The cause of the devastating fire in the Baden-Württemberg gourmet restaurant Schwarzwaldstube is still unclear - hotel manager Heiner Finkbeiner, however, wants to quickly offer a replacement.
"We will find an interim solution in which we cook at a high level," said Finkbeiner, according to the dpa news agency. It should be an interim solution. If everything went according to plan, the fire ruin of the approximately 230-year-old parent company of the Hotel Traube Tonbach in the Black Forest could be demolished the week after next.
The fire brigade had to stop searching for the cause of the fire beforehand because the ruins are in danger of collapsing. According to the fire brigade, the fire flared up again early Monday morning. It had broken out on Sunday night.
The actual hotel remained undamaged, nobody was injured. "We will build something new there, again with a top restaurant and again with a farmhouse parlor," said Finkbeiner.
Finkbeiner spoke of a very good and optimistic mood among the employees. He reported numerous reactions from guests at home and abroad. "It doesn't help, but it touches you and drives you to continue," said Finkbeiner.
As a three-star restaurant, the Schwarzwaldstube belongs to an exclusive group of restaurants in Germany. Chef Torsten Michel has been awarded 19.5 out of 20 points in the current German edition of the "Gault & Millau" restaurant guide. He is one of the top chefs in Germany. With the "Guide Michelin", the "Gault & Millau" is one of the best-known gourmet guides worldwide.
For many years, Harald Wohlfahrt set standards in the Schwarzwaldstube restaurant and trained numerous later star chefs until he had to throw up with the owners and had to leave (read more about this in this SPIEGEL interview). His successor, Torsten Michel, made the seamless transition with three stars in 2017 - the restaurant has been wearing this since 1992.