MV Locals – On the Table by Anne Liedtke and Maria Decker

How to Get the Binz Beach Hall and the Westphal Sheep Farm on Board with the Network

Take, for example, the story of the Strandhalle in Binz and the well-known chef Toni Münsterteicher, who—instead of responding to inquiries—first booked a table undercover to check out what the two were up to. In the end, his verdict was: “It’s pretty cool; we’d love to be part of this.” Or the story of the Westphal Sheep Farm, whose owner made a demand: “Get us 20 helpers for our sheep shearing, and we’ll join the network.” In the end, everything worked out here, too. “Some things you really have to earn—you can’t buy them with money, only with passion and charm,” says Maria. 

The menu features Tafelspitz made from Rügen beef, along with cheese and vegetables from Naturhof Otto. “Everything we serve comes from the island or at least from the region,” says Maria. A total of about 25 regional producers, restaurants, and farmers from the island of Rügen are now part of the network; five new culinary partners and new agricultural partners—such as Zirkower Naturrind—joined last year alone. Convivo—led by Josef Kloiber and Marion Stahl—has been part of the network from the very beginning, as have Altefähr and the Strandhaus.

And more and more producers and restaurateurs want to get involved—and are also collaborating with one another. “The FINC Foundation, for example, produces flour, and the Austrian chef, who works a lot with flour and dough, now sources more from the foundation. So they’re also networking with one another—which means regional producers are finding their way even more frequently into the kitchens of restaurateurs here on the island.”

The Mobile One-Day Restaurant

On the beach, a couple from Dresden is stopping on the bike path; they’ve been vacationing on the island for years, but they say they’ve never heard of “Auf den Tisch,” they say, looking at the tent that’s been set up and the pianist who’s just starting a new song. Anne jumps up and grabs a flyer.

Today, the parking lot is filled with cars from Hildesheim, Bielefeld, and even Hamburg. “There are many guests who almost feel like locals because they’ve been coming to the same place for years— they have a deep appreciation for the island and are just as much a part of our guest community,” says Maria. 

New connections are forming here, too. For example, there was once an event featuring sheep shearing by Shepherd Westphal, designed to help guests get to know the work, the animals, and the island better. The two women also sometimes invite the producers to the dinners. At the Strandhaus dinner, for example, the shepherd who supplied the lambs was there and talked about how he cares for his animals. Sometimes it makes sense to take a guided tour beforehand, as was the case at Naturhof Otto. “We basically take the restaurant to the producer, set everything up there for a day, and cook on site,” explains Maria. To find the right people for the network and ingredients for the menu, the two of them once ate their way across the entire island.

First, mow a field

But why does “Auf den Tisch” fit with Rügen, but not with Amrum, Spiekeroog, or Usedom? Maria has been living here with her family for several years; in addition to her husband Damon and her son Otto, the family has recently welcomed a female dachshund named Daisy. What she appreciates most about Rügen is that there’s so much space for new things—and how much the island has to offer in terms of cuisine and agriculture.

“For me, it’s all about making this place an even better place to live.” It’s important to Anne to fill a gap that has often been overlooked on Rügen: “Hardly anyone knows that you can eat really well here and just how the culinary diversity is.” By the way, this also applies to the locals, some of whom get to know people on the island at these events whom they’ve never seen before—even though they also live on Rügen. “We’re clearly striking a chord—offering something that didn’t exist before and thereby facilitating a gathering of people who otherwise wouldn’t have met. That’s just as much appreciated as the good food.” 

And then, of course, there are the locations behind it all. This year, they were already deep in the Granitz, at the “Jagdschloss vom rasenden Roland” stop, and there was a sign right in the middle of the forest, with nothing else around it. “Such remote places are our favorites,” says Maria. Sometimes, though, they have to be created first.

Mario Otto, for example, mowed an extra-large rectangle in the field so that all the furniture would fit, and arranged large hay bales around it to mark the boundaries. Isn’t it a hassle to keep hauling all that furniture back and forth? Yes, they both admit. But even today, everyone pitches in—taking down the benches, the decorations, and the heavy fire pit once the guests have long since left.