Steffen Mezger

Since May 19, 2014 Jan Hartwig is the new chef at Atelier Garden at Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Steffen Mezger moved on to the famous Residenz Heinz Winkler in Aschau as chef de cuisine [update 2014].

A vegetarian dinner at restaurant Atelier in Munich

A culinary highlight of the Bavarian capital Munich is the restaurant Atelier at Hotel Bayerischer Hof.

Alongside the dishes, olive oil, Mary Pink River salt, cheese cream with chives and salted butter was served together with various types of bred. In addition, I chose a glass of Ruinart brut as aperitif.

My dinner started with several appetizers. Chef Steffen Mezger served finger food consisting of a quail egg, baby spinach and mustard crème. In addition, he presented a sour-spicy contrast with olives, aioli and a potato chip. Another creation was a composition of avocado, pakchoi (Chinese cabbage), tamari (soy sauce) and wasabi crème fraîche. A last appetizer consisted of artichokes, tomato, cheese milk cream, basil sauce and basil. Now I was ready for a seven-course vegetarian menu.

First came a dish with broccoli, sugar snaps, snow peas, bean blossoms and soured milk, served with a radish and potato focaccia. Steffen Mezger’s idea was to eat all the ingredients together, which produced a harmonious, overall flavor.

With the broccoli, the sommelier recommended a 2010 Sancerre “Clos de Beaujeu” with 13% alcohol from the Gérard Boulay vineyard in the Loire valley. It was not too fruity, with a nice mineral touch, which served as a preparation for the Riesling wines to come.

Second came a course with morels and agretti, a saltwater plant traditional used to produce soda ash. Steffen Mezger just glazed the morels, created a ragout and served it with the vegetable stock. Simple, but pleasant.

Third came a dish with cauliflower, in form of a purée, rhubarb pickled in a (mild) curry sauce and watercress. Ass all courses, also this one was light and healthy.

Fourth, I tasted some butterhead lettuce with green asparagus, which the chef at times gets from France, at times from Austria. The butterhead lettuce was served as salad, sauce and cream. The garnish was made of garlic chips. Steffen Mezger was, alongside Holger Zurbrüggen in Berlin and Grzegorz Golen Warsaw, one of three chefs who, in 2013, offered me asparagus of outstanding quality.

I moved on to a 2009 Rheingau Riesling from Schloss Reinhartshausen. It is a dry, mineral-rich, simple Gutswein without the typical Riesling acidity.

The fifth course was made of kohlrabi, spring onion, spring leek and black bred chips. The kohlrabi was presented in sphere form. It had been vacuum cooked and glazed. The leek was grilled. Garden cress served as garnish. In addition, the chef offered a kohlrabi-cucumber salad. The ingredients were as always prepared in a way to keep their original flavor.

Sixth came a gratte paille, a French cheese from Île de France, with carrots and poppy seeds. The carrots had been steamed and rolled in papaver. It was served with an icy buckrams (allium ursinum) granité.

I accompanied the last dishes with a 2010 Tonschiefer Riesling with 12% alcohol from the Dönnhoff vineyard in Nahe. This dry Riesling takes its mineral richness from its volcanic soil. It offers fruity notes as well as some acidity.

Seventh, but not last, came the dessert. Already at the arrival in the hotel, I was served four fabulous pralines. Steffen Mezger served me ice coffee and coffee gelée as well as a half-frozen (semi-freddo) Mascarpone as well as a Mascarpone foam.

At restaurant Atelier, you are served light and healthy gourmet dishes. My only critic would be that here and there a bit less harmony with a more daring course would be welcome. Since 2007, Steffen Mezger has kept his high level that makes a stay at Hotel Bayerischer Hof a culinary delight.

Steffen Mezger’s kitchen philosophy

I first discovered restaurant Atelier in 2007, when Steffen Mezger was already cooking on a Michelin-Star level, although he hadn’t been recognized with one back then. He finally was awarded his first, well-deserved Michelin star in November 2010 for the Atelier, which had opened in November 2009.

In 2004, the gourmet restaurant at Hotel Bayerischer Hof was named Garten-Restaurant. Steffen Mezger was offering a creative, light and Mediterranean cuisine. In 2013, he told me that he now features European cuisine with a special focus on the region of Central Europe. His produce remains as unaltered as possible. He stresses the harmony of the different ingredients he uses, which should be eaten together, creating a natural bouquet. He told me that his cooking-style has become more straight-forward, less playful, more harmonious. The taste has become more intensive.

Steffen Mezger offers a five-course as well as a seven-course menu. In addition, you can chose a seven-course vegetarian dinner. The menu itself changes every four to six weeks. It is a surprise affair because on the menu he only mentions the ingredients he uses, not the actual dishes.

Biography of chef de cuisine Steffen Mezger

Steffen Mezger was born in Heilbronn, Germany, on December 6, 1978. He made his apprenticeship as a cook at Panoramahotel Waldburg from September 1995 to July 1998. As Steffen Mezger told me in 2007, at Panoramahotel, they did everything themselves, starting with the bread. Therefore, under chef Sepp Wimmesberger, Steffen Mezger learned the basics of home-style cuisine. Incidentally, the four-star hotel was owned by the Würth Group.

Form August 1998 to January 1999, Steffen Mezger worked as commis de cuisine at Hotel and Restaurant Altes Amtshaus in Ailringen, where chef Olaf Pruckner was subsequently awarded a Michelin star.

From February 1999 to December 1999, Steffen Mezger made his military service at the Officers Casino in Memmingen, returning to Altes Amtshaus in Ailringen from January 2000 until April 2001, where had occupied the position of Demi-Chef in the end and learned a lot from Michelin-star chef Olaf Pruckner.

In addition, in the year 2000, Steffen Mezger took the opportunity of an internship with three-star Michelin chef Heinz Winkler at his Residenz in Aschau. Steffen Mezger described to me Heinz Winkler as an uncompromising perfectionist.

From May 2001 until November 2003, Steffen Mezger occupied the position of sous-chef under chef Lothar Eiermann at Wald- and Schlosshotel Friedrichsruhe in Zweiflingen. At the time, the restaurant had a Michelin-star. Eiermann’s chef de cuisine, Werner Fuchs, had brought the concept of Nouvelle Cuisine to Germany. Steffen Mezger told me that, when Werner Fuchs was away on sick-leave for a few months, it was up to him to lead the kitchen brigade of 18 cooks, which left him with only three hours of sleep per night.

In 2002, Steffen Mezger spent two internships of four weeks each with two-star Michelin chef Hans Haas at restaurant Tantris, who wanted him as sous-chef. Unfortunately, Lothar Eiermann did not let Steffen Mezger go. Therefore, the compromise of two four-week stints.

From October 2003 until November 2004, Steffen Mezger worked for the first time as chef de cuisine at Hotel an der Stadtmauer in Schorndorf where, unfortunately, they lacked a gourmet public.

Since November 2004, Steffen Mezger is successfully cooking at the garden restaurant, later renamed Atelier, at Hotel Bayerischer Hof.

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Steffen Mezger in a photograph from 2007, when he was 28. Photos Copyright © Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

View of Restaurant Atelier at Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Photos Copyright © Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

A private space at restaurant Atelier. Photos Copyright © Hotel Bayerischer Hof, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.