In Hamburg, Exploring New Nordic Cuisine with Otto 

Words Steph WadeImages Maximilian Mair Video Jonas Bak Date 25 July 2024

What happens behind the scenes in a day in the life of a chef? For the first edition of Amex Life ON: A Culinary Quest, we wanted the guests to find out first-hand—with an intimate field-to-fork experience.

In the first event of a three-part summer series, we gathered at The George in Hamburg for a special overnight soirée, with a masterclass, a curated dinner, and drinks and dancing. After arriving in Hamburg at lunchtime, the group set off to a sustainable trout farm in Lüneburger Heide, and learned how to master the art of fish filleting with chef  Vadim Otto Ursus, from restaurant otto in Berlin. En route, lunch boxes were gobbled up—home-made sourdough bread and cheese sandwiches, juicy apples from otto’s garden in Brandenburg, and mini financiers—while they listened to a Q&A session with Vadim and the Editor-In-Chief of Falstaff magazine, Sebastian Späth.

“It’s about sharing food with one another, and wild food in a sense,” says Vadim, when describing his food philosophy. Otto is deeply connected to the nature of Brandenburg that surrounds the restaurant’s farm property, where using local suppliers and unique products is a top priority. “We do this by foraging and growing our own food in Buchholz, where our producers are, and work with smaller batches of ingredients that our producers only have a modest amount of,” explains Sören Zuppke, the restaurant’s manager and head of operations. “This means we can change dishes easily with the seasons, and experiment with what is growing in our garden.” 

One such producer is Forellenhof Benecke, the beautiful and verdant fish farm that grows small-batch sustainable and ethical brook trout; and where otto obtains its famous charcoal grilled trout dish from. After taking a tour through the grassy landscape and seeing sustainability in practice—with the trout leaping out of streaming freshwater ponds—Vadim showed the group how to fillet a whole fish like a pro. 

As the sunny afternoon unfolded, the group headed back to The George for some rest and relaxation, both in The George’s spa complex and on its panoramic rooftop. The gastronomic night-time affair began with aperitifs in the library and courtyard, followed by a four-course dinner featuring the same brook trout—grilled and dressed with foraged wild herbs from otto’s garden, alongside plates of Oxheart tomatoes, grilled zucchini, and slow-roasted beetroots. The group toasted to the good things in life: delicious food and drinks in great company, and eating outside during a warm, endless summer night.

Afterwards, a party at The George followed, with cocktails—a few too many for some—and dancing at Bar DaCaio. A much needed breakfast platter by otto the next morning restored energy levels before the group packed their bags and said goodbye, closing the chapter of our intimate first edition of A Culinary Quest.