In conversation with Joschi Walch: the professionalisation of a passion

We’re sitting here at the Friends & Fools Culinary Lab. This space, where the heritage of farming roots connects with the forward-looking spirit of contemporary cuisine, feels like the perfect backdrop for this discussion.

FERUS and Rote Wand are very similar in terms of why we started and what we’re trying to do. FERUS is a place for positively minded people to connect, grow, and create something that resonates and endures. It’s all about beauty, detail, passion, and collaboration. I see that same philosophy so clearly in Rote Wand.

Definitely. Rote Wand is built from passion. My mum was the one who made it known as a place with honest, authentic cuisine. When I took over the hotel from my parents in 1987, continuing her passion became my profession. It would be hard to hide my love for food. Of course, it’s central to the guest experience, but the hotel is also a vehicle for developing my own passion.

Take Friends & Fools. This concept stands for the centre of excellence that we’re creating here. We are accumulating culinary knowledge - something manifested in both our large cookbook library, the Friends and Fools Lounge, and the 1 Green Michelin star awarded to our Stuben restaurant.

Friends & Fools is so special because it shows how much more can be done together. You’re the visionary, but your work is a collaboration with so many others: your team, the local farmers, your guests. How does that network create something greater than the sum of its parts?

No chef can do it alone. The beauty of our kitchen is that it's a team. We rely on the farmers who provide our ingredients, the winemakers who create the perfect pairing, and our staff who present everything with so much love. You need trust for something like this to work. And experts. Everyone here is an expert in their own field, and when we all connect and exchange our knowledge, we're able to create something truly special.

With FERUS, we equate that special feeling or moment to the power of resonance. Resonance is the emotionally rewarding, enriching, or inspiring connection that makes us feel alive, seen, respected, and understood as a human being. What does resonance mean to you?

It’s about being real. You can sense the intention in our dishes. We’re not just putting ingredients on a plate. When a guest tastes our food, I want it to create a deep connection to the place they’re in, to the people they’re with, and to the food itself. That's the feeling we chase.

That's the challenge, isn't it? How do you take something so pure - your passion for food - and turn it into a business, into a profession, without losing any love or excitement?

It’s a constant balancing act. The business side is the discipline that keeps the dream alive. It’s what gives you the space to be creative, to experiment, to fail, and to find new ways of doing things. You have to be smart about the profession so you can protect the passion. We’re still a family-run business, and we think like a family. We believe that if you do what you love with care and intention, the rest will follow.

I think you always have to be in motion, too. I go to great lengths to get a personal impression of what the world’s best restaurants are up to at the moment; what they’re working on, what fascinates them, and what they’re striving for. All of that will help take my passion, and Rote Wand, to the next level.

Long may that continue!