Zirbelstube

The story

Zirbelstube in Nürnberg – Franconian Country Cooking with Michelin Recognition

Zirbelstube in Nürnberg – Where Franconian Country Cooking Meets the World

For the team at Zirbelstube in Nürnberg-Worzeldorf, the philosophy is simple: good food comes from good ingredients. That principle has earned this family-run restaurant a place among the Michelin Recommended in Germany, a distinction that speaks to the consistency and integrity of what emerges from its kitchen.

The cuisine is rooted in the regional country cooking of Franconia. Chef Sebastian Kunkel, who trained in the Black Forest and at Frankfurt's Tigerpalast, then spent years cooking in Switzerland and New Zealand, brings a global perspective to local traditions. The result is creative, hearty, and fresh dishes that pair familiar Franconian produce with unexpected aromas from around the world.

The kitchen works with farmers, winemakers, and butchers it has known personally for years. This direct sourcing is the foundation of every plate. A tasting menu might begin with cured Franconian char on a blood orange beurre blanc, move to a wild boar pastrami with beetroot and lamb's lettuce, and finish with a topfen strudel spiced with orange and tonka bean. A separate Zirbelstube menu offers a choice of meat, fish, or vegetarian mains, such as corn-fed poularde breast in curry sauce or roasted skrei fillet with miso sauce.

Wine is taken seriously here. The list focuses almost exclusively on Franconian producers—names like Bickel-Stumpf, Störrlein-Krenig, and Brügel—with a few bottles from beyond the region for variety. The team believes Franconia offers nearly everything an ambitious palate could want.

Guests can dine in the main restaurant, the vaulted cellar, or on the garden terrace in fine weather. The atmosphere is warm and familial, a quality that runs through the restaurant's history. Sebastian and his wife Susanne took over from his parents, Maria and Erhard Kunkel, in 2011, continuing a story that began in 1999 when the elder Kunkels purchased the Zirbelstube. The current generation's international experience has deepened the kitchen's approach without losing its Franconian soul.