FARM TO TABLE AT ITS BEST
Regional fruit and vegetables are much more than just short-lived gastronomical hype. Using products from the region around Cologne has clear benefits for us, for the farms supplying them – and for you. It’s the only way to source incomparably fresh ingredients and create a very special dining experience for our guests. Through Cologne’s low-threshold project Bauernrunde, we deal directly with regional farmers. That’s what we call farm to table at its best.
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TO ALL THE COFFEE LOVERS
We’ve always wanted to develop our own DEINspeisesalon espresso blend. And now we have! Our DEINspeisesalon coffee is certified organic and is roasted especially for us by Benson Coffee in Neuehrenfeld. Benson Coffee stands for lovingly selected speciality coffees – roasted by Benjamin Pozsgai, two-times German roasting champion (2016 and 2019). Benjamin purchases raw coffee independent of the exchange price directly from coffee farmers, to offer them an essential perspective and to show appreciation of their work. And by the way: Benjamin delivers the freshly ground beans in reusable 4-kg buckets, by cargo bike. Inspection authority: DE-ÖKO-006
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COLOGNE BEEKEEPER WITH HEART AND SOUL
Why did Frank Methien’s Bienwerk honey win us over in the summer of 2020? Bienwerk is a honey farm making pure, untreated blossom honey in Cologne since 2010 – a high-quality handmade product from the heart of the city. Frank has his hives in Südstadt, Poll, Bickendorf and Raderberg. The wide variety of flowers and trees lend this urban honey a complex and intense flavour that really surprised us, and instantly seduced us as an inspiration for new dishes.
PASSION AND RESPECT FOR ANIMALS AND NATURE
Peter Eßer (aka Goose Peter) and his family have specialised in producing high-quality poultry on their farm in Rommerskirchen-Ramrath for around 25 years. Their legendary birds include Gillbach geese, Gillbach hens and Gillbach ducks, plus they make their own poultry specialities. What counts for us, alongside guaranteed slow growth for the birds, is humane conditions with spacious runs and balanced nutrition from the farm’s own maize and grain – genetically unmodified, naturally.
Quality you will definitely taste.
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On our quest for fantastic olive oil, aided by Dr Marilena Stüwe-Thanasoula and her Cologne-based Elea company, we came across producers on the Peloponnese Peninsula. Their olive trees grow in small groves on a sloping site. That means machines are no use; hand-harvesting is the name of the game. This traditional process ensures the oil’s outstanding quality. Avoiding monoculture, the producers also cultivate fig trees. Their figs are paired with sea salt and honey to make a wonderful fig jam.
100% happiness in a jar, to enjoy right here with us.
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QUINOA FROM KÖLN = KINOA
Johannes, Thomas and Verena Decker founded the Feldhelden Rheinland in 2019. The three thoroughbred farmers and entrepreneurs aim to reduce CO2 emissions through regional and sustainably cultivated ingredients, and to encourage healthy eating. In the Andes, quinoa has been a staple food for about 600 years. So it’s about time to bring this fabulous power-grain to the Rhineland – and since early 2020 into our DEINspeisesalon dishes.
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Around 60 km outside Cologne in Wipperfürth, you’ll find the fish farm and smoke house run by Denis Hahn and his family, complete with its own angling park. Denis is a third-generation fish farmer dedicated to sustainably rearing all fish, from roe to plate-size. Trout, salmon trout, carp, sturgeon, catfish, eel and brook trout live in 17 organic aquaculture ponds filled with mountain spring water.
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BAMBERGER HORNLETS & CO.
Carmen Coenen and Heinrich Trippen are running their family firm in the fourth generation. The name Kartoffelkult pays tribute to the not-so-humble potato, and the company celebrates that cult in numerous ways. Alongside classic varieties, they’ve also dug up older strains – much to our and your delight. These long-forgotten tubers not only offer remarkable flavour, but also boast often-unusual shapes, colours and names. How about the Red Emmalie, the La Ratte, the Bamberger Hornlet or the Blue Sweden? One thing’s a constant: Carmen and Heinrich’s promise to put quality in pride of place.
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In the Eifel region – in Andernach, to be precise – we’ve found a great farm where Charolais cattle grow up just as they ought to, outside in nature. The cows are fed homegrown grass, maize and grain. Weather permitting, the herds spend April to November/December on around 60 hectares of meadows. Slaughter appointments are made only once an animal has reached natural maturity. That’s why we launched a trusting cooperation with the breeder Sarah Doetsch and her family, aiming to build a long-term partnership. But we wanted to go one step further, and the quality produced on the farm convinced us to start ordering whole cattle at last. That means we can use every part of each animal in our cuisine, following the whole-animal movement thanks to your support.
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MICRO GREENS - MAXI TASTE
Philipp and Steffen Schröer run a vertical farm in Ehrenfeld, doing their bit towards cultivating fresh vegetables locally to avoid long delivery routes and unnecessary CO2 emissions. The brothers use certified organic seeds and peat-free organic earth, and run their farm on 100% clean power. Plus, they deliver by cargo-bike. The little plants in the stage between sprouts and baby leaves grow for seven to 21 days, depending on variety, and are harvested at peak nutrient level. We’re total fangirls and boys, since microgreens taste incredibly intense and flavoursome.
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VINEGAR – IT’S ALIVE.
To be brutally honest, we didn’t put much thought into vinegar for a long time. Gastronomy training doesn’t usually go into vinegar quality – it just has to taste good. But now we know the huge differences between vinegars. And we’ve learned that time is a key factor – like with many things that improve with age. We’ve found a vinegar brewer in Theo F. Berl who really knows his onions, and can make vinegars just the way we want them. And ever since, one of our great passions has been pickling beets, cucumbers, radishes, chilis & co in Theo’s vinegar and experimenting with colours, shapes and spices.
MORE ABOUT THEO F. BERLTHE TASTE OF EIFEL MEADOWS
The Vulkanhof farm in the Volcanic Eifel region won us over years ago with its top-quality goats’ cheese. Manuela Holtman and her team converted the farm entirely to raise goats in 1995, with their own cheese dairy – now among Germany’s award-winning dairies. The wonderful taste of their goats’ cheese comes from the nutritious grasses and herbs of the Eifel meadows… and of course from three absolutely essential ingredients: patience, working by hand and years of experience. And incidentally, the entire production process uses no additives, preservatives or colourings.
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