For some dreams, the right moment just has to come.
That's the way it is with Ayu Saraswati and Willy Müller.
The two heads of "Hot Chilli" in Gilching have leased the old Steinebach station for five years.
Steinebach
- It's still a bit cool and not very comfortable in the large dining room of the old Steinebach train station, known from the old days as "the Steinebacher".
An entrepreneur from Etterschlag bought the station at the end of 2022 (we reported).
Last week, the married couple Ayu Saraswati and Willy Müller, operators of "Hot Chilli" in the Bauernbäck in Gilching, signed a five-year lease with him.
"This is a big step for us," says Müller (55), almost breathless.
In 2015, Saraswati and Müller opened their catering and event company in the former Café Bauernbäck at Weßlinger Straße 4 in Gilching.
By then, the two of them had been successful caterers for a number of years.
Saraswati, who grew up in Bali in a large family with eight siblings, has been cooking with passion since she was young and has made this her profession.
"We've been in business for 15 years now," Müller calculates.
The couple had already applied for the Steinebach station in 2017.
"Nothing came of it," says Müller.
Luckily, because Corona would probably have intervened properly between the two.
Like many restaurateurs, they had a hard time with the pandemic.
"We were about to give up," says Ayu Saraswati (49).
Now business is up and running again, she cannot save herself from catering orders, and at the so-called Long Table, which takes place every Friday in the "Hot Chilli", she has now entertained more than 10,000 guests with fine and creative Balinese cuisine.
When the rumor spread that the Steinebach station had a new owner, the two pricked up their ears again.
The new owner then sat at the long table in Gilching one evening and was enthusiastic about the kitchen.
We got talking, Müller and Saraswati have had the keys for a week.
"The Steinebacher has always been my dream," says Müller.
The building includes everything he always wanted as a restaurateur.
The room is beautiful and a perfect size.
“You have the S-Bahn in front of the door and endless parking spaces.
And no neighbors.” He and his wife also have time for this new and special project right now.
Things also seem to be going very well with the landlord, at least both sides are enthusiastic about each other.
"He suits us very well.
He says: Do what is good for you.
Madness.”
What exactly the concept for the Steinebacher will look like and when it should start is still open today.
“We have four models for operation.
We have to decide on one thing,” reveals Müller.
In any case, he has a restaurant in mind, possibly also on Fridays with a long table.
In the small bistro, people can also just drop by for a glass of wine and a snack.
The Steinebacher can also be rented for weddings or birthdays, “but not too often”.
What will become of the catering - "that has to be seen".
The contracts with the farmer's bakery have already been dissolved.
In the spring there will still be the last Long Tables, in autumn at the latest it should start in the Steinebacher, which should keep its name.
"Maybe with the addition of Hot Chilli in the Steinebacher," consider Müller and Saraswati.
There are 80 seats in the restaurant, another 100 people can be seated on the terrace.
The infrastructure is designed for this - with a smaller kitchen upstairs and a prep kitchen in the basement.
"There's enough space for cooking," says Ayu Saraswati and laughs, after all, in the early years of "Hot Chilli" she prepared hundreds of meals in her small apartment in Hechendorf.
There is a lot to do in the coming weeks.
Bali with its colors should be felt in the guest room, "but without pennants and Buddhas," as Müller announces.
The stock of now eight permanent employees must be at least doubled.
"We are now looking for staff for all areas: service, administration, kitchen, events and accounting," says Müller.
At least at the beginning of autumn it is open from Wednesday to Sunday.
As a young man, Willy Müller often went to the Steinebacher himself.
It was a cult back then, young people met there, concerts and events took place there, the kitchen was passable.
"There should be that old Steinebacher feeling here again," he says.
With high-quality gastronomy, "but not tasty, just to feel good".
One or the other concert could then take place on stage, and perhaps, as another idea, the restaurateurs at the train stations in Hechendorf (Eatery), Steinebach and Gilching-Argelsried (Kultcafé) will one day get together for events.
"Yes, it's a big step for us," says Müller again.
"But it's not a jump.
We know what we're doing."
