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shoulders. “You have to be quick, have good timing and
a clear head.” And of course having the right ingredients
is essential. “They’re just tastier.” She says nothing about
talent or hard work.
TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY
If you listen to Peter Frühsammer, you get a completely
different perspective. “Sonja always has so many exciting
things going on, she always has 1000 ideas running
through her head, and she has the discipline to make
sure that every plate sent out to the guest is perfect.
“She loves doing things properly,” he says. And she is also
extremely hardworking and ambitious. Peter and Sonja
Frühsammer are a dream team. He, once a star chef in his
own right, is restless and messy. She, the quiet one, with
friendly dimples in her cheeks, is the reserved perfectionist.
He: “Sometimes when I call her over to the guests in the
evening, she’s still scrubbing the extractor hood with the
staff.” She: “A chef is only ever as good as her team – and I
always clean my workspace myself.”
Sonja and Peter first met each other in 1998 at his
catering company SerVino and it soon became clear that
Sonja was the chef, Peter the host and sommelier. 13 years
ago they took over the catering for the Grunewald tennis
club in their imposing club house – at first for members
only. In 2007, they set up their own restaurant there.
“We’re a tennis kitchen with a star,” says the 48-year-old,
another sentence that shows how unflustered she is. In
the evenings there is Sonja’s award-winning cuisine. In
addition, the Frühsammers offer a lunch menu in the bistro
attached to it.
“Then I get to do some of the cooking as well,” says Peter.
Typical dishes on the lunch menu are hand-scraped Spätzle
(a type of pasta) or pumpkin soup with zander. “A clear
taste and cooked to perfection,” is the way he describes it.
For Sonja on the other hand, every detail has to be right:
The spray is used for the small flecks of carrot purée and the
pipette for the fine oil, then she plucks a bit more green off
the carrots and puts it on the plate. “Ideally we hope the
guest will never forget the plate,” is how she describes her
motivation. “Both the decoration and taste should captivate
the guest and transport them to another world.”
UNPRETENTIOUS AND PLEASANT
Sonja Frühsammer loves trying out new things. That
applies to tastes as well as gadgets. She uses the truffle
slicer to slice the carrots, and looks on attentively at
how the fine orange slices curl up. “I like using things for
lots of different purposes,” she says. Sonja Frühsammer
loves eating as well – something she feels is a must for a
chef. She and her husband eat out at least twice a month
to get some inspiration, and they love travelling when-
ever they have the time. And then there are her Icelandic
horses and her dog. Does she feel she’s in competition
with other chefs? No. “Berlin's a big enough place.” Is she
accepted as a woman in a male-dominated profession?
“You always have to assert and prove yourself, whether
you’re a man or a woman.” To get new ideas she browses
through cookbooks or visits trade fairs. And then she
makes another remark: “It’s the guests that make us
better.” That’s how unpretentious and pleasant haute
cuisine can be.
•
PRECISION RIGHT DOWN TO THE L A ST DE TAIL
Sonja Frühsammer relies on professional quality kitchen
gadgets for preparing, cooking and serving food.
K NOW- HOW
by WMF
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