What one can understand by a home is, to quote Fontane once again, a broad field. In Vienna, but also in Munich, for example, the coffee house was a home between time and timelessness; it offered human closeness without having to get close, physical and intellectual pleasures, and these above all in the form of newspapers. The writer sued in Vienna Thomas Bernardthat he hates coffee houses, which he visits every day if possible, and that he suffers from the “coffee house visiting disease”. In Munich in 1965, Loriot took the whole thing to a sublime level. “The Café Luitpold,” he wrote, “is one of those rare, well-thought-out establishments that a guest with a confident lifestyle does not need to leave at any minute of the day, unless he gets sick or wants to sleep.” Today, management prevents such a stay: When reserving a table, a time window of one and a half hours is allowed.
This is where Munich’s nobility and moneyed nobility, artists and writers met: the dome hall in the old Cafe Luitpold.
(Photo: Scherl/Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo)
The Café Luitpold on Brienner Straße is one of the oldest coffee houses in the city. When the palace café with its twenty halls opened in 1888, it was a sensation. Everyone met here, nobility and moneyed nobility, artists and writers, the bohemians. The writer and anarchist Erich Mühsam, also a regular guest, described the uproar during the carnival as “almost life-threatening”. The fact that he is now called the “house patron” of the elegant café would probably have surprised him.
The Café Luitpold was rebuilt in 2010, and the colonnade is still reminiscent of the ambience of the past.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
Since the renovation in 2010, white colonnades or wall mirrors have been a reminder of the great times, in the beautiful palm garden a curved staircase leads up to the high glass dome, in the entrance area, cakes and tarts are presented close together in the cake display case, each one a small work of art. Michael Hüsken, who has, among other things, won a star at Schloss Elmau and most recently worked at the stove in Munich’s five-star hotel The Charles, has been in charge of the Luitpold for six months. He wants to offer attractive cuisine from the Alpine countries, “the best of the simple”, although even the simple has its price. The increased VAT on food should initially only affect individual drinks – cross-financing, so to speak. For open wines, 0.2 liters cost between 8.50 and 10.50 euros. They were very pleasant, whether the house wines were Pinot Grigio or Merlot, whether Riesling or Primitivo.
Nothing happens according to a uniform pattern in Luitpold. Sometimes all the tables between the pillars were covered in fine white, sometimes only a part of them, sometimes there were sets of paper laid out. Sometimes the waitresses brought bread and a bowl of butter for each of us with the drinks, sometimes there was only bread, sometimes they served the starters with the question: “Do you also want bread?” The waitresses were friendly and competent, and they fulfilled special requests with imagination.
Michael Hüsken, who has, among other things, won a star at Schloss Elmau, has been in charge of the Luitpold for six months.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
The menu constantly changes a little and is carefully headed with the note that everything is cooked “with love” by Michael Hüsken. With love? All we could think of was the word skill, for example with the gently seasoned char tartare with wild herbs, lemon gel drops and a sweet and sour pickled radish that had been transformed into a delicious fruit (21.00). The tuna, three perfectly fried steaks, was surrounded by Jerusalem artichokes, wild broccoli, amaranth and tarragon dip, each side dish with its own perfect taste (34.00). The cod was fried crispy on the skin, the meat was shiny, and the tomato and saffron sugo was good enough to order again (29.00). We never got up hungry. Two tender Viennese schnitzels were served, the breading was beautifully wavy and wonderfully seasoned (32.00); and the three ox cheeks braised in Pinot Noir on celery puree were also a poem (29.00).
Now we felt the kitchen had fallen into a January blues after the holidays, it seemed out of step. The octopus, a calligraphic squiggle on a good pumpkin and lime cream, was cooked through and through and tasted mushy (22.00). The onion soup was a challenge. In the wide plate lay a mountain of stewed onions, bathed in a little broth. Who wants to eat so many onions (10.00)? The Tafelspitz is praised as Munich’s best. Probably a mistake: a not very graceful mound of almost wafer-thin slices of meat rose from a lot of broth in a soup bowl, and we had to crumble the horseradish dumpling on top. The meat was tasty, but the dark brown dried edges of some slices were very irritating (19.00). The vegetarian and vegan dishes only lifted the mood a little. The tarte flambée with pears, goat cheese and walnuts would have been a nice thing in itself, but in some places the topping was forgotten (14.00). Carrot and bean wedges as well as some chervil pesto adorned the risotto made from an ancient grain mix. It was slightly sweet, slightly salty and extremely mild (18.00). The ratatouille, which consisted of two thick eggplant steaks with some pistou, topped with zucchini, tomatoes and pine nuts, was peculiar. It tasted floury and bland (20.00).
In the cake display case, cakes and tarts are presented close together, each one a small work of art.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
The velvety Valrhona chocolate mousse (10.00) made up for it, although when it comes to desserts you shouldn’t forget the cake counter and especially not the Luitpold cake, which is precious in every respect (7.20). It is covered in dark chocolate, filled in the finest layers with a cream made from white wine, cognac and marzipan. It’s worth spending some time with her. Not just an hour and a half.
Café Luitpold, Brienner Str. 11, 80333 Munich, telephone 089/242875-0, Monday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m
The SZ sample
The restaurant review “taste sample”. South German newspaper has a long tradition: it has been published weekly in the local section since 1975 and has also been published online for several years. About a dozen culinary-savvy editors 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 good 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 being tested about two to three times, depending on how long the budget specified by the editorial team lasts. Ironclad basic rules: a grace period of one hundred days until the kitchen of a new restaurant has learned its ropes. And: never let yourself be caught working as a restaurant critic – so that you can describe the food and drink, service and atmosphere without bias.