It’s always said: “Eat with your eyes.” In the “Seeshaupter country kitchen” this sentence applies as soon as you look at the delicatessen counter. Lined up like pearls on a string, they are filled in jars: Jörg Schmitz’s dishes. The sight alone is a feast for the eyes. The sweet potato chilli and the Thai vegetable curry are waiting almost reverently for buyers and the braised ox cheeks next to the Barolo roast. There are several soups from the mason jar, including a carrot and ginger soup, a potato soup and a goulash soup. There is vitello tonnato, antipasti salad and boiled beef salad with horseradish in a glass. And of course fish dishes such as diced salmon in a grainy mustard sauce. The best thing about it: the preserved food can be stored in the refrigerator at seven degrees for up to six months.
Lunch guests can take a seat at five tables in Jörg Schmitz’ bistro. When the weather is nice, the terrace is also available.
(Photo: Franz Xaver Fuchs)
“Seeshaupter Country Kitchen” is what Jörg Schmitz calls his company in the market hall at Bahnhofplatz. In the front area of the modern building is a roll shop, which also offers everyday groceries. In the back part, Schmitz runs his delicatessen counter and a lunchtime bistro with five tables, as well as a terrace with another five tables. “Country kitchen”: Anyone who hears this term thinks more of a country woman who enjoys cooking and who sells her dishes from the farm. But Schmitz’ business is much more a gourmet kitchen.
The 55-year-old chef learned his trade from scratch. He spent six years abroad – in Sweden and Switzerland – and cooked in five-star establishments there. Before starting his own business, he worked as deputy head chef at the conference hotel “La Villa”, after which he became head chef at the “Forsthaus Ilkahöhe”.
A new business model was the solution
That was all 22 years ago. But then he and his wife separated. Their daughter was just four years old at the time. “Working every weekend and also working in the evenings – I wouldn’t have seen my daughter at all.” Schmitz wanted to avoid that in any case.
So Schmitz came up with a new business model with fixed working and opening hours. The decisive factor for him was: “How do I reconcile cooking with family life?” This is how the canning kitchen idea came about – a full two decades before the corona pandemic. It all started with a little snack in Seeshaupt. Cooking and eating took place on 24 square meters. Only eight people fit into the small dining room at that time. 15 years ago, Schmitz then moved to his current domicile at Bahnhofplatz.
Mainly regular customers come
The menus in the Schmitz country kitchen bistro change daily. It is mainly regular customers who eat here at lunchtime. Some come once or twice a week, others every day. “If I didn’t have dishes that changed every day, the guests would quickly get bored.” The menu includes dishes such as “home-cured salmon with ginger gherkins, orange-basil sauce and wild herb salad” and “South Tyrolean spinach dumplings with sage butter and parmesan” or veal boiled fillet with herb cream sauce, asparagus and roasted bread dumplings”. Desserts include crème brûlée with caramelized almonds The prices for the daily specials are between 19.80 and 9.80 euros. Each dish is also available in a version for those who are hungry. It is customary for there to be at least one vegetarian dish on the menu.
Jörg Schmitz does not work alone in his kitchen; Chaminda Samaraweera has been helping him for 15 years. The 44-year-old comes from Sri Lanka. He started out as a dishwasher and worked his way up to become a cook, says Schmitz. “He cooks really well and with great passion. You don’t find that often.” He can cook anything that can be prepared according to a recipe.
Jörg Schmitz (right) and his colleague Chaminda Samaraweera after the work is done.
(Photo: Franz Xaver Fuchs)
Lunch in the bistro is from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday are rest days. If you don’t have time to eat in the restaurant on weekdays, you can also order your desired dish from the daily menu “to go”. Reusable crockery is available for this purpose, which the customer simply brings back on the next visit. Since, according to the chef’s estimate, 90 percent of the guests are regular customers, this is not a problem anyway. “I’m very careful to produce as little waste as possible.” By the way, most of the mason jars are also being returned. “They’re too good for people to throw in the glass container,” says Schmitz.
Daughter Lisa is a “test eater”, together with her father she runs a party service
At the weekend, the head chef spends a lot of time with his daughter Lisa: She is now 26 years old, an event manager and studied hotel and tourism management. On Saturdays, she has agreed to act as a test eater for her father. You have to know that Jörg Schmitz loves to experiment – including with vegan cuisine. The daughter then tastes the dishes that the father has created.
The two also run a catering and party service together on weekends. The menus are freshly prepared on site: either the crew cooks in the customer’s kitchen if it is well equipped for the menu to be prepared in it. Or Schmitz and his daughter roll up to the customer with their own kitchen and set it up there. How many additional service staff the two order depends on the size of the party.
Only one question remains: What is the chef’s favorite dish? “Ochsenbackerl”, Jörg Schmitz says like a shot from a pistol.
The “Seeshaupter Landküche” in the market hall at the station square with bistro and deli counter is open from Monday to Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The country kitchen is closed on weekends.