Not only three federal states and four German wine-growing areas come together in the climatically pampered Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region, but also the traditions and tastes of local Baden, Hesse and Palatine cuisine. These influences are blended in a manner found nowhere else to create a uniquely varied range of dishes. Whether winery, wine tavern, beer garden, international speciality restaurant or gourmet's temple; be it homemade liverwurst, black pudding and fried sausage, stuffed pig's stomach carpaccio, green sauce, low-fat cheese or asparagus in all its variations – here everyone will find a richly set table with hearty through to light dishes.
How high-class cuisine with regional roots can be harmonised with superlative international catering is demonstrated time and time again by the region's star chefs. Karl-Emil Kuntz in Herxheim, Manfred Schwarz in Heidelberg, Wolfgang Staudenmaier and Norbert Dobler in Mannheim, Stefan Neugebauer in Deidesheim, Jürgen Schneider in Schriesheim or Diether Luther in Freinsheim, to name just a few, are exemplarily representatives of long-standing, award-winning cuisine at the highest level.
With these, the region's culinary map is peppered with restaurants on both banks of the Rhine which belong to the best in Germany, a fact confirmed year after year by, among others, the leading critics of Guide Michelin and Gault Millau. 13 establishments in the region currently hold 15 Michelin stars, the world's most revered honour in the catering trade. More than two dozen other restaurants between Worms and Wörth and between Buchen und Grünstadt can boast with at least one of the "chef's hats" awarded by Gault Millau. The quality of such an establishment is adjudged as offering an "excellent cuisine that exceeds everyday fare".
