Intense

Intense is a fine-dining restaurant in Wachenheim an der Weinstraße, a wine village in the Palatinate, run by Benjamin Peifer and Bettina Peifer-Thiel. It holds two Michelin stars.

Peifer was born in Speyer and learned to cook at Zum Schwanen in Haßloch and the Ketschauer Hof in Deidesheim. He went on to Hofgut Ruppertsberg and to Klaus Erfort's restaurant in Saarbrücken, then led the kitchens of the Prälatenstube in Kasel and the Steinhäuser Hof in Neustadt. The first Intense opened in 2017 in a former wine tavern in Kallstadt, where a surprise menu soon earned a star. Demand outgrew the tiny room, and the couple closed it to rebuild elsewhere.

The new home is the old parsonage opposite the church of St. Georg in Wachenheim. Building work took more than two years, and the restaurant reopened here in 2022. Inside, the room is minimalist and urban, with seats at a counter facing the kitchen, small tables and a few separate nooks. The chef often carries plates out himself, so the line between kitchen and room stays thin. Two guest rooms make it possible to stay the night after dinner.

Peifer joins Palatinate produce and flavours with Japanese ideas, and open fire plays a large part in the cooking. Dinner is a set menu that begins with snacks and an aperitif. Bettina Peifer-Thiel runs the room as maître and sommelier, and the pair choose the wines for the menu together. Gault&Millau has called the whole thing a Gesamtkunstwerk. Japanese technique set against the smoke of a grill and the wines of the Weinstraße gives the evening a strong sense of place.