Restaurant in Cuxhaven, Germany
Five tables, one star, serious detour case.
Sterneck is Cuxhaven's only Michelin-starred restaurant (2025), a five-table fine dining room inside Badhotel Sternhagen with views over the UNESCO-listed Wadden Sea. Marc Rennhack's restrained, classically grounded tasting menu runs three to seven courses and earns its €€€€ price point. Book several weeks ahead — this is a hard reservation and fills fast.
Picture five elegantly laid tables, a dining room perched above the Wadden Sea, and a wine cellar sitting three metres below sea level. That is the physical proposition of Sterneck, the fine dining room inside Badhotel Sternhagen in Cuxhaven. The setting is arresting, but the reason to book is Marc Rennhack's cooking: a Michelin-starred tasting menu (awarded 2025) that builds modern dishes on classical foundations, with particular strength in sauces. For food and wine enthusiasts making a deliberate trip to the German North Sea coast, this is the table that justifies the journey. For anyone already staying at Badhotel Sternhagen, it is the obvious answer to the question of where to eat that evening.
Sterneck operates at genuine intimacy. Five tables means the room never fills with noise or crowds; the service is correspondingly attentive and personal. The spatial experience here is shaped by what sits outside the windows: the North Sea, the Elbe shipping route, and the UNESCO-listed Wadden Sea. This is not backdrop as marketing language — it is a material part of the evening. The light changes across a long dinner, and the sense of being at the edge of a working, tidal landscape gives the meal a context that purely urban fine dining rooms cannot replicate.
The wine cellar, accessible to guests and holding a large selection of fine wines, sits three metres below sea level. Whether you treat it as a curiosity or a serious resource for the evening depends on how seriously you approach the list. For explorer-minded diners, asking to visit it before ordering is a reasonable request in a room of this scale and formality.
Marc Rennhack's menu runs from three to seven courses, with a vegetarian version available. The cooking style is modern without being destabilising: classical technique provides the architecture, creative thinking provides the interest. Rennhack's sauces are specifically noted by Michelin as a point of distinction, which in a tasting menu format matters more than it might first appear. Sauces are where technical discipline becomes most visible, and where a chef's point of view is easiest to read across multiple courses.
The ingredients are high quality and the dishes are composed with restraint — few components per plate, which demands that each one carry its weight. This is not the maximalist, theatrical style of some contemporary tasting menus; it is a more considered and, ultimately, more demanding approach to justify. At the €€€€ price point, that restraint needs to land, and the Michelin recognition suggests it does.
Sterneck is a fine dining room inside a hotel, which shapes its evening rhythm differently from a standalone city restaurant. With only five tables and no walk-in trade, the room winds down on its own schedule rather than turning over for a late sitting. If you are looking for post-dinner options in Cuxhaven itself, the town is a coastal resort rather than a late-night dining city. The honest answer is that Sterneck is an early-to-mid-evening commitment: arrive, spend two to three hours over the tasting menu, and treat the evening as complete. There is no meaningful late-night dining scene in Cuxhaven to extend into, so planning your evening around the restaurant rather than after it is the practical approach. For late-night bar options in the area, see our full Cuxhaven bars guide.
With five tables and a Michelin star awarded in 2025, this is a hard booking. Advance planning of several weeks is a minimum; weekend dates will fill faster. The restaurant sits inside Badhotel Sternhagen, and hotel guests likely have some advantage in securing a table, which is worth factoring into accommodation decisions if this meal is the reason for the trip. Hours and a direct booking contact are not listed in our current data, so approaching the hotel directly is the route to a reservation. The price range is €€€€, placing it at the leading end of the Cuxhaven market and in line with Germany's broader Michelin-starred fine dining tier.
The dress code is not formally specified, but the room's formality, five-table format, and price point make smart dress the safe and appropriate choice. Groups larger than a small party of two to four will find the five-table room a limiting factor , this is not a venue designed for celebrations requiring a private hire or large table configuration. For group dining alternatives, our full Cuxhaven restaurants guide covers the broader market.
Cuxhaven is not a city where you expect to find Michelin-starred cooking. That geographical surprise is part of what makes Sterneck interesting for food-focused travellers. The nearest comparable fine dining in the region sits in Hamburg , The Table Kevin Fehling in Hamburg operates at a higher Michelin tier and a very different scale, with a more urban, chef-as-personality proposition. Sterneck's appeal is almost the opposite: small, coastal, and rooted in a specific place.
For those building a broader German fine dining itinerary, the country has strong options across price tiers and styles. JAN in Munich offers another single-star reference point in a very different city context. Further afield, Aqua in Wolfsburg and ES:SENZ in Grassau represent Germany's higher-starred options for those planning a more extensive journey. If creative tasting menus at the €€€€ tier interest you internationally, Quique Dacosta in Dénia and Arpège in Paris are useful comparators for what the format can look like at its most ambitious.
For everything else around your visit, our full Cuxhaven hotels guide, our full Cuxhaven wineries guide, and our full Cuxhaven experiences guide cover the wider picture. If you want a lower-key dinner option nearby, Osteria La Fenice is worth considering for a more casual Italian alternative in the city.
Book Sterneck if: you are making a deliberate trip to the North Sea coast and want the meal to anchor the visit; you are already staying at Badhotel Sternhagen; or you are a tasting menu traveller who values restraint and technical precision over spectacle. Do not book expecting a late-night city dining experience , the room, the town, and the format are all built around a focused, self-contained evening. At €€€€ with a 2025 Michelin star and a 4.6 Google rating from 60 reviews, the quality case is clear. The question is whether Cuxhaven fits your route. If it does, this is the right table.
Within Cuxhaven, the fine dining market is thin , Sterneck is the only Michelin-starred option in the city. For a casual Italian dinner, Osteria La Fenice is the most practical alternative at a lower price point. If you are prepared to travel, The Table Kevin Fehling in Hamburg is the nearest higher-tier fine dining option and operates at a different level of ambition. For the full picture of what is available locally, our full Cuxhaven restaurants guide covers the market.
Yes, for the right diner. The three-to-seven course format gives you options depending on appetite and budget, and the Michelin recognition (2025) is a reliable signal that the cooking justifies the €€€€ price tier. Rennhack's approach , restrained, ingredient-led, with notable sauce work , suits diners who prefer considered cooking over theatrical presentations. If you want higher complexity and more courses at a higher price, Aqua in Wolfsburg or Vendôme in Bergisch Gladbach operate at the three-star level. But for a single-star tasting menu in an exceptional coastal setting, Sterneck's value case is solid.
Yes, with one qualification. The five-table room, personal service, and North Sea backdrop make it a genuinely atmospheric choice for a birthday, anniversary, or milestone dinner for two or a small group. The qualification: this works leading for two to four people. Larger parties will find the room's capacity limiting, and the format is not built for large-group celebrations. At €€€€ with Michelin recognition, it reads as a serious occasion restaurant rather than a casual celebration venue.
Practically, no , not large groups. Five tables is the total room capacity, which means the entire restaurant cannot seat a party of more than around fifteen to twenty at an absolute maximum, and that would require booking the whole room. For groups of more than four, contact Badhotel Sternhagen directly to understand what is possible. For group dining alternatives in Cuxhaven, our full Cuxhaven restaurants guide is the better starting point.
The tasting menu is the format this kitchen is built around , ordering à la carte where available will give you less of a read on what Rennhack does leading. Opt for the longer menu (five to seven courses) if you want the fullest picture of the cooking; the shorter three-course option works if you want to experience the kitchen without committing to a full evening. The vegetarian version is available, so non-meat eaters do not need to default to a reduced experience. Pay attention to the sauce work across courses , it is specifically where this kitchen's technique is most legible.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterneck | Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 1 Star (2025); A breathtaking view of the North Sea, the Elbe world shipping route and the UNESCO-listed Wadden Sea forms the backdrop for first-class cuisine served in the compact fine dining restaurant of Badhotel Sternhagen. This is the domain of Marc Rennhack, whose modern cooking builds on classical culinary foundations. He uses high-quality ingredients and has a knack for creating delicious dishes with just a few simple components. His sauces are particularly noteworthy. With consummate skill, he injects dishes with creative flair and conjures up interesting flavour combinations. His set menu comes in three to seven courses (there is also a vegetarian version). At five elegantly laid tables, diners are served cordially and attentively. The walk-in wine cellar – 3m below sea level – holds a large selection of fine wines. | Hard | — |
| Schwarzwaldstube | French, Classic French | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Aqua | Contemporary German, Italian/Japanese, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Vendôme | Modern European, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| CODA Dessert Dining | Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Tantris | Modern French, French Contemporary | €€€€ | Michelin 2 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Sterneck measures up.
There is no direct Michelin-starred alternative in Cuxhaven itself, which is part of why Sterneck matters. If you want comparable creative fine dining in northern Germany without travelling to Hamburg, your options are limited. For a broader field of Michelin-starred competition, Hamburg's dining scene is the practical comparison set, roughly 100km south. Sterneck's five-table format and coastal setting make it a different proposition from any city restaurant.
Yes, if modern cooking built on classical technique is your format. Marc Rennhack's menu runs three to seven courses, with a vegetarian version available, giving you genuine flexibility on commitment and spend at the €€€€ price level. The Michelin 1 Star awarded in 2025 validates the cooking, and the walk-in wine cellar holding a large selection of fine wines adds real pairing depth. For the price, you are also buying the room: five tables above the UNESCO-listed Wadden Sea is not a setting most tasting menus can match.
It is one of the stronger special occasion cases in northern Germany at this price tier. Five elegantly laid tables means service is attentive and personal rather than efficient and impersonal, which matters on a significant night. The Michelin 1 Star (2025), the North Sea backdrop, and the wine cellar three metres below sea level all add occasion weight. Book well in advance: a room this small fills fast, especially on weekends.
With only five tables, large groups are not a practical fit. Sterneck is designed for twos and small parties where the intimacy of the room works in your favour. If you are planning a table of four or more, check the venue's official channels to confirm availability and configuration before assuming it can be arranged. The venue operates inside Badhotel Sternhagen, so hotel guests may have some coordination advantage.
The set menu is the format here: Sterneck does not operate as an à la carte room. Choose your course count (three to seven) based on appetite and budget, and request the vegetarian version at booking if relevant. Based on the Michelin assessment, Marc Rennhack's sauces are a particular strength worth noting when making your course selection. Pair from the wine cellar rather than ordering by the glass if the budget allows.
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