The secret gastronomic hot spot twinned with Midhurst

It turns out the little German town deep in the Black Forest is a top culinary hotspot.

It doesn’t even appear on road signs until visitors are within two miles, but Midhurst has had a special relationship with Baiersbronn for three decades.

Its main town square has even been renamed Midhurst Platz in honour of its English counterparts and taking pride of place is the gift from Midhurst of a quintessential pillar box red telephone box.

Yet how many Midhurst people are aware of the gastronomic heights their twin town has reached.

James Gillespie writing in The Sunday Times has discovered that it is home to an astonishing two restauraunts that have earned a three star rating from Michelin.

In his article last Sunday he said: “That’s the same number as in London.

With just 15,000 inhabitants (I’ve seen bigger crowds at Crystal Palace), this equates to a Michelin three-star for every 7,500 people. In London, the ratio is one for 4.2m.

“With Baiersbronn also harbouring a Michelin two-Michelin-starred restaurant (pah), it’s little wonder it has become known as Sternedorf, or star village.”

Marietheres Huonker, assistant manager at the Hotel Bareiss, whose restaurant is one of the two boasting the top accolade told James: “It’s a gourmet mecca, a culinary island paradise. People often come to do a tour of all three top restaurants.”

James took on the Baierbronn culinary hat-trick challenge of three restaurants and eight Michelin stars in 36 hours.

He ate at Claus-Peter Lumpp’s three starred Restaurant Bareiss. The three starred Schwarzwaldstube restaurant of Harold Wohlfahrt in the Traube Tonbach Hotel and with two stars The Restaurant Schlossberg, at Hotel Sackmann owned by Jörg Sackmann, one of Wohlfahrt’s protégés.

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