Deidesheim Is the Tiny German Wine Town You’ve Never Heard Of—And It Now Has a Three-Star Michelin Restaurant

All appears normal in the southern German hamlet of Deidesheim, with a population of 3,700. Schoolchildren straggle home on the 400-year-old cobblestoned streets, the sun blazing down on the surrounding wineries that owe their reputation to small-batch, niche wine lovers, with occasional Mercedes AMGs with Frankfurt plates slowing to admire the medieval buildings. No, nothing out of the ordinary to suggest this tiny town is also home to the Michelin Guide’s latest three-star restaurant, taking Germany’s total to 12.I’m not sure what I’m expecting. A street parade? Town crier? The biggest day on the calendar has just bleated by (Goat Day, when a neighboring village delivers a goat on Whit Tuesday in return for grazing rights, an ancient throwback), equaled only by August’s Wine Festival running over two weekends. Schlager music blows as over a dozen wineries’ cellar doors fling open; it’s bratwurst at 20 paces, and a DJ spinning from a souped-up ’70s Kombi van is more achingly Berlin Berghain hipster cool than bucolic countryside.But this town has a high-end lilt, belying its Mona Lisa-sanguine façade. Even the now three-star L.A. Jordan restaurant (named after founder Ludwig Andreas Jordan, not basketball sneakers), the eve of the post-award, seemed muted, but the team’s reaction to the announcement was decidedly non-Teutonic. “It was like we won the food version of the Soccer World Cup, the Culinary World Cup,” says managing director Herr Ole Leidner. “There was screaming, I may have cried.”Chef Daniel Schimkowitsch, behind the scenes at L.A. Jordan Leonie Becker / OneLion MediaLikewise, Chef Daniel Schimkowitsch, who earned L.A. Jordans’ first Michelin star the year it opened in 2014 and the second nine years later, says, “I’m speechless, happy, full of respect, humility, and gratitude to my entire team, the Michelin Guide, our guests, and my owner.” Not only does his restaurant climb the German ladder, but it also enters the Rolodex of the top 150 restaurants internationally.Meanwhile, German radio is trumpeting the big news about one of its smallest towns deep in the Rheinpfalz. But it has long been the secret weekend bullseye for well-heeled Frankfurt financiers, diplomats, and gourmands, an hour warp speed roar down the Autobahn. Chancellor Helmut Kohl frequently brought visiting dignitaries to the Deidesheimerhof restaurant on the main square to experience Germany, including Queen Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher, and Mikhail Gorbachev (not simultaneously); even Michael Jackson moonwalked through those doors.But fresh L.A. Jordan is all about the new generation. “The phone started ringing immediately, and our waiting list exploded overnight,” says Leidner, including calls from UK and New York; it's now booked until September. Walking past its sign still sporting two stars and reading the Michelin judge’s report, only my imagination feasts on the Atlantic monkfish with chanponzu sauce and Périgord truffle dish that lit firecrackers under their taste buds.L.A. Jordan's aromatic monkfish dish, sourced from French island Noirmoutier @Robert Dieth / KinmedaiBut, there’s more than one fish in the gourmet sea and plenty of non-digestible surprises to be had in Deidesheim. “Ooh, what do we have here?” exclaims my husband while exploring its vineyards. The rows of vines are a verdant belt pulling taut around the town’s lumpy belly of medieval houses, the plots held with iron fists by families, scattered with inviting picnic tables and brambled, tangled terrace stairways. Or, in this case, a 15-foot nude sandstone woman (named Eva of Pardisegarten after the winery’s holding) mid-frolic among the grapes.Other surprises beyond the endemic riesling are wine varietals including aromatic gewürztraminer, spätburgunder (pinot noir) reds, and the sniper, auxerrois—the dangerously easy-to-drink white that creeps up on sobriety unawares if not vigilant.A scene from the town's lively annual Wine Festival Kurt E. GroßBack in town, cellar doors featuring restaurants can be found along main street Weinstrasse, pouring through town without a plumb line in sight. It’s possible to ping pong the half mile from nose to tail, from the bookends of young-blood vintners at historic Weingut von Winning, to glass-structured Weingut Reinhardt, innovative Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl (when its Mexican food trucks roll in during the Wine Festival, come hungry), and Kimich Winery with its secret rear garden, resident roaming turtle, and occasional flamenco strumming guitarists.Friends and colleagues are intrigued by the quirkiness of this town, which oscillates between tumbleweed vibes and explosions of electric saxophones, with the occasional amorous couple kissing up against our lounge room window during summer festivals (the price of living mid Weinstrasse).But whenever visiting with that L.A. Jordan reservation, there’ll be some intrigue. March is when cherry and almond trees erupt in cotton candy webs of white and pink (known as Pfälzer Mandelblüte); May is the famed Goat Festival (awarded UNESCO cultural status last year); the Ketschauer Hof hosts its International Wine and Summer garden party in July; and the progressive jazz and wine walk, Jazzwanderung, taps its way towards the forest as leaves burn gold in October. My personal favorite events blow in on winter winds: a cloaked St. Martin's Day clip-clops on a horse along cobblestone streets that lead scores of singing, lantern-holding children and a Christmas market, the best one you’ve never heard of—until now.There are no tour buses and you’ll rarely hear English spoken as a first language (although spoken widely), but foodies are pointing their forks this way. As Laidner says, “Around 75 percent of our visitors are German, but L.A. Jordan is the new and modern Deidesheim that’s just added an international impact to the landscape. That’s what this latest star does to an area.” Michelin just gave this town three stars, but the locals would rate it a million.Weinstrasse is the town's main street, lined with picture-book, half-timbered medieval houses. Getty ImagesWhere to eat in DeidesheimIf not L.A Jordan, the more casual, French-themed 1718 restaurant is the place to be. Elsewhere, the Riva terrace of sister property Kaisergarten, with a koi pond and impeccable service, is a dream on sunnier afternoons. During the morning, swing by friendly couple-run Café-Bistro Bellavigna for healthy, hearty breakfasts and coffee, before building up an appetite again in preparation for Gaststätte Winzerverein's face-sized schnitzels, which are irresistible in a pretty, pergola-covered setting.Waldschenke Deidesheimer Hütte is a cabin-come-beer-garden in the forest, a short 30-minute hike from the Weinstrasse. Sushi.B in Deidesheim (in Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl) is a high-end island of delicacies with Japanese chefs in an otherwise Eurocentric banquet of restaurants.Where to drink in DeidesheimWeinbar 1911 for a riesling with excellent people watching in the main square. The rear courtyard of Gasthaus Zur Kanne is a little oasis with lavender syrup mocktails. Head to Kimich for wine tastings in an original villa, featuring fruity whites like Paradise.Tip: A Dubbeglas looks like a dimpled pint glass, holds a 17 ounces of wine, and is traditional to the Pfalz region. To slow the pace, many drink weinschorle, a 50-50 mix of wine and sparkling water.A version of this story originally appeared in Condé Nast Traveller UK.