MAXIME de Guy Graessel

MAXIME is a restaurant and an adjoining pâtisserie (Hesselbacher). Sourcing emphasizes seasonality and housegrown ingredients, with eggs collected from his hens and herbs from the restaurant’s own garden regularly featuring on the menu. An extensive, curated wine cellar complements the food offering, with a focus on regional wines. The restaurant is recognised in the Michelin Guide (SELECTED) for classical, seasonal cuisine. The venue sits in Bretten’s pedestrian zone at the Hundlesbrunnen in a historic building that formerly housed the famed Hesselbacher confectionery. The concept comprises both a dining room (Maxime) and an attached café/pâtisserie (Hesselbacher). The Hesselbacher site has a confectionery history dating back to 1829. The cuisine is classical and seasonal with a clear French influence, focusing on fresh, natural ingredients, regional specialties and straightforward, refined preparations rather than molecular or trend-driven techniques. Guy Graessel (Chef). He is originally from Hagenau in the Alsace, discovered cooking as a child, trained from age 14, worked for years in the Black Forest including the starred restaurant Adler in Gutach and opened his first restaurant in 1986; he and his wife Birgit have since run several local establishments before launching Maxime and the Hesselbacher pâtisserie in 2018. Specialties include pâtisserie and fine pastries, seasonal cakes and tarts, classic French‑influenced regional dishes, homemade spätzle made with farm eggs, herb‑forward dishes from the restaurant’s garden and a curated regional wine selection.