By Johanna N. Hummel
Green is the color of the year and not the political green, which is more like sunflower yellow. It’s about forest green. “Into the forests I go to lose my mind and find my soul”, wrote the American natural philosopher John Muir emphatically in the 19th century, a sentence that comes very close to some feelings in the 21st century: Go into the woods, lose your mind to lose and find the soul. At the Forsthaus Wörnbrunn, Muir’s search for simple forest life is not just the motto on the stylish website.
The listed house is located in a beautiful clearing in the forest near Grünwald, deer graze gracefully in an enclosure. Here you could let your soul dangle if you find it. Now the forester’s house was sometimes a place that put the mind and soul to the test, for example in the more than 100-year war between the brewers in the forest and in the village.
There were quiet times and a high phase when Richard Süssmeier ruled in Wörnbrunn until he sold after all sorts of misfortunes. The current owner could not enforce her fancy building plans and her tenants changed in ever faster succession, sometimes the house was empty. There was a curse on it, whispered the rumor mill. But maybe just wrong concepts played a role.
In 2019, Yvonne Mehrfeld and Florian Gürster joined Wörnbrunn. They didn’t have much time to try out their concept; the first lockdown came a good four months after the opening. Now the couple has apparently gained a lot of experience with their catering company Flo & Co, they have survived the Corona times so far. On our last visits, almost all tables were occupied even on a rainy weekday, although high prices are also charged for the upscale cuisine; in the summer they climbed a little higher.
You can sit comfortably in the two guest rooms that merge into one another, which have been redesigned for a soulful stay: forest-green walls with deer antlers and pictures on them, brown ceiling beams and tables, velvet cushions on the benches, everything is cleverly lit. In the idyllic garden, the play of brown and green colors is repeated in the furniture and umbrellas.
The equipment in the idyllic garden is new – and the color has been adapted to the rooms inside.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
The pleasantly small menu is corona-friendly in the form of paper sets on the tables, “feed your soul”, advises the landlord. Crossover is cooked, soul food from Bavarian to Asian. Gürster, who has cooking experience at Hakkasan in London and as a chef at Käfer-Catering, is at the stove himself. For a while he got himself Christoph Mezger, who was the head chef in the vegetarian star restaurant Tian. And vegetarian or vegan tastes as if Mezger was still an advisor, such as the intense tomato essence with a dash of woodruff oil and puffy vegetable ravioli (9.00 euros). Or the “Forsthaus-Krokette”: Crunchy breaded bites were filled with finely spiced potato dough, they were surrounded by delicate, braised, yellow paprika wedges, deep-fried onion threads and sauces (16.00).
The chefs cultivate the art of constantly inventing new flavor effects. Nothing reminded us of our visit in October and of the poor house chick that was served almost raw at that time (17.00). The Forsthaus salad made vegetarians and meat eaters happy: super-small chanterelles, fried peach wedges and cocktail tomatoes, rocket, parmesan shavings were wrapped in a fine marinade (18.00), and a huge mountain was piled up. Who can eat that much? But that too is an iron principle: serving up what the good kitchen has to offer. The beef tartare with a nice spiciness and sprinkled with sesame would have been enough for two (19.00).
Wednesday is roast pork day, what you need to know. The roast wasn’t on the menu, the waitress said nothing. Such a mistake was the exception, the waitresses and waitresses were always attentive, even when they were stressed they tried to smile. The boss was often seen, and at rush hours he was busy serving with plates. According to the good old custom, the wines by the glass were served in carafes of 0.2 liters and they were fresh and pleasant, whether the Sauvignon Blanc from Rheinhessen or the Merlot from Trentino (6.00 and 7.50). There is a sophisticated wine list and the draft beer comes from the Tegernseer Brauhaus (the Halbe Helles 4.80).
The Süddeutsche Zeitung’s restaurant review “Tasting” has a long tradition: it has been published weekly in the local section since 1975, and for several years also online and with a rating scale. About a dozen editors with culinary experience from all departments – from Munich, knowledge 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 tasting: The authors write under pseudonyms, often with a culinary touch. You go undetected to the restaurant to be tested about two or three times, depending on how long the budget set by the editorial team lasts. Iron basic rules: a hundred days grace period until the kitchen of a new restaurant has settled in. And: Never get caught working as a restaurant critic – so that you can describe food and drink, service and atmosphere in an unbiased manner. SZ
We would not have liked to have missed the roast pork. The Duroc pork was tender, with a grown, perfect crust and just as perfect coleslaw, decent dumplings and pepped up sauce. (14.90). In general, the meat was of the best quality, including the two huge Wiener Schnitzel with a nicely wavy breading (26.00). We only quarreled with the Tuna tataki. The thick slice of the precious tuna had only touched the pan, as it should be, but the rapeseed blossoms were missing, the bland broccoli irritated, the rice cream was reminiscent of baby food (34.00).
It is currently the fashion in top kitchens to serve pebbles that turn into small delicacies. The forester’s house did not miss out on such a symbolic idea. We tried a pebble variant made from Valrhona chocolate, light on the outside, soft and dark on the inside, sweet and fine (12.00). It is part of the forest philosophy: noble food for discerning souls.
Address: Wörnbrunn 1, 82031 Grünwald, phone: 089/80911110, opening hours: Wed.-Fri. 2.00 p.m. to 11.00 p.m., Sat., Sun. 11.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m., closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, www.forsthaus-woernbrunn.com