At the regulars' table, you immediately strike up a conversation with other guests. From there, you can see into the kitchen, from which three amuse-bouches are soon served: a cream cheese-filled cream puff, a lukewarm meatball and a crispy basket filled with beetroot and hung yoghurt. A brilliant start! Christoph Hunziker is a competition-tested chef who has been lovingly filling his country inn in Schüpfen, Bern, with life and culinary delights for years. It smells of original spelt bread, which is served with rapeseed oil, butter, fleur de sel and cress for you to slice yourself. The Bernese chef knows every producer of his ingredients. This is evident in the game pâté, filled with plums from the neighboring farm and cherries from his own farm in the form of compote. It continues in grand style with a Susten pike-perch - roasted until translucent and coated in bacon. The sweet tomato compote and the gentle sauerkraut bed are a perfect match. But the brigade - all women on the day we visited - have even more in their quiver: meatloaf with mushrooms, crunchy, buttery carrots and mashed potatoes. This is always served when Hunziker feels like it. As a glance around the table shows, it is very popular. The ingenious pre-dessert - a popcorn ice cream with apple and quince pieces and crumble - prepares the senses for dessert: Chestnut mousse with plum ice cream, served with chestnut foam in a honey dip, garnished with meringue pieces. For friandises, an apple gelée and a Spitzbub. Everything is as light and refreshingly honest as the chef himself.