Great cuisine for a small price
„I don’t intend to revolutionise cookery. I just want to restore some balance”, says Thomas Murer, the Alsatian who rose to prominence in Luxembourg after appearing in the French TV show “Top Chef”. What does he mean by balance? “A good appetiser, a good entree, and a good dessert at a fair and equitable price” is the task that he and his wife Emeline have put before them.
Murer, 29, most recently worked at “Aal Schoul” in Hobscheid, and now wants to do what some of his colleagues believe to be impossible in his very own establishment, the restaurant “An der Villa” in Steinfort, scheduled to open in October. Murer has planned a very special kind of restaurant in an exquisite setting; namely, in the former residence of the steel industry magnates Charles and Jules Collart, which had recently been used as a municipal youth house, and was beginning to fall into disrepair.
“We plan to run it like a bistro – but with the quality of fine dining.” Put another way, “We want to be accessible to a large number of people. People who don’t earn a lot of money should be able to dine there as well.” For a long time now, it has irritated him that most quality restaurants in Luxembourg are very expensive. His plan includes lunches between €20 and €24, appetisers starting at €9, entrees starting at €16 or €17 and normally not going over €27. “And in the event that I get wild turbot, then I may offer that for €30 or €32, but not for €40 or €50.“
Murer is no romantic dreamer. He began to take cooking instruction in Alsace at the age of 14. “That’s where I learned the basics.” Lots of choucroute, but also rhubarb pie, brawn, and apple cake. “The things one should be able to do.” Afterwards he worked for two years at “Auberge de l’Ill” under Marc Haeberlin. Later, after internships with other top chefs, he worked for Patrick Jeffroy in Brittany and for Jean-Luc Brendel in Riquewihr. “I had the fortune of always working for people who passed on their enthusiasm to me.” He followed his wife to Luxembourg, who had come because she liked it here.
“I had the fortune of always working for people who passed on their enthusiasm to me“
Murer knows, then, how things are done in starred restaurants. “And because I know this world, I know that this is not what I want.” The main goal: guests who are still raving about the food when they leave the restaurant, and find the bill “decent”. “I want to be happy, and I want happy employees. What more could I want?” With regard to stars, he thinks primarily of the pressure they bring. And he thinks of the hobby food critics who give out bad reviews on social media, because the waiter didn’t pour the wine quickly enough.
Why should he be the one who can offer “an affordable cuisine in an extraordinary ambience”? Murer looks to technology and good organisation. “I’ve changed the design of the kitchen ten times. They said I was crazy.” But now everything is as it should be. With higher work surfaces (“To prevent back problems”), with induction stoves instead of gas stoves, with a kind of miracle machine called the VarioCookingCenter which cooks, roasts and simmers different foods almost independently – and then cleans itself. “My team should be cooking, and not wiping the kitchen.”. He wants to use vacuum technology (sous-vide) for bulk purchases: “I won’t buy 20 poultry breasts, I’ll buy 200. That’s more economical.”
“An der Villa” is to be a restaurant where the cooking is sophisticated. “Our ambition is to do as much as possible ourselves. We work with proper vegetables, our own sauces, and also with real chicken stock. And we want to surprise our guests. For example, an exquisite dessert can be made with lemon, basil and fennel. And guests should say, I never would have thought that these things work together.”
The Steinfort restaurant, then, should offer a “cuisine française de terroir”. A newer, lighter cuisine – “ambitious, but not pretentious.” And with seating for around 50, naturally open on weekends as well. “In Alcase, the whole family goes out to eat on Sundays. And that’s true in Steinfort too.” A restaurant for all. For children, there are chicken nuggets, “but made on the premises and properly seasoned.” Murer, the father of two small girls, has come up with another little revolution. “We are even going to serve candy floss. We’ve already bought the machine.
AN DER VILLA
15 rue d’Hobscheid, L – 8422 Steinfort
Tel. +352 26 30 55 63