Munich's gourmet restaurants are as colourful as its districts. We meet top chefs at places where they like to have lunch themselves. This time, we enjoy spaghetti ice cream at Gelateria Adria with newly starred chef Daniel Bodamer before looking over his shoulder at the Brothers restaurant in the Schwabing district.
Daniel Bodamer recently turned not only 30, but also a star chef. Only three months after opening, the Brothers restaurant in the Schwabing district received its first star with him as head chef. I meet Bodamer at Gelateria Adria in the University district – fitting for the hottest day of the year, we go for a spaghetti ice cream. The “Adria“ is Bodamer's second living room, his apartment and the restaurant are only a few minutes apart.
Gelateria Adria is instantly recognisable by its sea-blue canopy and playful lettering reminiscent of Munich in the 80s. The ice cream parlour in Türkenstrasse has been around since 1958 and has been run by Stefano Ciniero and his wife Maria Santoro for 40 years. It has become a landmark in the bustling Maxvorstadt district, where a new shop opens virtually every week.
In the “Adria“, on the other hand, everything has remained unchanged – between wall paintings, gold-decorated mirrors and café chairs with Viennese weave. The shop seems to be lost in time, and that's exactly what makes it so charming. If you order an iced coffee, it comes with cream and vanilla ice cream. The menu includes homemade ice cream, changing pasta dishes and, according to Bodamer, “the best spaghetti ice cream in town“.
“I love ice cream, it's always the right thing!“
While the star chef orders it without cream and with amaretto liqueur, I choose the reverse. The last spaghetti ice cream I had was over 20 years ago, so I'm quite curious. Visually, the ice cream deserves top marks, and it tastes really delicious, too: The strawberry sauce is fresh, the cream ice cold. And although we order the small portion, it definitely qualifies as a lunch.
“I love ice cream, it's always the right thing!” Bodamer enthuses. And that also goes for the “Adria”: Whether in the evening with the girlfriend or during the day with colleagues, the ice cream parlour in the bustling University district is always a great idea. Bodamer discovered it when he started at Tantris, because the neighbouring Amalienpassage is home to the cooking school of Munich's most famous gourmet restaurant.
Bodamer has already cooked at some of Munich's most renowned restaurants: At the new Tantris as a sous chef with Benjamin Chmura, as well as at the Atelier at Bayerischer Hof with Jan Hartwig. In between, he spent time away from Munich – in the three-star restaurant Schwarzwaldstube or with two-star chef Klaus Erfort in Saarbrücken. He particular raves about his time in Paris, where he worked for two years as sous chef at the Le Clarence.
In the French two-star restaurant, the guest only chooses the number of courses, while chef Christophe Pelé decides spontaneously what goes on the plates. Bodamer recalls: “Every day we decided what to prepare for which table based on the fresh delivery. So it happened that every reservation had a different meal in the evening – some had sea bass in salt dough, others a rack of lamb. I admire Christophe Pelé for his ability with wild and precise combinations. He comes up with his dishes in a flash, yet they are always coherent.“
“I would describe the roots of my cuisine as French, but with an international touch – you pick that up automatically in Paris.“
This period has also strongly influenced Bodamer's own cooking style: “Of course, they weren't plates arranged with tweezers, but I'm not that kind of person either. I would describe the roots of my cuisine as French, but with an international touch – you pick that up automatically in Paris.“ And so the Brothers' menu includes, for example, a courgette flower served with ricotta and a sauce pistou, the French interpretation of pesto. Or a turbot with capers and salt lemon, a Moroccan speciality.
Bodamer relies on his memory when planning the menu: “I'm super good at remembering combinations. My girlfriend always laughs – when we go out to eat somewhere, I still know every dish down to the last detail years later. I'm a very ambitious guy, my fistball coach always said I was a bit overzealous. But I enjoy being ambitious: It makes me happy when I perform well every day and cook a great sauce.“
“I'm super good at remembering combinations. My girlfriend always laughs – when we go out to eat somewhere, I still know every dish down to the last detail years later.“
The Brothers restaurant is backed by an investor with an affinity for wine: you notice that at the latest when you leaf through the 60-page (!) wine list. It is gate-folded and looks more like a bible. And yet the small Michelin-starred restaurant in the Schwabing district appears young and modern: The walls are decorated with illustrations, the interior is clean and uncluttered, the service is relaxed. People wear T-shirts under their jackets. And if you don't feel like eating the whole six-course menu, you can order the dishes individually à la carte.
Brothers was opened by twin brothers Tobias and Markus Klaas, who previously worked as restaurant manager and sommelier at Tohru Nakamura's Schreiberei. Daniel Bodamer met the two through a former colleague and they shared their idea with him: “A young concept, a small team – that sounded pretty good. And for me, it was time to dare the next step.”
Now Bodamer is getting a taste of how it is to run his own kitchen. One day he would like to start his own business, open his own restaurant – just like his parents, who have been running a country inn between Karlsruhe and Pforzheim for 30 years. His grandfather already had a small restaurant with a butcher's shop, and his grandmother still sometimes works in the kitchen at the age of 86. Easter and Christmas are big celebrations in the Bodamer family, and they usually get together on Sunday evenings for dinner.
“My favourite childhood meal is lentils with spaetzle and seitenwürstle. My dad always saves a serving for me for when I come home!“
Recently, Brothers has also opened for lunch on Sundays, but afterwards Daniel gets into the car as often as possible and drives home to Baden-Württemberg. When I ask him about his home, he gushes – even more than about Paris - and immediately lapses into the Swabian dialect: “My favourite childhood meal is lentils with spaetzle (Swabian pasta) and seitenwürstle (sausages). My dad cooks the best lentils and always saves a serving for me for when I come home!“
