It’s not that long ago, just under half a year, that the Munich gastronome Käfer opened a new restaurant, the “Green Beetle”. Green because they only cook vegetarian and vegan here. Beetle because beetle. And English, because 2022. Of course, everything here is sustainable, fair and regional, and it looks a bit as if a handful of brand consultants have come up with a concept that is as tailored as possible to keep the Oktoberfest aristocracy and hip organic Munich residents in their good conscience to unite.
Let’s put it this way: Murke goes into the restaurant with slight reservations. But let’s put it this way: when it comes to modern vegetable cuisine, the Green Beetle is already one of the best addresses in town. It’s less than 200 meters from the Käfer parent company, down Schumannstraße in the middle of Bogenhausen. The restaurant is styled in a pleasantly unobtrusive manner. The parquet floor, 40 years old, was recycled from an old gymnasium, the lights are made from tobacco, hemp and wine waste, and the walls are hung with 63 porcelain beetles, a nod to the namesake. In any case, it is not difficult to feel good.
Felix Adebahr, who is responsible for the kitchen here, has cooked in several Munich star restaurants, in the Tantris and in the dining room, and he knows that it’s a shame about vegetables when they are relegated to side dishes. So it should play the leading role with him. His menus, one vegetarian, one vegan, are very fairly priced at 99 euros for five courses (79 euros for four courses and 59 euros for three courses). Even the little things in advance make it clear that Adebahr knows how to deal with vegetables in a contemporary way. Very nice, for example, the onion with parsnip and carrot broth. Another time he serves a celery raviolo with tarragon mousse and wild cress. Everything is broad and complex, not a trace of renunciation just because there is no meat or fish on the plate.
The first courses are also complex. In the vegetarian version, there is the lightly grilled brioche with swede cream and chicory heart, whose bitter notes are complemented by a few candied orange zests. The vegan menu begins with winter beetroot, layered with an almost silky tahini and ruffled by the acidity of the kimchi. A few slivers of homemade crispbread give the whole crunch, the lettuce leaves placed in between clean up the mouth again. The mushroom essence is also excellent. A very deep, intense broth that is particularly warming in winter, with a slice of polenta and tarragon cream. The earthiness of the mushrooms, the tartness of the tarragon, what could possibly go wrong?
Surprising: the fagotelli with burnt leeks, truffles and shavings of pickled egg yolk.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
Especially with bars that set themselves a programmatic framework, it often happens that the theoretical superstructure is recited almost like a litany at the table. This is not the case at all in the Green Beetle. Although you can read on the homepage that the crew pulls their wild herbs in the English Garden in summer and wears work clothes made from recycled sea plastic, they don’t give any keynote speeches about real life here. Instead, the warm, relaxed service ensures that you have one thing above all: fun.
For example the fagotelli with burnt leeks stuffed with parmesan and sprinkled with a few shavings of pickled egg yolk. A full load of umami on its own, but of course a few slices of Perigord truffle go well with the egg. The cabbage rolls served in a beurre blanc with cinnamon are also fun. The diced pear breaks up the broad cabbage flavor, while the dehydrated parsnip peels are not only a nice use of leftovers (keyword: root to leaf), but above all taste good. In the case of salsify, the red cabbage has suffered from a bit of acidity, but the pumpernickel flour that coats the root at least partially compensates for that.
This is where the Emilos Negroni cocktail is poured – Campari infused with coffee.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
The desserts remain. Although vegetables have long been processed in the patisserie – just think of the desserts that Christian Hümbs served during his time over in the studio – they keep the desserts in the Green Beetle rather classic. The Sicilian almonds with plums and coconut sorbet or the tapioca with buckwheat and pomelo are solid but fade after a few bites. The Munich honey, on the other hand, is spectacular. A corn ganache with a sablé cookie, paired with a creamy toffee ice cream and a few spiky accents of finger limes. Add honey and a caramel sauce infused with orange and you have a souped-up version of milk with honey.
The restaurant review “Kostprobe” in the Süddeutsche Zeitung has a long tradition: it has been published weekly in the local section since 1975, and online for a few years now and with a rating scale. About a dozen editors with culinary expertise from all departments – from Munich, science to politics – take turns writing about the city’s gastronomy. The choice is endless, the Bavarian economy is just as important as the Greek fish restaurant, the American fast food chain, the special bratwurst stand or the gourmet restaurant decorated with stars. The special thing about the SZ taster: The authors write under pseudonyms, often with a culinary touch. They go into the restaurant to be tested unnoticed about two or three times, depending on how long the budget given by the editors lasts. Iron basic rules: a grace period of one hundred days for the kitchen of a new restaurant to familiarize itself. And: Never get caught working as a restaurant critic – to be able to describe food and drink, service and atmosphere impartially. SZ
At some point the question arises at the table which courses are actually vegetarian and which are vegan. And ultimately it is exactly that: Felix Adebahr handles vegetables in such a contemporary and confident manner that such pigeonholes no longer play a role. Did who say meat?
Green BeetleSchumannstrasse 9, 81679 Munich, Telephone: 0176/14168023, Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 12pm to 3pm and 5.30pm to 10pm.