Five years of etz

5 years of etz

In retrospect, most things acquire an internal logic they didn't have at the time.

If someone had told us five years ago that the first years of etz would actually be an apprenticeship, we probably would have briefly considered whether we really wanted to do it. Today, we know that this time was necessary.

Of course, this story didn't begin with etz. Much of it developed in the years before: ideas, products, techniques, fermentations, and the question of what a different kind of cuisine could look like. At first, the plates sometimes focused on a technique, a new process, or simply the excitement that something was even possible. Over time, that changed. Techniques didn't disappear; they moved into the background. They became natural.

Craftsmanship, in short.

Perhaps nothing describes this development better than a conversation for our fifth anniversary.

"Should we cook some dishes from the early years or even from Sosein again?" "For heaven's sake, no!" "Absolutely not."

Not because these dishes were bad. But because they would no longer be our cuisine today. A few weeks ago, I overheard a sentence at a bar in Berlin:

“You know, they are no longer one of these fermentation restaurants. They are totally their own thing.”

For the first time, I felt that someone from the outside was describing exactly what we ourselves had been searching for for years. Today, we no longer use fermentation, Japanese, French, or Nordic influences for their own sake.

We use them to make two things visible: a clear aromatic idea on every plate and the place from which it originates.

The place, Franconia, is for us a culinary micro-continent – where diverse landscapes, products, and traditions meet. A place that has been selling itself far below its culinary potential for decades. And we see it as our task to make that potential visible.

Five years ago, we didn't state this so clearly. In Franconia, people prefer to work another year before making loud claims, or like us, five years.

But now it feels right to say it.

We are cooking a new cuisine. From Franconia.

And with that, the next five years of learning begin.

We look forward to your visit,
the etz Team