Atelier: Most Thrilling Menu in Munich

While I don’t like this highly commercialized restaurant hotel concept, foodies -including me- have no choices other than going to some of these places for specific chefs. While it is located in the Bayerisher Hof Hotel in Munich, Atelier is nevertheless different than restaurants of this kind. Offering a boutique gastronomic experience, it is a small and quite cozy foodie spot.

Jan Hartwig is at the helm of the restaurant. I know him from Aqua Restaurant, a place in Wolfburg where I frequented for so many years when Sven Elverfeld was the sous chef. After I heard that Hartwig took the wheel at Atelier, I visited the restaurant as soon as possible not to miss the chance to see such a bright chef taking the center stage now. Motivated by my first dinner, I have visited Atelier on my every trip to Munich.

If you look at the evolution of restaurant’s profile, you can say that Atelier was reborn thanks to Jan Hartwig. Since he started to work for Atelier in 2005, his fame has been on the rise with each star he earned every passing year. This year witnessed the restaurant entering the list of Michelin 3-star restaurants in Munich.  On top of this, it was given 18 points by Gault Millau… For me, this success wasn’t a surprise considering that the chef never leaves his kitchen and attends to every detail.

I observed on my few visits to Atelier that even more important than the current quality and creativity of the restaurant, it is the sustainability of these qualities that it seems to have ensured. Given this, you can find on its menu all kinds of sea food and game meat in their seasons.

Wholegrain bread, sourdough, onion bread, garlic bread, salted and unsalted butters offer a delightful experience that would be enough for the whole night. Especially the amuse bouche selections at the start as well as the talented pastry chef Christian Hümbs’s petite four presentation at the end of the night were both appealing to the eyes and the palates! Some of the dishes served in between these two wonderful ends were sesames-sprinkled Carabineros shrimp which tasted somewhat similar to lobster; dove meat smoked with coriander seed; lamb curry with sunflower seeds, jalapeno and cucumber favored red mullet. Another dish I need to mention looked like scallops topped with some roes, but it was actually dried a bone marrow underneath a spread of Schrenckii caviar. Lastly, oysters with kombu moss was among these nicely done dishes.

I can’t say that the wine pairing at Atelier offers the top-notch experience that Tantris -my favorite in Munich in this regard- promises. However, Jan Hartwig’s menu makes up for it with the exquisite taste and elegance it brings to your table. In addition, the digestives that conclude the feast were quite successful. Schnapps with blood orange was among my favorites.

Those who want to have a refined food experience in Munich should not hesitate to add Atelier to your plans…

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life…

www.bayerischerhof.de/en/fun-meets-fine-dining/restaurants-bars/restaurants/atelier
Promenadeplatz 2-6, 80333 Munich, Germany
+49 89 2120743