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The Artisan
Contribution in collaboration with Team The Artisan
Eating with soil awareness
© Mads Jarlfeldt
The Artisan was founded in 2015 by Mark Thommen and Luca Tribo and has been led by Mark Thommen since 2017. Since 2017, Corin Schmid has been the head chef, and since 2019, Miro Komarek has been the manager.
The Artisan - Kitchen & Urban Garden is named after their love for artisanal products from local cultivation and production, as well as for the organic garden they share and cultivate with their neighbors. The Artisan is a lively neighborhood restaurant. A place where the passion for innovative cuisine is shared in a relaxed and informal atmosphere – throughout the year, and in the summer, additionally on the cozy garden terrace.
Inspired by nature from their organic garden and the surrounding farms, forests, and fields, the team cooks daily with whole, natural, and fresh ingredients. They serve honest, carefully prepared dishes that warm the heart. In short: nature-connected, locally inspired cuisine with international flair.
The Artisan loves exciting, authentic, and vibrant wines – especially terroir-focused wines that express their origin and tell a story. They passionately support a generation of nature-connected winemakers who produce in harmony with nature and place great value on gentle vinification. The Artisan was the first restaurant in Switzerland to exclusively serve such wines.
© Mads Jarlfeldt
The restaurant promotes natural products for healthier people and a healthier planet. To close the cycle of nature, surplus food that cannot be composted in the garden is processed on-site in a compost machine. This innovative machine, the first of its kind in Zurich, helps minimize food waste by creating nutritious compost within 24 hours through the use of microbes, which they then share with their vegetable producers and neighbors in the community garden.
The Artisan team consistently tries to prompt people to think about environmental issues with small inputs. For example, they scatter wildflowers for bees and butterflies in the nearby gravel park, and guests receive a packet of native wildflower seeds after their meal, which are particularly valuable for bees. In 2021, The Artisan, together with Foifi Zero Waste Shop Café, opened the pop-up restaurant ZERO, which celebrates nutrition and biodiversity. ZERO offered transparency instead of demanding perfection and openly discussed challenges in the gastronomy industry to inspire new ways of thinking and working systems. Through reflection, they strive for progress and improvement while demonstrating respect for the environment and the way they produce their food.
from left: Corin Schmid, Mark Thommen, and Sarina Belz
© Mads Jarlfeldt
FOCUS TOPICS
Seasonal and Regional Cuisine
The restaurant follows a concept where the dishes on the menu are changed every 4-6 weeks. This ensures that they use regional ingredients that are in season.
Food Waste / Food Utilization
The Artisan strives to use all leftover food in a way that no waste is generated. Anything that is not used or returned by guests is either composted in their garden or in their composting facility and used in the garden or shared with the producers. Thus, no organic waste is generated in the kitchen that cannot be used in some way.
Organic Products and/or Other Sustainable Labels
At The Artisan, many organic, Demeter, and biodynamic products are used. Quality and sustainability are their focus to offer their guests a special culinary experience.
Use of Fresh and Minimally Processed Food
Almost everything is produced in-house by the team, fresh and by hand.
Close Relationship with Regional Producers
Weekly exchanges and visits to the producers are very important to The Artisan.
Vegetarian / Plant-Based Cuisine
The menu is very balanced with a large selection of seasonally changing vegetarian and vegan dishes that are among the guests' favorites.
Fair Work Environment, Compensation System & Well-being of Employees
A family atmosphere is encouraged within the team – tips are distributed evenly among all employees based on the hours worked. The salaries of the employees are based on experience and responsibility. Regular team events and training sessions are organized so that the staff can continuously develop and educate themselves.
THEIR PRODUCERS
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Idea Salentina
Sourcing of burrata, stracciatella und ricotta
Idea Salentina translated – Idea from Salento, the southern tip of Apulia. Even as a child, Roberto De Matteis looked forward to the fresh mozzarella in Salento. This passion has stayed with him. His heart beats for craftsmanship, for high quality, for local production, and for incomparable enjoyment. The milk used in his dairy comes from the immediate vicinity, where animal husbandry, cow breed, and feeding are important to him. -
Slow Grow
Sourcing of vegetables and wine
The innovative way of farming is reflected not only in the end product. Those who have known the farm since Matthias and Sam took over can also see the development of the surroundings. Innovation is applied not just in cultivation but also in distribution and customer relations. SOLAWI stands for Solidarity Agriculture and involves the community in the activities of the two pioneers. -
Helga
Sourcing of wild herbs, wild fruit and mushrooms
Helga brings The Artisan fresh herbs, berries, and mushrooms that she finds in forests and fields on a weekly basis. Often, they receive interesting, wild products that are in season but are not available through standard suppliers. -
Bio-Metzger Weber
Sourcing of organic or KAG beef, veal, pork, bacon, duck, guinea fowl, Mistkratzerli (a Swiss term for small, free-range chickens), and more
The organic butcher Weber is a family business, now in its fourth generation. They specialize in organic and free-range products and offer a wide range.