The story
Café Rapp has been a fixture in the small Black Forest town of Königsfeld for generations. Today, the kitchen is led by Alexander Rapp, a chef who trained in Michelin-starred kitchens across Germany. His cooking is grounded in the region – he uses potatoes from a neighbouring farmer, Vorderwälder beef from Tennenbronn, and hand-picked watercress from nearby Buchenberg – but he refuses to be limited by geography. “I won’t give up real French scallops, or duck with Asian spices, or Atlantic stone perch,” he says. The result is a style of classic cuisine that feels both rooted and adventurous.
Rapp’s obsession is his stocks and sauces. Twice a week he starts a 30-litre pot of veal bones, root vegetables and fine red wine, simmering and reducing until only ten litres of concentrated jus remain. “If guests knew the effort that goes into these sauces, until they taste exactly how I want them…” he trails off. His mother’s Tafelspitz was perfect, he admits – he can only vary it by using veal instead of beef. That family thread runs through everything: father Ernst still bakes every cake with the same love his mother Christel once showed when serving her boiled beef. The Michelin inspectors noted that “quality, taste and price are right here,” awarding the restaurant a recommendation in 2026.
The dining room mixes old charm with clean, modern touches – “not too thick, but harmonious,” as the team describes it. The signature Zwiebelrostbraten, a Swabian classic of roasted onion-topped beef, is finished with that deep veal jus. “We live south of the sauce equator,” Rapp laughs. “Without a good sauce, nothing works here.” Another standout is the zander fillet with self-picked watercress and risotto, a dish that captures the kitchen’s precision. Whether you come for lunch, dinner, or simply coffee and cake, Café Rapp delivers a relaxed, genuinely hospitable experience in the heart of the Black Forest.
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