My name is Benjamin Maerz and together with my brother Christian and my wife Stephanie we are operating our Hotel Rose and the Restaurant Maerz in the small Swabian town of Bietigheim-Bissingen.

About my career: At the age of 21, my brother and I had to decide whether to take over our parents' operation after the stroke of fate caused by the death of our father. We decided to do it - partly because we saw an opportunity to do many things differently without forgetting our tradition. In our restaurant I am responsible for the kitchen, while my brother is responsible for the wine accompaniment as a sommelier and for the service as a restaurant manager. Our courage was rewarded: at the age of 25, our kitchen was already awarded the Michelin star and I became Germany's youngest Michelin Star chef at the time.

Personally, I have a lot of fun discovering our homeland and nature over and over again, but also traveling around the world and getting to know other cultures. I would also like to share these diverse culinary impressions with others at home. The use of regional products, which are treated with respect, humility and sensitivity, is important to me. So I often stick with regional and seasonal basic components with my creations, in which I incorporate international flavors, processes and techniques.

This has naturally resulted in our concept of HOMESICKNESS/ NOSTALGIA | WANDERLUST: We want to create foreign and novel taste sensations with regional products. A variety of flavours that reminds you of faraway countries, created with ingredients from selected, regional producers. We tell our guests about the experiences of our travels on our plates and thus let them be part of our impressions. Through this concept, we are also constantly dealing with new technologies in order to obtain these aromas in the best quality and depth. So we came to deal with the topic of rotary evaporators in the kitchen. The possibility of gently and holistically extracting aromas with hydrolates and distillates and tailoring them exactly to our needs enables us to get the last percent out of our kitchen in culinary terms. At the same time, they represent an interesting basis for an alcohol-free menu accompaniment, in which the selection is currently still very limited. As a result, we reach a new level of the overall experience for the guest.

I am very much looking forward to experimenting and discovering and sharing my results with all interested parties here!