Playing with Fire - In the forests of Switzerland, some radical chefs are going back to basics.

I first heard about the Feuerring from Mischa-Amadeus Olma, the founder of a sustainable wood furniture brand in Berlin, where I live. As a side project, Olma also organizes Feuerring cooking events. One night, he invited me to a dinner on the banks of the river Spree, where he served barbecued venison and potatoes, followed by a smoky dessert of crêpes filled with chestnut cream. When Olma told me that chefs were using the fire ring throughout Switzerland, I knew I had to go to the source, so he and I planned a trip to meet them.

- By Gisela Williams

I stood on the front terrace of Wiesner Mysterion (doubles from $240), a hotel and restaurant in the tiny village of Bramboden, in the Swiss Alps. Ahead of me was a valley dotted with farms and meadows full of grazing cows. To my right were three massive steel firepits with flames dancing in their centers. Chef Stefan Wiesner threw dried herbs into one of the fires, the silver rings on his fingers glinting. Suddenly, the flames exploded.

For a moment, it felt like I was partaking in an ancient pagan ritual. In fact, I was about to eat one of the best meals of my life, in which everything from the sourdough bread with fresh herbs to the bone marrow and housemade sausages and the trout steamed in moss-had been flavored from the fire.