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Gault&Millau 2025

Benjamin Peifer is Gault&Millau chef of the year

Reiseziele, Germany, Bundesländer Deutschland, Guide, Gault&Millau

JAN receives top rating of five red toques for the first time

The awards in Gault&Millau 2025

(20 January 2025) - With today's publication, the new Gault&Millau Restaurant Guide 2025 presents the country's best restaurants, excellent addresses for everyday dining and exciting new entries that reflect the diversity of German cuisine. In addition to the top addresses, outstanding personalities from the gastronomy scene will be honoured for their excellent achievements. The award ceremony will take place in a festive setting at the Brasserie Cuvilliés in the Rosewood Munich.

"Creativity is always the best answer to a crisis": Prof Jochen Rädeker, publisher of the Restaurant Guide, has good news for the industry. "The absolute top in Germany has become even better and bigger - 20% more awards with four or five toques are an impressive sign of quality for German gastronomy. There is also a strong trend towards sustainable concepts and the use of regional produce. There's no doubt about it: people who eat well live healthier and happier lives. And that's better than ever today." Publisher Dr Hannah Fink-Eder makes an urgent appeal to guests: "Go out to eat, but do it properly! Germany has great talents, excellent producers and creative minds who characterise a food culture that deserves recognition. That's why it's our common mission to put quality centre stage - not only in kitchens and restaurants, but also in society."

Benjamin Peifer is Chef of the Year

Benjamin Peifer, Intense in Wachenheim, is honoured as Chef of the Year. Rädeker in the laudation: "Benjamin Peifer has arrived where he came from: the Palatinate native has created a restaurant in Wachenheim with the Intense that deserves the title of a total work of art like no other in Germany - from the "Gude Stubb" to the Zen garden to the open kitchen with a large, open grill, he offers his guests a holistic experience at the highest level. The real art, however, is his style of cooking, because Peifer copies nothing and no one in his combination of traditional Palatinate inn cuisine with Japanese high cuisine."

The honours at a glance:

  • COOK of the Year: Benjamin Peifer, Intense, Wachenheim an der Weinstraße: "He has arrived where he came from: Benjamin Peifer from the Palatinate has created a restaurant in Wachenheim, Intense, that deserves to be called a total work of art like no other in Germany - from the "Gude Stubb" to the Zen garden to the open kitchen with a large open grill, he offers his guests a holistic experience at the highest level. The real art, however, is his style of cooking, as Peifer copies nothing and no one in his combination of traditional Palatinate inn cuisine with Japanese high cuisine. The trained baker also bakes his own sourdough bread, smokes ham and is a real team player - visible and tangible for all guests - who gives his brigade their due. Chapeau!

Gastronome of the Year: Simon Tress, Organic Fine Dining Restaurant 1950, Hayingen

Together with his three brothers, the multi-caterer and entrepreneur runs a flourishing business with vegan soups, four organic restaurants, is involved in catering and company catering - and also cooks very well himself. Demeter products have been used in Hayingen-Ehestetten since 1950. In the 1950 gourmet restaurant, Tress celebrates a radically regional, largely vegetarian, no-waste organic cuisine of the highest quality - without any dogmas. "Nature makes the plate," says Simon Tress simply. With his kitchen philosophy centred around cooking, drying, preserving, fermenting and cooling, the former meat cookbook author is developing a cuisine of the future - tasty, honest, regional, organic, healthy and highly successful.

Host of the Year: Kilian Skalet, JAN, Munich

At the age of 35, Kilian Skalet from Regensburg can already look back on an impressive career. He trained as a chef in the Upper Palatinate, then trained as a restaurant specialist at the Überfahrt on Lake Tegernsee, where he worked in service for a total of seven years with a stopover at the Louis C. Jacob in Hamburg. Four years as restaurant manager at the Palio restaurant in Celle, qualification as a sommelier and host at Jan Hartwig in Munich right from the start. Good-humoured, full of energy and with a quick step, he accompanies his guests carefully and with an alert eye. The meteoric rise of JAN to one of Europe's top addresses is due not only to the culinary barrage but also to the young service team under Kilian Skalet.

Discovery of the year: Rosina Ostler, Alois - Dallmayr Fine Dining, Munich

First a Master's in Food Culture with Carlo Petrini in Pollenza, then training as a chef at the Traube Tonbach: there is hardly a better way to enter the industry in theory and practice. After stints at the Schwarzwaldstube, einsunternull and, since 2021, Maaemo in Oslo, Rosina Ostler became head chef at the traditional Alois im Dallmayr in Munich at the end of 2023. Can you still call a woman with this career a discovery? We think so, because in this top position, she can now really showcase her exceptional talent - with an independent, tapas-oriented style and such a variety of ingredients, textures, flavours and kitchen techniques that it's almost dizzying - and with great pleasure.

Rising star of the year: Isabelle Pering, Bellas Lokal, Bad Soden:

There are restaurants that impress with opulent decorations and daring dishes. And then there are places like Bella's Lokal in Bad Soden, which leave a lasting impression with simple elegance and honest cuisine. Bella's restaurant is not a place that vies loudly for attention. Instead, it whispers quietly of home, respect, tradition and a deep understanding of the art of eating. Behind it all is Isabelle Pering - after stints at Opus V in Mannheim, Kevin Fehling in Hamburg, as sous-chef at Frankfurt's Gustav and as head chef for Frankfurt's Lufthansa Lounges, among others, she finally swapped terminal for hinterland and mass-produced food for hand-picked organic produce from local farmers. A good decision!

Sommelière of the Year: Désirée Steinheuer, Steinheuers Restaurant Zur Alten Post, Bad Neuenahr Ahrweiler

It's not easy to inherit a great legacy - all too often, what has carefully matured over decades into something unique is destroyed without a second thought. The Steinheuers are very different: "We live tradition" says Desiree Steinheuer - and cultivate it, just like her husband in the kitchen, in the service and with the wine. However, preserving tradition should not be confused with standing still - on the contrary: the unique blend of a brilliant selection of the world's greatest, mature wines and the best that the region currently has to offer can only be achieved through constant dialogue. The art of expertly pairing and recommending both to guests is an art that few have mastered as perfectly as Desiree Steinheuer. Santé!

Patissier of the Year: Dennis Quetsch, Rutz Restaurant, Berlin

Dennis Quetsch has been head chef at Restaurant Rutz since 2020 - a real success story: he started at Rutz in 2017 as a gardemanger and worked his way up through the ranks to head pastry chef and sous chef to head chef. In between, he spent six months in a Nordic kitchen, including at the renowned Geranium in Copenhagen. He has not only retained his skills and passion for patisserie, for which he is still responsible at Rutz, but also continues to inspire with his consistently refined creations. Quetsch is an innovative chef and a passionate patissier. Few people are as skilful with vegetables in desserts and serve spruce needle sorbet, salad sticks, wood sorrel, yarrow ice cream or dill crumble. Chapeau!

Producer of the year: Johannsen family, Honkenswarf, Hallig Langeneß

Anyone who shops on Föhr or Amrum is used to the fact that most of the food does not come from the islands. However, the butter in some shops does not come from the mainland, but from an even smaller island: Hallig Langeneß. The Johannsen family keeps eight dairy cows on Honkenswarf. And in this unique location, they produce a flavoured butter that we hardly know any more: Pure terroir and microclimate. The uneven cuboids also vary in flavour depending on the season, shining in the display with a richer yellow than conventional butter. It is the milk, which varies with the season and therefore the cows' diet, that allows for a flavour that is best enjoyed pure on bread: Butter, very close to the fish.

Lifetime achievement: Bobby Bräuer, EssZimmer, Munich

"Let's raise our glasses to the very good years to come" was how we ended our article on Bobby Bräuer in 2023. Now, surprisingly, he has packed up his chef's hat at Munich's EssZimmer. His career has included stints at the Schweizer Stuben, followed by a stint as sous chef at Eckart Witzigmann and chef at the Königshof in Munich. After stints in Düsseldorf and Berlin, Bräuer was honoured as Chef of the Year 2012 by Gault&Millau Austria at the Petit Tirolia in Kitzbühel. He certainly won't forget how to cook when he switches down a gear or two, and we're just as likely to discover him behind a cooker again when the opportunity arises. Bobby Bräuer's cuisine is simply timeless thanks to his weightless aplomb, which is only found in exceptional chefs.

The best restaurants in Germany

There are also changes at the top of the German restaurant scene in the current guide: JAN in Munich is honoured with five red toques for the first time. In addition, three restaurants move into the five-toque league: es:senz in Grassau, Lafleur in Frankfurt am Main and The Table Kevin Fehling in Hamburg.

Five red toques were awarded to:

  • JAN, Munich (newcomer), Jan Hartwig
  • Restaurant Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Joachim Wissler
  • Schwarzwaldstube, Baiersbronn, Torsten Michel
  • Victor's Fine Dining by Christian Bau, Perl, Christian Bau
  • Waldhotel Sonnora, Dreis, Clemens Rambichler

Five black toques received:

  • Aqua, Wolfsburg Sven Elverfeld
  • es:senz, Grassau (rising star) Edip Sigl
  • Horváth, Berlin Sebastian Frank
  • IKIGAI, Krün Christoph Rainer
  • Lafleur, Frankfurt am Main (promoted) Andreas Krolik
  • Restaurant Haerlin, Hamburg Christoph Rüffer
  • Rutz Restaurant, Berlin Marco Müller & Dennis Quetsch
  • schanz. restaurant., Piesport Thomas Schanz
  • The Table Kevin Fehling, Hamburg (newcomer) Kevin Fehling & Mathias Bath
  • Tim Raue, Berlin Tim Raue & Phillip Bendel

A look into the future

The Gault&Millau editorial team honours Paul Decker(Koer, Hamburg), Eike Iken(Petit Amour, Hamburg), Eric Jadischke(Silberstreif, Südharz), Lukas Jakobi(Zwanzig23 by Lukas Jakobi, Düsseldorf) and Julius Reisch(Restaurant Esszimmer, Schwendi) as pioneers of a "next generation" that will shape the German restaurant landscape in the future.

A look at the (wine) lists For the second time in a row, Gault&Millau and HENRIS Edition honoured the best wine lists in Germany - a stage for restaurants, bistros and wine bars that delight their guests with an outstanding wine selection, true to the principle that a perfectly curated drop turns a good meal into an unforgettable experience. More than 150 establishments were honoured. The best of the best - the "Best Grand Selection" - are honoured personally on this occasion.

Die Auf- und Abwertungen im Gaul&Millau 2025

Fünf rote Hauben

Fünf schwarze Hauben

Vier rote Hauben

Vier schwarze Hauben

Drei rote Hauben

Drei schwarze Hauben

Zwei rote Hauben

Zwei schwarze Hauben

Zwei rote Haube

Eine schwarze Haube

Grand Selection Wine Award Gautl&Millau 2025

Sortiert nach Orten

Best Grand Selection

  • Horváth, Berlin
  • Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer, Berlin
  • L. A. Jordan, Deidesheim
  • Ösch Noir, Donaueschingen
  • Kronenschlösschen, Eltville am Rhein
  • Main Tower Restaurant & Lounge, Frankfurt am Main
  • es:senz, Grassau
  • Malathounis, Kernen im Remstal
  • EssZimmer, München
  • Johannas, München
  • Guido al Duomo, München
  • Museum, München
  • Victor’s Fine Dining by Christian Bau, Perl
  • Gut Lärchenhof, Pulheim
  • Kaupers im Kapellenhof, Selzen
  • Schwarzer Adler, Vogtsburg im Kaiserstuhl

Best international Selection

  • PURS Luxury Boutique Hotel & Restaurant, Andernach
  • Alte Liebe, Augsburg
  • Sartory Restaurant, Augsburg
  • Gourmetrestaurant Berlins Krone, Bad Teinach-Zavelstein
  • CODA Dessert Dining, Berlin
  • Skykitchen, Berlin
  • Bricole, Berlin
  • MaMi’s Food & Wine, Berlin
  • Tomatissimo, Bielefeld
  • Due Fratelli, Bremen
  • Natusch, Bremerhaven
  • LAMM & Werkstatt, Bretten
  • Sterneck, Cuxhaven
  • Hashi, petite chinoiserie, Düsseldorf
  • Rob’s Kitchen, Düsseldorf
  • Eiskeller, Düsseldorf
  • Jagdhaus Schellenberg, Essen
  • Emma Metzler, Frankfurt am Main
  • Leuchtendroter, Frankfurt am Main
  • Zur Wolfshöhle, Freiburg im Breisgau
  • Restaurant Panorama, Freiburg im Breisgau
  • Atable, Freinsheim
  • Christian & Friends Tastekitchen, Fulda
  • bianc, Hamburg
  • Jellyfish, Hamburg
  • Hygge Brasserie und Bar, Hamburg
  • Zeik, Hamburg
  • Votum, Hannover
  • Lindenblatt 800 Grad, Hannover
  • La Vallée Verte, Herleshausen
  • KAI3, Hörnum
  • Rebstock Waldulm, Kappelrodeck
  • Sein, Karlsruhe
  • Eno Restaurant & Winebar, Kassel
  • Kilian Stuba, Kleinwalsertal
  • Schlicht. Esslokal, Koblenz
  • C’est la vie, Leipzig
  • Restaurant Field, Lüchow
  • Steins Traube, Mainz
  • Anthony’s Kitchen, Meerbusch
  • Alois – Dallmayr Fine Dining, München
  • Werneckhof Sigi Schelling, München
  • Japatapa Toshibar, München
  • ATLANTIK FISCH, München
  • Blaue Libelle, München
  • MAS-TAVA, München
  • Obendorfers Restaurant Eisvogel, Neunburg vorm Wald
  • Schloss Niederweis, Niederweis
  • ZweiSinn Meiers Fine Dining, Nürnberg
  • Gourmetrestaurant Dichter, Rottach-Egern
  • Restaurant Hofstube Deimann, Schmallenberg
  • Gasthaus Schwanen, Stühlingen
  • Bodendorf’s, Sylt
  • HENRICHS, Wiesbaden

Best national Selection

  • der Weinlobbyist – Bistro & Weinbar, Berlin
  • Hot Spot, Berlin
  • Lamazère, Berlin
  • Historisches Gasthaus Buschkamp, Bielefeld
  • Strandhaus, Bonn
  • Gude Stub Casa Antica, Bühl
  • [mod] by Sven Nöthel, Duisburg
  • Heimatjuwel, Hamburg
  • Ristorante Botticelli, Hannover
  • Weinraum Ingolstadt, Ingolstadt
  • Hase, Köln
  • Ophelia, Konstanz
  • GenussWerkstatt, Mainz
  • MONA Restaurant, München
  • Alter Haferkasten, Neu-Isenburg
  • Gasthaus Sternen Post, Oberried
  • Die Greisslerei, Oberursel
  • Mühle, Schluchsee
  • Restaurant Esszimmer, Schwendi
  • Lamm Rosswag, Vaihingen an der Enz
  • Zeltinger Hof, Zeltingen-Rachtig

Best regional Selection

  • Maltes hidden kitchen, Baden-Baden
  • Landhaus Gräfenthal, Bindlach
  • Le Chopin, Boppard
  • Zum Weißen Rössl, Burkardroth
  • 1718, Deidesheim
  • Landhaus Halferschenke, Dieblich
  • Genuss-Atelier, Dresden
  • Zum Krug, Eltville am Rhein
  • Les Deux Dienstbach, Hochheim
  • Restaurant Papageno, Konstanz
  • Vierzehn85, Leiwen
  • Michels Stern, Marktbreit
  • Meisenheimer Hof, Meisenheim
  • Alte Post Hebelstube, Müllheim
  • Spielweg, Münstertal/Schwarzwald
  • mundart Restaurant, Saulheim
  • Reber's Pflug, Schwäbisch Hall
  • Die Traube, Vallendar
  • Restaurant Admiral, Weisenheim am Berg

Weinbars

  • Redüttchen Weinbar & Restaurant, Bonn
  • W die Weinbar, Hamburg
  • Grapes, München
  • Vinothek by Geisel, München

Sommeliers Best

  • St. Andreas, Aue-Bad Schlema
  • Le Pavillon, Bad Peterstal-Griesbach
  • Tulus Lotrek, Berlin
  • Hallmann & Klee, Berlin
  • Tante Fichte, Berlin
  • Frea, Berlin
  • Standard Serious Pizza, Berlin
  • Bar Brass, Berlin
  • Dae Mon, Berlin
  • Masters, Blankenhain
  • Restaurant 271, Burghausen
  • Heiderand, Dresden
  • Eckert, Grenzach-Wyhlen
  • Restaurant Schloss Loersfeld, Kerpen
  • Anglerstuben, Konstanz
  • IKIGAI, Krün
  • Gasthof Heinzinger, Maisach
  • Der Dantler, München
  • Neo-Brasserie Hoiz, München
  • Zum Fischmeister, Münsing
  • Restaurant Fachwerk im Hotel Stadt Kassel, Rinteln
  • Romantik Hotel Rindenmühle, Villingen-Schwenningen
  • Gasthof Krone, Waldenbuch
  • AnnA, Weimar
  • esszimmer by philipp weigold in der alten post, Weinheim

Wine List Debut

  • Abt- und Schäferstube, Amorbach
  • Berchtesgadener Esszimmer, Berchtesgaden
  • Mountain Hub Gourmet, Freising
  • Pfälzer Stube, Herxheim
  • Imperii, Leipzig
  • Valentin Wine Dining, Lindau
  • Atelier, München
  • Restaurant Spitzner, Münster
  • Jøwåy Nürnberg, Nürnberg
  • Louis restaurant, Saarlouis
  • Pietsch, Wernigerode
  • Zeitwerk, Wernigerode

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