Regional cuisine at the Sosein Restaurant

LOVE OF ONE’S HOME REGION IS THE BEST RECIPE

Schneider treats locals and visitors to delicious dishes. At the same time, he is adamant that all his cooking should use regional ingredients. “Here in Franconia in particular there is an astonishing number of people who farm old animal breeds or plant old varieties of vegetables which are hard to find anywhere else. Most of them do it out of passion. For me as a chef that’s a real stroke of luck,” he explains with enthusiasm.

Personally, too, the Nuremberg-born chef relies on the assets of his native region. In his garden, the gourmet chef grows his own vegetables for the Sosein Restaurant. “I have my own vegetable garden, where I grow 40 different varieties of tomato, among other things,” says Schneider.

AT ONE WITH NATURE

He is keen to keep learning more about the natural world. The chef is convinced that only when he knows the essence of an ingredient can he enable it to develop its best possible flavour. “In my own garden I see a completely different quality of vegetable. I learn about different components and can experiment. And I work to the rhythm of nature; I know when something is in season and when it isn’t.”

The cuisine at the Sosein Restaurant is of the highest level, but always down to earth. In 2019 it was awarded two Michelin stars. Deeply Franconian and with no airs and graces. It’s all about nature and the produce, in order to extract the best taste from every single component. Even when choosing his interior design, Felix Schneider puts taste first: in the old building, which dates back to the 16th century and features Franconian half-timbering and sandstone, guests dine in a cosy atmosphere. The décor, with its dark tables and designer chairs, is both modern and comfortable. A space in which all the senses can focus completely on the cuisine.

THREE BAVARIAN FREE SPIRITS AND A FABULOUS IDEA

It all started at cookery college: that was where Felix Schneider got to know his current colleagues, Jens Brockerhof and Johannes Müller. After losing touch with each other, during which time Schneider worked in the world of haute cuisine, the three Bavarian free spirits met up again and soon realised: “We had to do something together. What we had in mind was top-class cuisine focussed on the products. Modern and anchored in the region,” states Schneider. Together they opened the Sosein Restaurant in 2015. Right from the start it was very well received by the people of Heroldsberg and guests from further afield.

ONLY SEASONAL MENUS

The restaurant only serves seasonal foods. This is why there is no regular menu in the Sosein Restaurant, only the menu of the season. “It’s really not a menu in the classical sense that follows a precise script”, explains Schneider, “but rather a series of dishes that emerge logically to reflect the time and the place – in other words, the season and the region. For guests, this all comes together to form a journey of discovery, with various images evoked in the course of the meal.”

Guests from near and far flock to the Sosein Restaurant to experience this journey of discovery: “Many naturally come from the metropolitan region of Nuremberg. But now we also get guests from Munich and Hamburg,” says Schneider. It’s definitely well worth the trip!