Michael Käfer called it one of his greatest professional defeats when in 2016 the contract for theater gastronomy in the Munich National Theater went to the competitor Dallmayr. After all, Feinkost Käfer had been responsible for the catering of the opera for 53 years since the opening of the house after the reconstruction in 1963.
When Dallmayr surprisingly won the tender in 2016, Managing Director Florian Randlkofer decided: “We’re trying to do this for at least 50 years.” Nothing will come of it now. Käfer will return to the kitchen of the National Theater for the coming season.
Dallmayr boss Randlkofer regrets this decision. Dallmayr and the State Opera have worked together “very well and constructively” over the years. The summary is also positive from the opera’s point of view. State director Serge Dorny thanks in a statement “for the trust and the excellent cooperation”. The spokesman for the opera, Michael Wuerges, adds that there were no discrepancies or a specific reason for a change. In a state-run company like the opera, the catering must be re-advertised on a regular basis.
This tender was open and expired Europe-wide, explains Wuerges. It was by no means certain that Käfer would be awarded the contract, and it was also not surprising that the two big “players” in the city, Käfer and Dallmayr, would decide the race among themselves in the end. After all, what small catering business has grown into such a business where – with a full house – around 2100 guests have to be catered for within 25 minutes?
Käfer also took over the “Ludwig 2” restaurant in the State Opera from Dallmayr.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
After evaluating all the criteria, Käfer’s concept was convincing, the opera justifies its decision. In addition to service and cuisine, aspects such as environmental protection and sustainability were also taken into account in this catalog of criteria, says Wuerges. They pay attention to where the food is sourced from and also want to offer vegetarian and vegan dishes. “I don’t think you would have done that ten years ago, but you have to do it today.” When it comes to plant-based nutrition, the opera has found the right partner. Käfer opened its vegetarian-vegan fine-dining restaurant “Green Beetle” in Bogenhausen two years ago.
From September 2023, Käfer will be taking over the entire theater catering and will therefore be using four locations in the house: the Rheingold Bar in the stalls and the Restaurant Ludwig Zwei on the ground floor, as well as two smaller bars on the first and third tiers. After the Rheingold Bar and Ludwig Zwei were renovated under Dallmayr, there were no more major renovations until it was taken over by Käfer, says Wuerges.
Dallmayr will take care of the catering until the end of the current season and for a few events after that, after which the two restaurateurs will be responsible for handling it. Florian Randlkofer explains that talks are being held with the approximately 100 employees that Dallmayr employs at the Nationaltheater in order to be able to offer them “opportunities in other areas of the group of companies”.
When asked by the SZ, Käfer has not yet commented on what innovations there will be, how the takeover should work and how exactly the menu will be designed. In the tender, however, care was taken to ensure that the price level remained roughly the same, says opera spokesman Wuerges.