Restaurant Atelier
Heaps of N25 caviar at Atelier in Munich, Germany
Atelier Review at-a-glance
Note: Chef Jan Hartwig left Atelier to start his own restaurant, Jan, after my visit.
Awards: 3 Michelin stars, 19.5 points in Gault Milau
+The perfect blend of ambitious modern cooking while keeping dishes balanced and avoiding gimmicks
+Unique blend of flavors with a touch of Asian influence while also reflecting some local flavors
+Pastry section did not let down the savory, holding up to the high standard that did not dip during the meal
+Virtually every dish had a stunning presentation, some of the best I have seen
Verdict: I visited three star Uberfahrt 2 days before I visited Atelier and the food at Atelier eclipsed Uberfahrt in almost every manner. I do not say that because Uberfahrt was a bad meal - I enjoyed it quite a bit. I say that to show how truly impressive my meal at Atelier was. The food was ambitious and complex while not forgetting that balance and taste are the most important part of any dish. Jan Hartwig earned his third star only a few years ago in 2018. While there is no fourth star to be earned, based on my meal, Hartwig is clearly continuing to push his kitchen and cuisine forward.
Rating: 98.5/100
Price I Paid: €245 for longest 8 course menu
Value: 15/20
Atelier & Jan Hartwig background
Atelier sits in the five star luxury hotel Bayerisch Hof Hotel which is in downtown Munich. I actually did not get to see the normal dining room as, due to its space constraints and COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, they relocated to a covered outdoor area. I can’t compare this to the normal dining room but its hard to see how it could improve upon the setting I had, the space completely covered in windows so you get the effect of eating outside with the benefit of the temperature control of being indoors.
The kitchen is headed up by Jan Hartwig who earned his three stars in 2018 at the young age of 35, only 4 short years after moving to Restaurant Atelier. Prior to taking up his current residence, Jan worked at 3-star Aqua in Wolfburg under the watchful eye of Sven Elderfeld. Aqua is one of the two German three stars I have not been to but if the mentor’s food is half as good as his protegee I am in for a treat when I go.
Hartwig’s cooking style is hard to describe, seemingly drawing inspiration from bits and pieces of everywhere. There is certainly some Asian influence in the cooking (caviar paired with Chawanmushi, sake in the lamb sauce and yuzu with octopus) but there is also some German - think locally sourced trout and sauerkraut making its way into a sweetbread dish. Rather than ascribe to any one style or cuisine, Hartwig’s style appears to be to produce the best food possible with the best product available, no matter where it is from.
Atelier offers two different tasting menus which can be adjusted to different lengths depending on what you want, specifically a 4 or 5 course menu (€185/€195) or a 5/6/7 course menu (€210/€220/€245). Wine pairings will set you back another €69-€145 depending on the number of glasses. The wines included in the wine pairings were also priced individually (€10-20 / glass) so you could make a shorter wine pairing if you wanted. Overall the price of these menus seems to be quite reasonable for the quality of the food and in line with other German restaurants of this caliber with the added bonus of the flexibility in the number of menus/courses.
What I ate at Atelier
The meal kicked off with a trio of amuse bouches from the kitchen, from left to right a salmon rillette in crispy spring roll dough, bell pepper meringue with marinated pork belly and dijon mustard, and a calfs head sandwich with tarragon and gherkin. The salmon rillette was a tad boring, the use of a spring roll wrapper smart but I think 80% of the Michelin meals in Germany start with some kind of raw salmon bite. The other two were far more exciting and portended the great things to come, the pork bite, in particular, was outstanding with the meringue bringing a great texture and the dijon being well judged to balance out the fatty pork. A good start from Hartwig.
The next amuse, Galician pulpo with potato, yuzu and Pimenton de la Vera, combined flavors from around the world and again showed off the talent in the kitchen, the pulpo having great texture and a nice crispy char, the potato puree being silky smooth and the yuzu being a thoughtful pairing you certainly wouldn’t find in a Spanish tapas bar but one that worked very well.
The bread was a trio of country white, wheat, and a very nice bacon-based concoction. Butter was served in two varieties - tomato and olive and was ingeniously made to look more or less exactly like the ingredients. While this was an impressive bit of trickery and I do not even want to think about the skill and effort required to produce these butters, I would have actually preferred a nice salted plain butter instead.
Chef Jan knew how to set the stage with his first course, an eye-catching presentation of Breton sardine with parmesan, apple, Piment d‘Espelette & a broth from grilled sardine bones. Sardines are not my favorite ingredient so it was impressive that Hartwig was able to not only make it palatable but elevate it to something delicious. The star of the show was sandwiched between the two sardine filets, an apple jelly that provided the perfect foil to the strong, oily fish.
When I saw N25 caviar on the 5-course menu I couldn’t help but add it as an extra course which fit nicely as a second cold course of N25 caviar over a Chawanmushi, Piedmont hazelnuts, rum raisins, and leek oil from Kyoto. To me there are two ways you can go when you use caviar in a dish - add a touch on top to add a bit of indulgence to a dish where other ingredients are front and center or heap it on so it is the star of the show and the diner can really luxuriate in the caviar. This dish clearly ascribed to the latter technique. You can’t tell from the picture but the mound of caviar must have been an inch and a half deep and really let you experience this prime ingredient with the accompaniments designed to highlight the caviar instead of overshadowing it. As an aside if you enjoy caviar and live in Europe, I highly recommend checking out the website for N25 where you can order their top-notch caviar, which is used in numerous Michelin star restaurants, for delivery.
The third course of the night, Bavarian trout cooked in rapeseed oil with lentils, mushrooms, herbs & whey, was perhaps my least favorite of the night but in the same way that someone needs to come in last in an Olympic sprint but that does not mean they aren’t a world class runner. The trout was nice and moist, going well with the rich sauce. The unexpected star was the lentils which were cooked perfectly and added a nice texture to the dish.
The trout was followed up by a “surf and turf “ dish that bridged the meal from seafood to meat with Gillardeau oyster & merguez sausage with spinach, hollandaise & pinot noir. As with all of the dishes, this was a visually striking dish with a thin honeycombed waffle sitting over the top of the vibrant red pinot noir sauce. This was a dish that showed off the technical skill of the kitchen with each component being executed flawlessly - a nice char on the merguez, the waffle having beautiful crispiness and the many flavors balancing harmoniously instead of competing with each other.
The next dish was a beautifully glazed sweetbread with fermented cabbage, peanuts and bacon. I have no idea how all these components actually worked together but somehow it did, the sour cabbage balancing out the richness from the reduction while the peanuts added a nice contrasting texture to the silky smooth sweetbread. Sadly, they rolled out a version of this dish featuring dried caviar butter and sake beurre blanc shortly after I visited - somehow this sounds even better and I would have loved to have tried it!
Main course was a saddle of lamb from Polting Estate with a filed morel, peas, goat cheese vacherin and sake that showed off the abundance of spring. The lamb was cooked accurately with a great layer of fat and went well with the jus. The sake came through nicely in the sauce, providing the unexpected surprise of flavor that is so important to a great dish. The morel and peas were both of excellent quality and brought the flavors of spring to the plate in a way few other ingredients can.
In lieu of a standard cheese board the restaurant served a composed cheese course featuring roquefort from Maitre Affineur Antony with cherries and walnut. There is nothing groundbreaking in pairing cherries and walnuts with blue cheese but it was still very well done, the cheese being present without being too strong as it was nicely balanced from the sweetness of the cherries. It was interesting to compare this to the composed cheese course at Heinz Winkler from a few nights earlier which also was centered around blue cheese. While both used familiar flavors (Heinz Winkler paired it with radicchio and french dressing), the version at Atelier was much more complex and showed off more technique.
The cheese was followed by a pre-dessert of “Our lemon cake” with almafi lemon, rhubarb & Sicilian pistachios. Believe it or not, this brilliantly composed dessert was not even listed as a course on the menu. The lemon pound cake was a real highlight, incredibly moist and having just the right amount of lemon flavor. Filled with a liquid rhubarb sauce it practically erupted when you put the spoon in. This pre-dessert was as good as any proper dessert course and comparing it to typical one-note palate cleansing pre-dessert it is not even close. Easily the best pre-dessert I have ever had.
The main dessert course, Charentais melon, greek yogurt, avocado & wheatgrass, was actually my least favorite dish from the pastry section. The level of technique was impressive and it was nice to see them feature melon, something I have not seen before at a restaurant of this caliber. The avocado also went surprisingly well, adding a nice body to the dessert without being too savory. Conceptually the wheatgrass made sense but for me I could have done without it as I am not sure I need both avocado and wheatgrass in my dessert.
A last little dish of raspberries and oat was perhaps less intricate than the pre-dessert/main dessert but no less tasty. As with everything else it was hard to find any fault with this dish - the crisp on top appropriately crunchy, the texture of the ice cream smooth, and the oats providing a bit of body and a different flavor to counter the sweet and tart raspberries. Lastly came a trio of pralines, whose individual flavors I can’t recall but all were made unique without being too strange.
Stray thoughts
The front of house was just as good as the food. The pacing was spot on and every need was met without being obtrusive or overly robotic, even bothering to strike up a conversation.
If you happen to be driving to the restaurant I highly recommend NOT parking at the hotel. The garage is poorly marked and despite not even having a gate or clear signage, it is very much not included in your visit to the restaurant. Not only is it not included (which is surprising in itself for a three star restaurant), for any stay longer than two hours (which your meal will take) they will insist on charging a full overnight rate of €38 which is actually the difference in cost between a 5 course menu and a 7 course menu in the restaurant. Do yourself a favor - park at a garage nearby and get the 7 courses.