutive times — a run that places it firmly among the most decorated dining rooms Germany has ever produced.

Torsten Michel and the Kitchen's Direction

Since 2017, Chef de Cuisine Torsten Michel has led the kitchen with a modern interpretation of classic French cuisine — precise, ingredient-driven, and deeply considered. His approach is neither nostalgic nor restless; it sits confidently at the intersection of tradition and contemporary technique. The wine programme is equally serious: sommelier Stéphane Gass curates the pairings, ensuring each menu finds its counterpart in the glass.

The Menus

Guests choose from two degustation menus and a full vegetarian tasting menu, each running to multiple courses. The cooking draws on exceptional produce: Breton lobster, langoustine, and scallop appear alongside Kaviari Kristal caviar and black Périgord truffle. A course of flambéed St. Peter's fish with champagne sauce and imperial caviar, or braised veal cheeks with crispy sweetbread and chopped truffle, gives a sense of the kitchen's register — classical architecture, luxury ingredients, precise execution.

The vegetarian menu is no afterthought. A mosaic of celeriac kombucha and Comice pear with black truffle opens proceedings, followed by a bouillon of roasted wild mushrooms baked under puff pastry, and glazed winter roots with oriental spices and a pistachio tabbouleh. Cheese from the trolley — sourced from Maître Affineur Antony — precedes desserts built around Valrhona Grand Cru chocolates or a riff on the classic German Bienenstich with almond-honey ice cream.

This is modern European cooking at its most assured: French in its foundations, international in its references, and rooted in the rhythms of the Black Forest seasons.

The Setting

Die Schwarzwaldstube sits within the broader Traube Tonbach estate, a family-run property in the Tonbach Valley. The restaurant operates Wednesday through Sunday evenings, with weekend lunch service on Saturdays and Sundays. Valet parking is available, and wine pairing is offered throughout.