Here outdoor dining is also possible in winter

St. Peter-Ording / Büsum

Two culinary delights in the front rank on the North Sea beach: Managing Director Nisret Peci continues the successful concept of his Arche Noah in the Osteria at Peci.

Built on stilts: The Arche Noah defies the tides and the seasons.
The Arche Noah stands in the front ranks on the wide, sandy beach of St. Peter-Ording. Built on metre-high stilts, it provides a fantastic view of the North Sea and the culinary service that you can enjoy even at high tide. The wines from Sanisbar, for example, or delicious hot drinks from Melitta Professional. Those who come with an appetite will find fresh fish on the menu and steaks that are also in demand, not to mention the popular pasta and salad options.

Enlarged terrace
There are a good 300 seats available at the Arche Noah in Corona times, about half of them on the terrace that has been enlarged. Hot drinks are a regular item upstairs in the restaurant and downstairs on the terrace. Five fully automatic Melitta^® Cafina^® XT8 coffee machines ensure that coffee specialties and a great variety of cocoa and teas are available, freshly prepared and consistent top quality “by Touch”. A wooden service porch at the stairway to the Ark, significantly expands its catchment area. This supplies not only the terrace guests who are provided with drinks from here. Two serving points for “To Go” consumption are also available to beach visitors, hygienically separated from each other by a wooden wall. Keeping your distance is obligatory in Corona times. A look behind the sales counters reveals what’s going on here. The Melitta^®Cafina^®XT8, the flagship of the XT series making up to 250 cups per hour, is set up there in 3 locations, and there is a milk refrigerator for 2 x 5.5 litres of fresh milk. Several hundred hot drinks are served To Go on good days.

“The coffee business is doing well because the quality is right,” Avni Salihu reports. “In this business out here by the sea, everything has to be just right – the product, the preparation and the service.” Working together with his coffee partner is very important to him. “When I need my contact person, he’s right here for me,” says the operations manager. He is referring to Jochen Krauße, who has tailored not only the coffee machines, but also the coffees, cocoa and tea assortment, precisely to the needs of the Arche Noah. At the tasting, the choice fell on the spicy Melitta^® Bacio d'Oro, 70 % Arabica and 30 % Robusta beans from South and Central America, roasted the Italian way. As a second bean variety, the Arche Noah uses the full-bodied café crème Melitta^® Monte d'Oro^® mild. From the cocoa range, they use the Melitta^® Cioccolata Style Premium Chocolate. “I don’t want to think of how many kilometres I’ve clocked coming across the bridge, but I always enjoy coming here,” beams the Melitta Professional area manager. The same goes for his colleagues from Technical Customer Service, who, however drive as close as possible to the Ark, with their service vehicles.

Patiently braving the winter
Its location on the pier gives the Arche Noah a unique standing. “We are the only building on stilts on the beach that can be reached on foot, without getting wet, all year round,” Avni Salihu reports. That is why, after taking over and renaming the business in 2013, managing director Nisret Peci decided to open the doors in winter as well. But the news had to get around first. “In the beginning we sat here alone. The second year it was better though and during the third winter business was quite good and now we are open all year round.” Guests now flock to St. Peter-Ording in all seasons, including many from North Rhine-Westphalia taking a short break or weekend tourists from the greater Hamburg area. “In the cold months hot drinks are even more in demand here,” says the Ark’s boss. When the sun is shining, day trippers make themselves comfortable on the terrace, even in winter, warmed by Melitta fleece blankets on the outside and speciality coffees, tea or delicious mixed drinks, on the inside. Cocoa is one of the most popular drinks, and the cooler the temperature outside, the more often it is enjoyed with a shot of rum. ”Tote Tante” (lit. dead aunt) is the name of the speciality here in North Friesland. Managing director Nisret Peci and operations manager Avni Salihu have obviously got a lot of things right at the Arche Noah. This includes special events such as company celebrations and, for the last five years, even weddings. “We were approached by guests and the registry office in Garding took up our suggestion,” reports the operations manager. Since then, the Ark has become a popular place to tie the knot. Before the Corona pandemic, there were 50-60 weddings a year on up to four days a week; now under Corona conditions, the registry office can offer a maximum of two dates a week. In the mornings Noah’s Ark is closed for the event – for two unforgettable hours, high above the sandy beach in St. Peter-Ording.

Arche Noah’s managing director Nisret Peci is not only known in St. Peter -Ording as an innovative restaurateur and businessman. In August 2018, he opened the Osteria bei Peci, 40 minutes away by car, on the beach in Büsum. Here, in a prime location with 280 outdoor seats and a grandiose view over the dyke out to sea, many of Arche Noah’s successes are being continued. Melitta Professional is also on board here as the coffee partner with all-round expertise. There are three Melitta^®Cafina^®XT8 machines for speciality coffees – two in the restaurant and one at the kiosk, to handle the heavy To Go business on the beach. Nisrat Peci also relies on the same coffee and cocoa varieties as used at the Arche Noah. Melitta^® Bacio d'Oro, Melitta^® Monte d'Oro^® mild and Melitta^® Cioccolata Style Premium Chocolate.

The combination of storm-proof steel beams, warm wooden walls and high glass fronts define the modern design of the Osteria. One highlight is the large, mostly covered outdoor area with 280 seats. Windscreens and cosy seating areas on different levels, with solid wooden tables and high tables, make the terrace a sought after spot all year round. The most popular spectacle here is, on beautiful evenings when the sun slowly sinks into the sea at sunset. “You don’t even have to fly to Capri,” they say at these moments. No question about it: Outdoor dining is IN on the beaches of Büsum and St. Peter-Ording