The Black Eagle has risen again - On the inn as a culinary self

In German-speaking countries, no other type of restaurant reflects and encapsulates a country's culture and history quite like the Austrian inn. Not Michelin-starred restaurants, not the Viennese wine taverns, and not the alpine huts in the Alps represent the Austrian character as much as the inn. For travelers to Austria, it's a piece of home, a place where they can enjoy meals alongside locals. In the inn, Austrians experience their longing for an authority figure who takes charge. This authority figure is the innkeeper, the person who shows guests to their tables and presents the menu.

The inn thrives in an old building whose thick walls and beautiful vaults tell stories of emperors and kings who dined and stayed there, of noble and less noble owners and guests. Tyrol is a paradise for inn-goers; no other Austrian state boasts more beautiful inns. A prime example of a Tyrolean inn is the Schwarzer Adler (Black Eagle) in Jochberg , housed in a 15th-century building that has been attracting guests from Kitzbühel and the Tyrolean lowlands for ages . The Schwarzer Adler is the setting for a gastronomic project that unites two things that have always belonged together in Austria: the inn and the butcher shop . In the pursuit of efficiency, rising costs, and specialization, these two culinary entities have increasingly lost their connection. Many small butcher shops have closed, including in the Kitzbühel area. And for many inns, operating their own butcher shop is no longer profitable.

Gastronomic cultural history

Thomas Bernhard, in his play "The Theatre Maker," already described the culinary unity of butcher shop and inn as inextricably linked. This tradition is experiencing a renaissance in Jochberg , but the expectations are different than forty years ago, when the smells of the slaughterhouse wafted through the open window into the dining room. The character of an inn connected to a butcher shop hasn't changed: it's about quality, independence, and trust. The butcher must be able to look the chef in the eye when he delivers the meat. The chef must accept the butcher's judgment that he's cooking something worthwhile from the meat. Often, the farmer, the butcher, and the innkeeper were once one and the same person, and they certainly couldn't complain about a lack of working hours.

It was always understood that every part of the animal was used, utilized, and offered for sale. The offal as well as the bone-in meat , the tender fillets and steaks as well as the meat for braised dishes . What wasn't considered worthy of being served on a plate ended up in soup or sausage . This resulted in a diverse collection of recipes and ways of using the meat, equally at home in Bavaria, Salzburg, or Tyrol.

The Schwarze Adler, in partnership with meat supplier Mezga in Jochberg, is rediscovering this aspect of Alpine culinary culture . A traditional yet refined inn stands next to a butcher shop that sources its meat from select, small producers. Austrian culinary culture at its finest, presented with the highest standards and expertise.

From nose to tail as a challenge

The head chef is a Carinthian who has traveled extensively and carries a deep love for Austrian cuisine. Mario Naschenwang comes from Spittal an der Drau, worked in Graz for the Grossauer Group, one of Styria's leading gastronomic families, spent time in Switzerland, and upon his return met Hannes Hönegger, appreciating and appreciating the quality of his produce. In Jochberg, he says, he has found a challenge outside his comfort zone. "A traditional inn, but with high standards. The challenge of preparing a daily special from freshly delivered offal makes the work even more exciting. Exploring the 'nose-to-tail' concept together with a knowledgeable butcher will enrich my work." Much of the food is produced in-house. Organic farming is a requirement for suppliers and partners, but certification is not mandatory. Fish come from a small fish farm on Lake Millstatt. The bread comes from Christian Philipps. From Waldmünchen in Germany, who supplies top chefs in Germany and Juan Amador in Vienna. Mario Naschenwang's menu features baked sweetbreads, veal offal stew, veal steaks, and boiled beef from Pinzgau cattle, alongside the aforementioned fish from Lake Millstatt. It's a menu that will appeal not only to the residents of Kitzbühel and their guests. Here, people typically prefer down-to-earth fare to fine dining.

Craftsmanship with a centuries-long tradition

Mario Naschenwang's partner is Dominik Neuberger, a butcher originally from Bavaria . Traditionally, the butcher is the link between agriculture and the chef. His kitchen knife is the bone saw. Neuberger and his team butcher organic calves and lambs, as well as game from their own hunting grounds, directly in their on-site butcher shop, just a few meters from the Adlerwirt's kitchen, where the meat and offal are prepared. The meat processed here comes from small and even smaller farms in the Kitzbühel and Mittersill area. The animals spend the summers on the alpine pastures in the Hohe Tauern National Park and the Kitzbühel Alps. The veal from these calves and cattle is prized throughout Austria and also by its German neighbors, though very little of it leaves the country. It is of such high quality that Austrians eat it themselves or serve it to their guests. Only occasionally does Tyrolean or Salzburg veal find its way into top German restaurants. The veal is certified organic . Especially when it comes to offal, only the best quality and the best feed for the animals will do. A good butcher, just like a good chef, can tell simply by looking at the lungs and other parts of a young cow whether it was raised in a good environment, whether the air was clean, and whether it was fed the right food. Speaking of air: Bacon is part of the culinary heritage of the Austrian Alps.

Bacon, edible peasant stories

It is the preservation of fat and meat from pigs that enriched the simple cuisine of farmers before the invention of the refrigerator. Bacon is a cultural asset where great importance depends on the quality of the fat and meat of the pigs, the breed and feed, and the time given to the pigs to grow slowly and reach their ideal age with sufficient exercise and without stress before being carefully slaughtered. Bacon also needs time to mature. Right next to the butcher shop in the Black Eagle is the in-house smokehouse . The butcher has the highest standards for his bacon. He must be able to compete with the best in the country.

Online supplier of top-quality meat

The mastermind behind the revival of the increasingly rare combination of butcher shop and inn in Austria is German tech investor Klaus Pinter . His company, Mezga , is headquartered in Hamburg. Together with the Mittersill-based butcher shop Rumpold, Mezga serves 250 customers in the restaurant and catering industry in Germany and Austria. These include the iconic Grünauer restaurant in Vienna, Tim Mälzer's Bullerei in Hamburg, the Michelin-starred restaurants Junes on Lake Chiemsee and Facil in Berlin, as well as the Munich delicatessens Marks Feinkost and Käfer, and the professional football players of Red Bull Leipzig, who appreciate the high-quality veal for their diet. This meat is now also available to consumers.

Top butcher Hannes Hönegger, author of the book "The Golden Calf," advises Klaus Pinter on all matters relating to product quality, packaging, and the application of modern delivery options. Pinter and his team, a tech enthusiast, have developed these solutions. Among other things, they have acquired a state-of-the-art machine for packaging steaks. This machine utilizes skin-film technology , the best vacuum packaging currently available on the market. The film encases the steak or other product like a second skin, preventing oxygen or other contaminants from reaching the meat, guaranteeing the highest hygiene standards, and thus extending shelf life while simultaneously protecting the product.

On the Mezga.shop platform, customers can order meat and offal, sausages, and ready-made meals, all delivered to their door. What Mezga doesn't source directly through its partners, it obtains from the very best. For example, the legendary Viennese ham hock from the Thum butcher shop. This ham is already available in Munich at Schumann's, in Berlin at Bar Freundschaft, in select delicatessens and market stalls in Vienna, and now also for Mezga customers. On October 25th, Roman Thum will travel to Jochberg to personally carve Thum ham hock on his 80-year-old Berkel carving machine. On this day, the Mezga project will be presented at the Schwarzer Adler restaurant as part of a celebratory menu . The building, which has existed since 1894, will thus become the centerpiece of a provider of high-end meat quality operating throughout Austria and Germany.