With MEIKO food waste system:
High technological standards in the depths of the Black Forest
The route to Hotel Munde and its in-house restaurant, Biereck, is a quintessential Black Forest experience: passing through the village of Hofstetten in the Kinzig Valley and climbing a spiral road up to a plateau at about 600 metres. The well surfaced country road leads through fir and deciduous forest to the address ‘Munde 1’. And here we are! With a view of a building that unifies the centuries: while the new seminar spaces and hotel rooms were under construction in 2019, the former Rössle Biereck guest house was also due to be painstakingly restored.
The structure of the building had other ideas, though, and today a classic Black Forest house, built like new, with a restaurant, hotel, conferencing facilities and, crucially, a vast terrace with a breathtaking view.
People who find their home in nature, naturally pursue sustainability. ‘Sustainability started right from selecting the materials, when we chose to concentrate on the local building material of the Black Forest: wood. And then, of course, we selected tradespeople and service providers from the local area, too.’ Manfred Streit and his daughter, Simone Weber, remember taking on the project despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic! And opening the hotel and restaurant along with their team in autumn 2021. The result was a house with unfinished oak panels on the floor and walls, creating an aroma and an atmosphere that welcomes guests and warms their very souls.
Restaurant Biereck is a stunningly beautiful location in an enchanting Black Forest landscape. On closer inspection, we see that, while there is history here, the infrastructure and design are 21st century: a heat pump, solar panels, 28 charging stations for electric vehicles, its own spring, and local products in the kitchen and production area, where the guests are invited to enjoy the processes on display. Head to the hotel's spa area to find a natural pool with no chemicals, purified instead by beneficial microorganisms.
Natural resource cycles are key. Resource economy is vital. Anything that is no longer needed or usable needs to find a new use – that is evident in the small things, in the dishwashing area of the restaurant kitchen, where high-end MEIKO GREEN technology stands humbly against the wall to provide hygienic food waste disposal. Everything that is fed through this machine goes into a very clever cycle at the end of the day: the BioMaster® infeed station takes all food and organic waste and converts it into a homogenous biomass in a super-smooth process. It is collected in a tank that is then emptied by a waste disposal company as needed, who then use the biomass to generate energy.
Our desire for resource economy has driven us to pay extra attention to a number of areas,’ explains Manfred Streit. In the main and the pastry kitchen, many things are made from scratch. The local butchery delivers local products, the bread comes from a bakery in a neighbouring village, and the eggs from a high-welfare farm. Those eggs regularly end up in the homemade spätzle dough, which is made by hand using a traditionally Swabian method in this traditional, local kitchen.
Locals love the rustic atmosphere in Restaurant Biereck and the nature-friendly ethos of Hotel Munde. The pair have long been one of the most popular destinations in the area. ‘Restaurant Biereck has always been a popular destination and it still is now,’ says Maren Casper, who works in operations. And there's no wonder: among the 38 hotel rooms, some contain six beds and are intended for hiking groups. Many other guests come for seminars and workshops, which, on request, can include team building sessions in the local forest with outdoors specialists. And once again, nature is where everyone comes together.
