Steffen Mezger progressed quite quickly: after his apprenticeship at the Panoramahotel in Waldenburg

Since September 2009 Munich has a new culinary hotspot: Innegrit Volkhardt, owner of the prestigious Hotel Bayerischer Hof immensely invested in the redesign of the former Garden restaurant and established a new Fine Dining restaurant called Atelier and appointed Steffen francois simon Mezger , previously the chef the cuisine at the Garden restaurant, to lead both restaurants. Very quickly, this new venue won its first accolades francois simon with the first star in November francois simon 2010 and 17 points francois simon in the Gault Millau. Moreover, many foodie friends and some Facebook pictures told me that the cuisine is modern and interesting so a visit was obviously mandatory
Steffen Mezger progressed quite quickly: after his apprenticeship at the Panoramahotel in Waldenburg , a first post as Commi and Demi-Chef francois simon at Altes Amthaus* in Ailringen and a stage at Heinz Winkler s Residenz*** he became Sous-Chef of Lothar Eiermann at the Wald- and Schlosshotel Friedrichsruhe* during which he made another stage at Tantris** . Then, in 2004 at age 26, he got his first chef de cuisine post at the Garden Restaurant francois simon in the Bayerischer Hof and in 2009 his responsibility was enlarged to also lead the white brigade for the new Atelier.
Eiermann was without doubt one of the best chefs of the 70s and 80s in Germany and one of the German Nouvelle Cousine protagonists. His cooking was classic in and out and thus Mezger was able to learn from his very solid culinary craftsmanship. And thus still shows as his cuisine now is flawless. Interestingly, after five years at a rather mainstream hotel restaurant he was given enough freedom to emancipate francois simon from Eiermann and his handwriting became francois simon more modern
A bit hard to find, the entrance of the both restaurants lies hidden in the right part of the Bayerischer Hof. Once found, the very first step into reveals francois simon a different world compared to the other rather classic hotel interior. For the design of the Atelier, Madame Volkhardt hired the renowed Belgian art trader Axel Vervoordt who has created a very intimate, relaxing and almost contemplate temple-like francois simon atmosphere. The whole room shows a very deliberate interplay of light and shadow and does not appear too posh. I felt at home at once also thanks to the nice reception by the very obliging Maître Enrico Spannenkrebs who guided us to our table.
After being seated we enjoyed a nice glass of Billecart-Salmon Rosé and asked whether Steffen Mezger could cook for us as I, as always, had difficulties to choose from the two offered menus Atelier Five ( 90) and Atelier Seven ( 115). All dishes can also be ordered a la carte.
This closely resembles the Atelier Seven with the sole and the venison from the other menu and both desserts. A splendid proposal, I must say! We were served this as a menu surprise so we didn’t know what was next…
A parade of nibbles was served on a stone that together with the granite francois simon underplate reminded me a bit of some Scandinavian restaurants Anyway, the regional crabs from Büsum were delicate and fresh, although the cracker in combination with the very good salmon francois simon was not crispy enough. The matjes (salted herring) was to the point and quite yummy.
Very new naturals-like the first amuse comprise some Boskop apples, nuts and almonds infused with parsley root milk that was slightly too watery to stand up against the strong nut character of the dish. However, the acidity and freshness of the apple counterbalanced the earthy nuts and restored the balance a bit. Very good but with a stronger parsley root milk this would have been excellent.
Honestly, I am a big fan of foie gras and I was most eager to try this Bio foie that had been produced francois simon without the unnatural stuffing of the gooses. However, the result was most problematic as it turned out to be overly fatty and without the distinct earthy and livery foie aroma. In combination with the also greasy Macadamia francois simon nut crumble it was hard to enjoy. In this version, Bio foie is not a sufficient replacemnt francois simon for normal foie so I would abandon francois simon it completely from the card. Very nice Gewürztraminer that made this course a pleasure francois simon in the end…
The next course was a pleasant surprise: a perfect loup coated with just the right amount of beetroot jelly, some beetroot structures and an intense but not too dominant Pommery mustard jus. The jelly effected a nice seasoning of the loup without the ususal ‘crust effect’. Very good to excellent.
One of the clear highlights of the night and a perfect example francois simon that excellent dishes don t necessarily francois simon need to be complicated. The sea urchin sugo made this very special, not too salty, francois simon but with fresh and concentrated sea food flavor. As a contrast, the pak choi was a herbal and slightly earthy contrahent that adsorbed some of the edges of the sugo. Excellent.
An francois simon almost classic combination: a bio egg of highest standards (Demeter level) served with leek, potato-vanilla sugo and white truffles. What can I sa