Izabella Boutique Hotel & Szikra Restaurant

After five years working as a marketing specialist, 35-year-old Agnes Petrovits, mother of two children, aged 4 and 6, passionate about cooking, has entered the HoReCa market in the county of Covasna, central part of Romania, with an ambitious project. She opened Isabella Boutique Hotel in the centre of Sfântu Gheorghe in November 2021. She set out with a passion, a dream, good ideas, family support and a European funding of 200,000 euros. After its opening the Hotel had really good reviews, only a restaurant was missing according to the feedback received from their guests.

Having a restaurant in the same town, whit the concept of using only natural ingredients from local producers, with reinvented dishes that look sensational, made according to old recipes from Covasna and Harghita counties, rang a bell in Agnes’s mind.

This is how, the restaurant and the hotel joined their forces to offer even higher quality services and experiences.

Isabella Boutique Hotel and Szikra Restaurant are two locations that have been created with a lot of dedication to offer a warm and unique atmosphere to all guests. Agnes wanted to create a place where guests feel at home from the moment they enter, both because of the design, but also because of the quality of the products and the friendliness of the staff.

They are offering space/setting for team building and corporate events, whilst they are also planning to host different exhibitions and cultural events such as concerts to widen the scale of their products/services.

Circular Strategy: Optimize

Country: Romania

Green Farm-to-table

The company is conscious of how plants are grown. Its management team initiated a green farming project in order to cultivate all the bio green ingredients (vegetables and fruits) to serve the restaurant’s needs for vegetables and fruits. The farm is located in a nearby village, its maintenance is being done by qualified staff. By starting the farm, financial savings were recorded as being an impact of the farm’s operation as significantly cheaper ingredients can be used in the restaurant.

Green farm-to-table provides a viable solution for issues such as: concerns about freshness, nutritional value, food safety, environmental degradation and depletion of the local economy, etc

Apart from the ethical and sustainability factors, locally sourced fresh ingredients are said to taste much better. Consumers today are more health-conscious and are more discerning about their food. The ethically grown plants at a farm-to-table restaurant, suit the modern consumers’ ideology. There is a closer connection with and a greater appreciation of the food at such restaurants.

Economic impact
Significantly cheaper ingredients are used by the restaurant.

Social impact
Green farm-to-table provides a viable solution for issues such as: concerns about freshness, nutritional value, food safety, environmental degradation and depletion of the local economy, etc

Apart from the ethical and sustainability factors, locally sourced fresh ingredients are said to taste much better. Consumers today are more health-conscious, are more discerning about their food. The ethically grown plants and at a farm-to-table restaurant suit the modern consumers’ ideology. There is a closer connection with and a greater appreciation of the food at such restaurants and it also has educational value.
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Environmental impact
Firstly, all the ingredients are grown organically, which means the earth is not burdened with toxic chemicals. Secondly, by using locally produced ingredients, the carbon footprint is greatly minimized as these do not have to be shipped over long distances. Besides, there is no need for additional resources like refrigeration and packaging, which could further impact the environment.

Besides reducing environmental impact by sourcing locally, the company’s restaurant also has seasonal menus, removing the need for shipping out-of-season ingredients, which further increases carbon footprints.

Human resources
Difficult to get qualified staff, trained in green farming.

Financial resources
Staff costs and the costs related to farming and the financials needed for running the farm.

Other resources
No other resources have been mentioned.