Bio-Fine-Dining-Restaurant 1950

Rating: 18
Author: Gault&Millau

Aichelauer Straße 4, 72534 Hayingen, Germany

18/20
Prestige Restaurant

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1 PHOTOS

Chef: Simon Tress
Cooking: Gastronomic | German | Local | Vegan | Vegetarian
Services: Access for people with disabilities | Accommodation | Electric charging station | Garden | Private Parking | Terrace
Style: Romantic | With children | With family | With friends

Gault&Millau's review 2025

It stinks of manure. From the neighboring farm. And smells of lemon balm, mint, lavender, pimpernelle, chervil, tarragon, kaffir lime, chives, savory. And this on the rugged Alb, where it could not be more barren. Anyone who turns left in front of the barn, which has been converted into a fine-dining restaurant, quickly understands: The richness of the 1950 lies in the depth of the preoccupation with the Demeter philosophy – almost 75 years of experience speak for itself – as well as in the herb garden and greenhouse in front of the door, which would do honor to a small monastery. And last but not least, in Simon Tress, who congenially combines these riches into taste explosions. The multi-restaurateur and entrepreneur (with his three brothers he runs a flourishing business with vegan soups, three other organic restaurants, is active in catering and, more recently, also in company catering), has taken down his awards, which have now become more numerous, to make room for family photos in his bright barn with an open pass – for what is really important. And that's how he cooks: political cuisine completely apolitical, simply because that's the way it is, for three generations. The large jars of powders, fruits, leaves and pastes that can be seen from the guest room behind large glass fronts bear witness to drying, canning, fermenting and cooling: the capital of the restaurant, which is explained with many cards for each course – one for each supplier of each ingredient. In this way, a whole memory set full of respect for the producers and knowledge of the product accumulates over the course of the evening. The only point of criticism: the box for the collector's cards is stuck. We eat on a first-name basis with Simon, who has become even more mature culinarily after our last visit to his 12-seat restaurant, but has retained his esprit. The fact that there is now also a richly bearing lemon tree in front of his herb garden is visibly good for the variety of aromas - and also shows that despite all the conviction in organic farming, consistent avoidance of kitchen waste, focus on vegetarian and vegan cuisine and radical regionality, dogmas are not Simon Tress's thing: No product except salt has a longer delivery route than 25 km - this now also applies to citrus flavors. The menu is vegetarian, but meat is available as a side dish on request. There are no compromises when it comes to organic cultivation alone (which is also clear from the wine list, which lists only Demeter wineries from Baden-Württemberg). But if the children would like a (not regionally grown) vanilla ice cream, Simon goes with them next door to the pâtisserie of the regular restaurant "Rose" and makes them happy. That's how we want gastronomy: intelligent, sustainable, future-oriented, generous, undogmatic and with heart. The five amuses at the start are more or less a table of contents for the following five courses and the elements that characterize Tress' kitchen philosophy (in this case, you can confidently use the big word in your mouth): freshness (for example as beetroot puree), shock freezing and fermentation (using the example of a fermented radish shot with Jerusalem artichoke cream), canning (shown here with potato gratin and chive oil), cooking (carrot with onion cream and home-grown mushrooms) and drying/drying using rhubarb foam in honey. The following menu is then much more complex – such as the variation of carrots from your own garden: strudel, dust, puree, raw, caramelized, as a hippe, plus a carrot mushroom cream and sauce with wildly spicy lemon verbena and sour hare clover as well as some dill and à part a grooved carrot on mushroom risotto, chestnut mushroom and a similar number of onion variations: flavorful, highly aromatic, quite complex and yet in such a way that the dish somehow seems natural. "Nature makes the plate," says Simon Tress simply. And he also remains Swabian-modest in other respects: The five-course menu, including amuses and predessert, actually consists of eleven courses – and costs just ten euros per course. Good, healthy, cheap – and great.