Regenerative Tourism in Practice: meet our local hero Isabel Brummer with Tastecelebration Residence
Photo by: Maggie StrandIsabel’s encounter with food started very early in her life, coming from a family with a background in the restaurant business in Sweden. Isabel Brummer lived for 15 years in the Netherlands. When she decided to move back to Sweden about seven years ago, she started an exciting project: Tastecelebration Residence – a restaurant with a small hotel and photo studio in the small village of “Andrarum” in the south of Sweden.
“My husband and I decided to give it a GO! We took over an old house that I happened to grow up in, built in 1850 and with more than 800 square meters to play with and an enormous garden. There was a big renovation made over half a year, and then we started our business, Tastecelebration Residence.”
Already when living in the Netherlands, she started a food blog, which attracted international attention in the food blogger scene. In 2018, she won the title “Foodblogger of the Year” in the Netherlands, which was a stepping stone for Isabel to go deeper into the craft of food blogging by improving and teaching skill sets about food photography and giving readings and cooking courses with a focus on plant-based food.
The hotel’s small size allows Isabel to come into contact with her guests and tell them her story. Isabel finds this especially valuable during breakfast time, where she gets the chance to inform her guests about the ingredients being used in her products or about her “only local and seasonal products” philosophy. Isabel calls herself a “food nerd” who loves experimenting with plant-based food. All the ingredients used in her business are handpicked by her and her husband and come from local farmers nearby.
Serving as much local and seasonal food as possible plays a key role for Isabel, which means that her breakfast buffet does not – as conventional buffets do – offer orange juice (oranges simply do not grow in Sweden, and importing them involves a high carbon footprint) but yummy local alternatives, such as carrot juice.
“Of course guests can miss their daily orange juice in the morning, but almost as soon as I let them TASTE the alternative and later explain the WHY behind it, they are happy. They actually feel that they even have had an exclusive experience instead of the average hotel breakfast. Something unique. And in these days, more or less everyone is hungry for ‘the unique experience’ to tell others… Of course, we make use of it like that!”
Isabel emphasizes how important open discussions are when talking about food and new food trends. With her business, she sees it as her task to inspire her guests, help them to rethink the way they approach food, and introduce them in a fun way to something new.
“It really doesn't have to be expensive to make a dish feel exclusive. Good ingredients, time, and storytelling are the ‘secret ingredients.’”
As with every other business, Isabel also faces challenges. Being a plant-based restaurant in the Swedish countryside does not always win the sympathy of everybody Isabel encounters in her business life. Finding qualified staff that is capable of capturing and delivering her message and philosophy to her guests can also be challenging.
Isabel and her husband are real agents of regenerative practices, who see great value in collaborating with local farmers and supporting local businesses.
“I have for myself and my kitchen an ongoing competition in cutting food waste,” says Isabel. “Throughout the day, there are so many possibilities on how to give ingredients a second happy life. - What can I do with the peel from the carrots or the sourdough bread left from lunch? Can I use the stems of the parsley in a different way and make an exclusive side to a new beautiful dish? How can we reuse the leftovers when we make the coffee? What are the options to take care of all the apples in the garden, the bear's garlic growing around the corner, or the ‘leftover’ green tomatoes in October? I just love the challenge and later to let my guests taste the result!”
Only recently, Tastecelebration Residence was selected as one of nine restaurants in Sweden to be in the prestigious “We’re Smart Green” guide.
In line with regenerative tourism, Isabel and her husband have created a little oasis that not only nurtures themselves but is embedded in a local network and attracts visitors to the little village of Andrarum.
“It is a fantastic part of the world, and we are privileged to be living and working in it. I hope that more people will discover it and understand the exclusivity. It is (partly) up to us to show our guests how to take care of it in the best way by doing it so ourselves.”
