Nobelhart & Schmutzig, located in Berlin, Germany, has been a fast-rising, successful restaurant since its opening in 2015, receiving a Michelin Star only nine months after launch and currently ranked at No. 45 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023.
Besides offering a quality dining experience, Nobelhart & Schmutzig aims to reshape the culinary narrative of Berlin by representing the gastronomical values of the region. The restaurant has taken a critical stance, defining itself as a ‘vocally local’ political restaurant. The goal is to serve the tastes of the region and share the rich gastronomical background of this ‘much-underrated area’ with the guests, according to the owner Billy Wagner.
The rise of fine dining in Berlin
Wagner states that Berlin has been identified with various valuable aspects of the city, from its architecture to its nightclubs, but its cuisine has never been something that is highlighted. With Nobelhart & Schmutzig, Wagner says the plan was to bring the area into focus in terms of culinary aspects, something no one has done so far.
Wagner explains the culinary atmosphere and the eating habits of the area as mainly dominated by fast food culture, with big portions and workers’ food. Even though fine dining has always existed in Berlin, the industry was mainly dominated by French and Italian cuisine. The growing interest in German wine made a change in the wine culture in the last 30-40 years, which also led to the enthusiasm behind Nobelhart & Schmutzig to make this change in the food culture, as well.
Prioritizing ingredients and people
For the last 15 years, there has been a tendency to work with local ingredients and local producers and look for an identity of your own in the fine dining industry, according to Wagner. With this in mind, the main goal for Wagner in Nobelhart & Schmutzig is to find producers who can provide a certain quality of local ingredients, even though the local ingredients might not be diverse in the way people are used to in French or Italian cuisines.
Nobelhart & Schmutzig currently serves their 10-course menu to their guests, which are mainly 40 people every evening.
Micha Schäfer is the culinary director of Nobelhart & Schmutzig, formerly titled the head chef, however, they believe that the title ‘culinary director’ gives credit to the whole team and the kitchen of Nobelhart & Schmutzig. Schäfer is the main decision-maker, alongside two operational chefs who run the kitchen. The menu is mainly based on how Schäfer sees the ingredients and how he wants to cook the food. In Nobelhart & Schmutzig, the ingredients are the only main stars of the meal, therefore it is crucial for the chefs to not cook the ingredients too much, to avoid changing their essence.
The main principle behind Nobelhart & Schmutzig is their general focus on people, which is not limited only to the guests, but involves the staff and also the producers they work with. Wagner states that, while most restaurants are only focused on guests, and preparing the menu and the ingredients accordingly, they choose to go beyond this perspective.
An ‘agriculture-focused restaurant’
The agriculture-focused standpoint of Nobelhart & Schmutzig takes the agriculture and the production process of the ingredients into the center of the preparation of the menu. Wagner states that this is the main determinant that shapes their menu, and also the reason why they can provide a vegetarian menu, but not a vegan one.
The circulation in the farm, which ensures that everything produced is being used, means valuing every single ingredient, which prevents Nobelhart & Schmutzig from going vegan. While stating that the milk products in their area are very important, Wagner underlines that the overall process of agricultural production and the local ingredients that they use shape the menu, and not only the expectations of their guests.
“Sustainability by incident”
“Sustainability is part of our DNA, not exactly with purpose but more by incident,” says Wagner to explain how their commitment to local ingredients gathered from local producers makes it easier for them to commit to sustainability. Since the ingredients do not travel around continents to arrive at the restaurant, Nobelhart & Schmutzig has a much more efficient and sustainable way of having access to ingredients. Wagner explains this process by saying “We are not working locally only to be sustainable, but it is part of the deal when you start working with local producers.”
One of the other important aspects of working with your local producers is to be able to know the farmers closely and be in contact with them, according to Wagner. Thanks to this close communication, the restaurant has the chance to use every ingredient that is produced on the farm in different ways, therefore maximizing efficiency and reducing waste. Additionally, Wagner states that they are also trying to reduce their plastic usage in Nobelhart & Schmutzig, however, he also emphasizes that it is impossible to completely eliminate the use of plastic due to the way of preserving some specific ingredients.
Co-founding ‘Die Gemeinschaft’
Nobelhart & Schmutzig also stands out as the co-founder of the initiative Die Gemeinschaft, in 2017, alongside Restaurant Horvath. Die Gemeinschaft is an initiative that is committed to a “new food culture” that mainly focuses on the agricultural aspect of the act of eating. It is always the priority at Nobelhart & Schmutzig to buy good quality ingredients and also spread awareness about good quality ingredients, the process of their production, and the supply chain.
According to Wagner, it is crucial to know about the different fields of the supply chain. For instance, in the supply chain of a sandwich, the farmer who grows grain for the flour of the bread in the very first step, and the person who sells the sandwich in the very last step of the supply chain, do not know each other and their process of work. The educational aspect of Die Gemeinschaft is aimed at making connections between these different steps and actors involved in the supply chain.
Die Gemeinschaft allows people from the industry to observe different fields of the supply chain. The chef goes to the farmer, the farmer goes to the chef, and they get to know each other and understand how things work. Wagner believes that it will implement better food sustainability in the end. They organize farm visits for the whole city, on a professional phase, which includes not only the owners but from the chefs to the waiters, mainly everyone interested in the process, which again, proves the importance of building up a relationship between different fields of the supply chain at the end.
Besides taking steps for sustainability and supporting the local producers, in Nobelhart & Schmutzig, it is also crucial for them to adopt technologies that avoid time-consuming processes. For instance, Wagner shares that they do not work with their suppliers on paper invoices, but instead work with an external company that receives and sends invoices via email and also works on taxation processes on behalf of Nobelhart & Schmutzig, thus saving time and reducing paper use.
Creating a sustainable workplace environment
As a restaurant focused on people in general, and not only guests, Nobelhart & Schmutzig strives to provide a better workplace for its employees. Employees of Nobelhart & Schmutzig only work for 4 days a week, 40 hours a week in total. Even though this requires hiring more people, for Wagner, it is more important to construct a workplace that’s sustainable for the staff. Besides, every year they conduct various training for their staff, investing in training for hospitality and communication skills, among others.
Adjustments towards affordability
All the people-focused investments and steps that are taken by Nobelhart & Schmutzig lead them to be more expensive, inevitably. Wagner also emphasizes that due to the current state of the German economy, people do not tend to spend money comfortably, especially in fine dining, compared to 5-10 years ago. Therefore, they come up with solutions to make the restaurant more accessible and affordable for the guests.
Wagner shares that they will be changing their system in April 2024, by making their menu less complex and reducing the 10-course menu to a 6-course menu as an alternative. Additionally, they plan on being more flexible, by changing their visiting hours from 18:30-20:00 to 18:30-21:30, and extending the seating from 40 people to approximately 50 to 70 people. From 21:30, just the wine list will be available for the guests, so they will not have to have the 6-course meal and can just enjoy wine. Thanks to these changes, Wagner aims to make the pricing more affordable for the guests of Nobelhart & Schmutzig.
Building customer loyalty
One of the other important aspects of the business in Nobelhart & Schmutzig is to maintain customer loyalty. For that, they try to be as transparent as possible with the guests. Wagner emphasizes the way they use their Instagram reinforces the transparent relationship and says that the Instagram account allows the guests to understand “why they do things,” such as explaining how the supper is priced, why they don’t serve vegan, and so on. Wagner also shares that they gather reputation management support from an outside expert to deal with any kind of problem. The main aim is to build a trusting relationship on a business level with the guests in order to have a good and healthy relationship.
“For a lot of guests, it is quite abnormal that we are not focusing exclusively on them. For most of the guests, they are used to a restaurant experience based on their needs,” says Wagner, while explaining their standpoint in the restaurant and the reactions from their guests. They target guests who are interested in the production process and quality of the ingredients, as well, and not only the taste of the meal.
No photos allowed
In Nobelhart & Schmutzig, with inspiration from Berlin’s 90s club culture, it is not allowed to take pictures inside the restaurant. On the one hand, they try to keep the inside of the restaurant a secret to be discovered only for the first time during your visit there. On the other hand, they believe that this “restriction” would give the guests more freedom during their time in Nobelhart & Schmutzig.
According to Wagner, this gives the guests a kind of security, and a moment to relax, which makes the evening more valuable for them. It enables the guest to enjoy the moment to smell, taste, feel, see, and enjoy the true craftsmanship without being disturbed, which is part of the deal when you come to Nobelhart & Schmutzig.
Nobelhart & Schmutzig offers its guests a unique experience beyond tasting a delicious, carefully prepared dinner. While this experience enables guests to savor the moment and feel free, it also serves an educational function, pushing guests to think about the meal’s journey before it comes to the table, by carrying out their “vocally local” political standpoint.
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