For Karl-Heinz Wildmoser junior, the round has to go back into the square, but no longer the ball in the goal, but the pizza in the oven. In the heart of Munich’s city center, “Heinzi” Wildmoser and his wife Nicole will be presenting their newest gastronomic concept “Pizzarei” on Tuesday morning, which will open on the same day. The two-story restaurant had previously stood empty for two years, but the conversion was completed in less than two months after the lease was signed, reports interior designer Martin Neumeier, whose company has already set up Wildmoser’s restaurant on Marienplatz.
So now an Italian, despite all the Bavarian connections, not new territory for the Wildmoser family. After training as a hotel clerk at the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, Wildmoser junior ran the Italian “Fontana di Trevi” together with his father, ex-Löwen boss and major restaurateur Karl-Heinz Wildmoser senior. Wildmoser junior was 19 years old at the time. Wildmoser sees a starting point in the opening of the “pizza shop” and remembers his father, with whom he had had no contact since the bribery scandal surrounding the construction of the Fröttmaninger Arena until his death in 2010.
Today, Wildmoser can count on the support of his family. At his side at the reopening are his wife Nicole, her little daughter Lena-Sophie and her 20-year-old son Benedikt. One can already speak of a new phase of life, says Karl-Heinz Wildmoser, who started with “Lenis” two years ago and is now continuing in the “pizza shop”. This is a family project. Benedikt in particular, who studies at the Munich Business School, has already seen all areas of a catering business and brought in his own ideas for social media implementation. “The children are participating and if they see their future here, I’m happy,” says Wildmoser.
After the previous Asian restaurant failed to lure guests to the second floor, interior designer Neumeier focused on the upper floor: A red and yellow painted ceiling is intended to create an awning flair and Italo nostalgia, underscored by olive tree branches hung with lights and obligatory round arches on the wall. The ground floor is no less suitable for Instagram, photo enthusiasts are said to have staged themselves under the green ceiling, known as “urban jungle”, during the renovation work. In addition, patterned wallpaper and floor-to-ceiling windows to the terrace, in sight on the right the town hall, on the left the Frauenkirche.
An Italian at this location is also convenient for Mayor Dieter Reiter. On the way to his weekly lunchtime get-together at Bratwurst Glöckl am Dom, he congratulates the Wildmoser family on the opening. The regulars’ table will also be reserved in the “pizza shop” in the future, and Wildmoser has also gained customers with the town hall staff, because “such a pizza to go is something”.
Pinsa for lunch. This more digestible variant of the pizza is currently Wildmoser’s favourite, especially the one with mascarpone, figs, pear and raw ham. With the pinsa, the “pizza shop” is trendy, the rest of the menu offers more classics of Italian cuisine, antipasti, pasta, pizza, dolci. Here, too, retro colors and a retro layout, you haven’t seen photographed dishes on the menu for a long time.