MYANMORE Talks With Mahlzeit’s Magnus Scherr
Mahlzeit is a German saying that has several applications. Similar to Aloha in Hawaiian, one can say ‘Mahlzeit’ for hello, goodbye or even to express a mistake. It is also used before starting a meal.
Magnus Scherr was ecstatic to have the chance to open Mahlzeit in Yangon, the first German restaurant in the city, six months ago. Now that the veteran chef has begun to settle in, his sights are set outside of the restaurant walls with the goal of being a part of the Yangon’s culinary scene in its entirety.
The bakery is probably the fastest growing operation Mahlzeit, eking out their expanding catering business. What started as a small café for nearby residents, is now a supplier for several Yangon restaurants including Tony Romas, Artisan Amour and Port Autonomy. With a meticulous curiosity, Scherr is not only willing to accept customized bread orders but appears to enjoy each individual challenge. He will flash a grin when recalling a client who wanted their next bread order leavened by a few more centimeters. Or the time he and his team spent days in the kitchen experimenting with recipes until they could bake pita that matched a buyer’s verbal description. As a result, the state of the art bread oven is full with a diverse stock, all of which use local ingredients besides the rye, which is imported. There are, of course, also traditional German options at the ready, like Carlsberg beer bread- a 5000 Ks loaf that feels like 4 Kg and can apparently feed a family for 3 days. “This could be an attack on rice”, Scherr jokes while wielding one of the dense baked goods.
While there are some impressive pieces of equipment in the Mahlzeit kitchen, Scherr is not bound to the newest gadget but something that can execute the task at hand. Mahlzeit is mainly known for their meats, coming from a farm 40 minutes from Yangon, much of which is cold-smoked. Scherr has improvised a device that uses AC units to cool down wood-fired smoke. The technique puts a smoky flavor into the meat without wilting the outside with a coat of char.
The technology behind the food is impressive but it is the level of sterility in the kitchen that is the most eye-catching. When touring the massive kitchen, Scherr launches into furious detail about his strict health standards. After reviewing how dust particles are removed from boxes of food shipments, he discusses the greater battle Yangon has with food-borne bacteria. “People mistakenly think they have food poisoning from a restaurant they just been in”, Scherr says, “but more often have a Water born Parasite from a single contaminated Ice cube like Giardia Lamblia”.
While not everyone can afford his impressive sanitation equipment, Scherr is eager to share his hygienic procedures with other chefs. As he sees it, every kitchen should work together on promoting the best health code since any single kitchen can affect others if proper precautions are not taken.
Scherr would like to coordinate with other restaurants outside of sanitation standards and disagrees with the notion that restaurateurs are in fierce competition with each other. He believes that the Yangon economy is filled with just as much unpredictability as it is with potential. A strong system of communication and support in the food & beverage community, however, could benefit every chef who is trying to get a foothold.
So much of business in Yangon is dependent on ‘who you know’, an intimidating reality for the unconnected. After experiencing the aches and pains of opening a business in Myanmar, Scherr wants to support entrepreneurs where he can. By connecting a promising new restaurant with Mahlzeit’s farm or a quality distributor, the market for high-end dining becomes that much more viable. Scherr embraces the role of facilitator as the best way to grow his restaurant, jokingly referring to his business strategy as ‘Positive Machiavellianism’.
Self-declared competitors have shown skepticism over Scherr’s generous approach in the past, but this usually dissipates once they realize that the guy just really loves food. A plead for expats to try a new Italian spot or a photo of an appetizer dot his social media as well as the Yangon Foodies Facebook page- a FB group that has become a major player in the city’s culinary world.
The Mahlzeit logo can also be seen at the Hledan Centre where a hot dog cart has been introduced. The sleek mobile station is still in the prototype stages but could very well become a street-food option in the near future.
