Benjamin Roesch & Jeannine Frank, Horváth
Benjamin Roesch, head of strategic development and PR, and Jeannine Frank, owner & managing director, at Horváth in Berlin
How important is it for you to use local produce?
– Almost all our produce is sourced from around Berlin, with the exception of different oils, which we import from Austria. We completely exclude luxury ingredients. Sebastian, our co-owner and head chef, grew up in rural Austria, and our inspiration is deeply rooted in Austrian cuisine and tradition. Working with locally available produce also means employing traditional techniques from this region. Popular international techniques often get overexploited and involve ingredients not locally available.
How do you incorporate wine into the menu experience?
– Wine is integral to our gastronomic philosophy. Selecting wine is as deliberate as choosing ingredients for our dishes. Since Sebastian grew up near the Hungarian border, which was formerly the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, we feature a variety of wines from that geographic region and its surroundings. This means we focus on wines from Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia and Austria & Germany instead of wines from France, Italy, or overseas. We focus on small-scale wineries, where winemakers care for the soil of their vines, just as we expect our farmers to care for the soil of their vegetables.
What do you do to ensure work-life balance for your staff?
– Work-life balance is very important to us. Nearly three years ago, we introduced a four day working week for our employees, with logging in and out managed via fingerprint technology as to accurately track working hours. We hold regular feedback meetings to check in with our staff, ensuring they have the opportunity to voice their concerns and be part of the business structure. We operate as a team, always prioritizing the well-being and growth of our staff. As we are a small team with only ten members, we try to create a familiar energy in our business, which is the key to our employees being able to transport this good energy to our guests.
On photo: Sebastian & Jeaninne Frank
Photo: Kaiserhappen
