The new edition of the Michelin gourmet restaurant guidebook introduced Wednesday added 17 "Michelin Star" restaurants in Germany this year, bringing the total to an all-time high of 327.

Michelin's Germany director, Ralf Flinkenflügel, said that restaurant shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic gave many chefs time to refine their cooking, experiment with creative dishes and "do many things better."

Flinkenflügel told Germany's DPA news agency the past year was "incredibly difficult" for restaurateurs and it was "really amazing how well they mastered it all."

"It's a record year. That surprised us a lot," he said.

'World class' restaurants in Germany

Germany also added a new "three star" restaurant in 2022, which is Michelin's highest and most exclusive rating. The schanz.restaurant, located in the wine-growing region of Rhineland-Palatinate near the Moselle river, became only one of nine restaurants in Germany with three Michelin stars.

"The inspectors were of one opinion: that the cuisine here is absolutely world class," the Michelin Guide wrote on Wednesday. "The owner and chef Thomas Schanz creates dishes that are rich in finesse, personality, and expression." 

Other three-star restaurants in Germany are located in remote villages in Rhineland-Palatinate and in neighboring Saarland. There is one on Tegernsee lake in Bavaria, and one each in Berlin and Hamburg. The small Black Forest village of Baiersbronn features two three-star restaurants.

A total of 46 restaurants climbed the ranks to earn a "two star" rating in 2022. In total, 31 new restaurants claimed a single star.

The Michelin Guide, which has been published by the French tire company as a travel guide since 1904, is considered to be one of the world's top culinary guidebooks.

According to the publisher, international inspectors go anonymously into the restaurants to rate the food, which is the sole focus, rather than the ambiance of a restaurant.

wmr/msh (dpa)