Food is art.
June 25, 2026
If you know me well enough, you know that food, taste, experimentation and experience are important parts of my journey. And when they all come together, magic happens.
For the magazine Transhelvetica, I had the incredible opportunity to spend an afternoon and a morning with Stefan Wiesner (also known as “Der Hexer” ) at his Restaurant “Mysterion”, discovering their world. A place where all of the things mentioned above meet.
It sits atop a hill in a big house with rooms for overnight stays and spaces that look like the home of an alpinist-alchemist, as Claudius put it in his article for Transhelvetica. Big tables, various stations: essential oils, a vast collection of spices, pieces of nature used in experimental cooking, a butter-making device. And outside, fire rings - one at the front of the house in an open container, another at the back, on the terrace.
They make everything in-house: the bread, the butter, the sausages, and anything else you can imagine. Real fire is the cooking element, and it all happens outside, on those rings. Earth seems to be the element that represents the ingredients.
I always say food is one of the most complete forms of art: it engages every one of our senses. Taste, smell, the surrounding sounds (or the soundtrack of a kitchen in full flow, which I adore), textures, visual presentation, the environment, the company…and, I’ll dare to say, the storytelling.
That is exactly what Mysterion lives by.
Their nine-course lunch menu, which changes three times a year, is where it all comes to fruition. Fresh, local ingredients. Every menu begins with a vision, sometimes built in collaboration with a partner: Swiss winemakers, goat keepers, perfumers, artists… Once the decision is made to move forward, Stefan sketches the courses on paper: the entire storyline of that vision, recreated as dishes. The sketches show the presentation, name the flavours, and list the ingredients.
Then comes the trial production. Does it actually work the way it was imagined?
That’s where the alchemy starts. Trials, assembling, finding the right ingredients, and building the presentation. Each dish has to follow the storyline and taste good, but it also has to come together easily, since everything is plated in front of the guests while Stefan leads them into his world of dreams and imagined realities.
For those who don’t want the full experience, there’s an easygoing lunch option, too. Equally delicious, prepared in a more casual setting around the fire ring. The same goes for breakfast, served at 9 am sharp if you choose to stay the night (highly recommended, to really live it all). You’ll be invited to make your own butter and eat the freshest bread you’ve had in a long time, warm, straight from the heat of the fire.
All in all: more than just food. A real 360-degree experience, with ingredients you never imagined could find their way into a kitchen. Instead of cooking just an apple, Stefan will use the entire tree.
The team of young souls from all over the world completes the journey. Some come to stay for years, others to learn for a few months before continuing their personal paths.
Those who come to stay more than just a season receive a truffle necklace, which Stefan himself picks in the local woods. Some (most of the team) live in the house, that’s their family, while others live not far. Either way, you can really feel the strong bonds created in the space.
If you’re curious, grab the latest Transhelvetica and read a bit more about our experience up on the hill or check it out yourself and visit Stefan and his team at Mysterion.
Below are a few impressions.
