In the last decade a new generation of German chefs have made “Neue Deutsche Küche” one of Europe’s most exciting culinary trends. Ambitious chefs who shun the glamour of Michelin Stars, but cook like gods, often re-interpret traditional dishes as gourmet meals. Food is meant to be enjoyed, so there’s none of the studied formality that prevails in so many French restaurants. The emphasis is on the freshest ingredients, partnerships with artisanal producers and a new respect for traditional plants and animals.
A perfect example – and veritable culinary hidden gem is Thomas Zwink’s Dorfwirt, located in Unterammergau, a tiny village in Southern Bavaria. Himself a down-to-earth, unpretentious, but much accomplished chef he relies solely on meat from free-roaming cattle and pigs from a local organic farm. Using mostly German ingredients, he remains faithful to the idea of regionalism. His dishes are startlingly innovative and authentic and incredibly savory at the same time. Testimony to this is the parking lot in front of his restaurant – filled with cars from Munich and Innsbruck, more than an hour away…
