A special place for a special dinner, on the way from Westerland to Hörnum you can already feel the wind between the dunes, the setting sun in the west illuminates the golf course, the small harbor and the Adler ships and you can feel nature at all times. It was exactly these regional and Nordic influences that I was to experience at dinner – a vegetarian menu, completely without gluten, white sugar or lactose. The Kai3 Restaurant – a special star restaurant in Budersand – under the direction of Jens Rittmeyer.
As also already in the interview with Jens Rittmeyer clearly recognizable, the kitchen of the Kai3 restaurant will be regionally coined, 70 suppliers provide for fresh and special ingredients, are to provide for a special taste experience. In addition, over 20 different sauces, which are to emphasize each course from the kitchen.
Entering the Kai3 Restaurant, passing one of the numerous light-flooded courtyards, you can already see the Wadden Sea in the evening light, on the right side the large wine cellar and a very long, lovingly designed table.
Even if the sun is already setting on the opposite side, you notice the quiet atmosphere that spreads over the southern tip, the tables discreetly covered, you notice the peace and curiosity rises, what you can probably expect from Jens Rittmeyer and his team in the evening.
Vegetarian menus at Kai3 Restaurant Sylt
For me as a special feature already chosen, a vegetarian menu (also available as a non-vegetarian menu) and in addition a non-alcoholic beverage accompaniment. Was it a few years ago in restaurants completely unimaginable not to choose a wine to a good multi-course menu, so there are some summerliers, including Thomas Kallenberg at Kai3 Restaurant, who want to give special thought and then emphasize the special features of the menu.
Even before the menu begins – a look at the water menu, not just a question “May it be still or sparkling” – selected types of water primarily also from Scandinavia and employees who know their stuff and can explain the differences.
Not only a large and well-stocked wine rack can be found in the Kai3 restaurant, but also special types of water, such as Veen from Finland, Iskilde from Denmark or Bio-Kristall as the first water with organic certification.
The menu of Kai3 Restaurant for the evening – interesting and exemplary design. How often does it happen that you go to dinner with friends, like to eat something “together” and again there are only two dishes for vegetarians or vegans.
In the Kai3 restaurant under the management of Jens Rittmeyer, the opposite is the case. Guests who prefer their dishes to be vegetarian will find them on the regular menu. Only those who want meat or fish can order these separately. So it is also possible, e.g., to receive the second or fourth course only vegetarian, the remaining courses regular. Perfectly solved – and an absolute example for other good restaurants.
The “Greetings from the kitchen” – lovingly composed and a taste experience that wanted to be discovered and also the various courses from the vegetarian, as well as regular menu, were small works of art, but above all also good edible.
What is the use of the most beautiful star gourmet food, if it is only art and you as a guest no longer know where to actually start – without destroying something or spreading it over the table.
Jens Rittmeyer knows how to lovingly put together regional dishes and use the various sauces with the right dosage – not too weak, but also not too dominant. Only the interaction of the components shows the true gourmet art.
To give you a better insight into the different courses, you will find the menu of the evening below. In the brackets () indicated, in each case the non-vegetarian addition, which you can find on some pictures, such as the octopus at the “winter asparagus” or Holstein Wagyu beef at “Japanese nature meets Holstein meadow”.
Menu at Kai3 Restaurant Sylt – Jens Rittmeyer
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Field flower
Cauliflower in different preparations, sorrel
(with smoked quail egg and char caviar)
Rivaner grape juice “Haus Klosterberg”, Markus Molitor / Bernkastel-Wehlen
Winter asparagus
Black salsify with celery variations, flat leaf parsley,
(squid, scallop tartare and mussel broth)
Apple celery juice, Linumer Landhof / Linum
A bath in the green
Black cabbage cream with wild broccoli, ring beet, broccoli essence,
(sole sandwich and smoked eel fondue)
“Spiruli”, EW refreshment plant / Düsseldorf
From the scent of the forest
Mushroom broth with cream of braised onion, pickled mushrooms and forest herbs
“Own creation” 1724 Tonic Water & Casanova vinegar essence, Doktorenhof / Venningen
Evergreen (vegetarian)
Ravioli of beet with cranberry crunch, herb foam and pear balsamic vinegar sauce
“Weisser Burgunder” varietal grape juice, Boller / Bad Boll
or
Japanese nature meets Holstein meadow
Holstein Wagyu beef braised for 30 hours, with leek puree,
juniper jus and oat root
“Wild Plum” direct juice, Privatkelterei van Nahmen / Hamminkeln
Sweets from next door
Quince/Summerbird chocolate/spruce
“Constantinople Apple Quince” quince nectar, Bauer / Bad Liebenwerda
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Conclusion – Kai3 Restaurant Sylt
As you can already see from the photos and imagine, a very successful evening with attentive service, good food and a special taste experience. I have not yet so often put an emphasis on sauces.
As mentioned above, the combinations of fresh regional ingredients with selected sauces are an absolute experience. Especially the possibility – to experience vegetarian star cuisine once – should become more and more popular.
Jens Rittmeyer and his Kai3 team at Budersand hotel understand it now for many years to conjure up a special taste experience at the southern tip, which I can recommend without reservation. Thank you very much for a very nice evening! You can find more impressions of Sylt on the lifestyle blog of me.
Update: In the meantime Jens Rittmeyer has left the Kai3 and offers his kitchen skills in his product world itself.
