In all my years of dining at two michelin star restaurants, Terra the Magic Place is a destination restaurant that knocks everybody else off the chess board. If you dare to play against them, be prepared to lose every time. If you can’t beat them join them and if I were still training as a chef, I would walk in and beg Heinrich for a job, that is how this visit affected me. It is an absolute jewel in the crown, a rare, beautiful experience, but delivering serious perfection. They really have the time to slow down here and perfect. It is quite challenging to bring consistency whereby every single dish is at the same standard as the others. They did that seamlessly, passionately, and what appeared to be effortlessly. I had to feature this story as one of my best and even today when I am in a different restaurant, I find myself now always comparing to them. You should not do it, but it is hard not to!
It is tasting menu only, with a focus on herbs collected fresh from the forest to your plate. It does not get much better than that and most importantly they are in the hands of the herb master. I ate every single dish without struggle and never feeling too full because the menu was wonderfully balanced bringing such excitement. We had not experienced creations like this before. When you are constantly exposed to gastronomy you are waiting for that moment, for the rare gem to show itself. These moments do not happen often despite there being so many restaurants in the world and we had a special one at Terra The Magic Place.
Snacks
Blueberry stone with whitefish, horseradish, thyme, and dill jelly
Black taco with Aztec sweet herb
10 herbs toast with pumpkin, ginger, and cumin
Transparent cauliflower pillow with pine flavour
Sandwich with trout and fermented garlic
Each one of them brought a newfound interest to my usual feeling of ‘it’s nothing we haven’t seen before’ at the start of a tasting menu. The theatre with the blueberry stone was worth the deliberate drama. Everything looked striking, well presented, and tasted excellent. If this is just the beginning, we are in for one hell of a ride…
Marinated rainbow trout with sour cream mousse and red onions- It is just a beautiful dish, pure and simple. A lesson on how to deliver this level of simplicity is worth its weight in gold here.
Cornet with yeast foam and smoked trout caviar- The smoked trout caviar was so interesting. Larger than your usual caviar of course. Not normally being a fan of cones, this one changed my perspective completely. The Trumpet mushroom bread with winter truffle and crispy lichen cladonia alongside is a winning combination.
Black brioche bread with smoked eel and clove blossoms- Visually a joy to look at, but superb also in taste.
Red pasta with brown butter foam, winter truffle and parsley- I never had a dish like this before, the perfect combination of flavours and the red pasta surprised me.
The sun of marigold- Oh my goodness me, just pure beauty in this dish. Conveying emotion from the plate, a technically brilliant raviolo, fermented garlic and Marigold. The presentation beautiful to match.
Rye and spelt sourdough bread, butter from „Schützhof”, pine oil- They make good bread here, the gluten free one is high level- A treat for people with an intolerance to gluten. The pine oil was king of the table though as being one of the best oils I have ever dipped a piece of bread in. I did not realise at the time that they sold this as well as I stated to the chef later “You should bottle this and sell it, it’s just another level!” We happily took a bottle home but when that runs out life will stop for a while. It was phenomenal.
Hay butter cooked crispy brook trout, lovage pearls and melissa cream- There are just no faults, what can you say as every dish you are presented with is utterly perfect? It makes me so happy to have been here I can tell you. The crispy brook trout, with its delicate crisp and perfectly cooked flesh. Melissa cream, and lovage pearls surround to compliment it in its entirety.
The Terra tea- Mushroom infusion with herbal raviolo- The only tea I want to ‘drink’ from now on.
The local beef: 1. Charcoal grilled tenderloin with a spicy red glace, pimpinella oil and black salsify. 2. Braised with chickpeas sauce, chickweed, and liquid potato gnocchi- We both let out a might oh! upon the first bite of this, sitting back in our seats putting the cutlery down. Shock basically as it was spectacular both in cookery and in inspiration. The only element that we felt was not needed was the liquid potato gnocchi part (If we must give one criticism) We found it was a very separate dish.
The black box: Sea buckthorn and fennel drink, elder flower foam. Raspberry tart with pine spruce yoghurt and meringue of dried rose petals- interesting drink, the raspberry tart matching well.
Dessert of Williams pear with saffron cream and cembra pine nut pesto, white sphere with late harvest Gewürztraminer Terminum- Oh finally thank you, a dessert that is truly two star and surpassing my expectations of a great one. I was really excited by this, saffron cream, and pine nut pesto? Who would have imagined that on a dessert! This is my style of dessert, and this is what dessert should be. I will not be able to eat another for a while now, I just want this one. Sorry no I will not compromise on that. Simply, Thank you for this creation.
The tea ceremony- Tea of 6 aromatic herbs: Golden balm, peppermint, lemon balm, thyme, and clove. Ok so my usual fresh mint tea looks a bit silly now doesn’t it… When you have experienced a tea with fresh herbs such as this, in the location that you are in, it really is hard to come down from here. I can completely understand what the forest and mountains are giving to you. Served with chocolate marshmallows with green apple and woodruff, cornflowers. Marshmallows have always been one of my favourites so to offer these at the end only made me smile even more.
I end this meal thinking, the standard has well and truly been set… How can I go anywhere else after this?! Yes, it really is that good. Get on the plane and go, they also have rooms.
