THE CLOUD by Käfer opens at BMW Welt

MUNICH. The new fine dining restaurant at BMW Welt will open its doors on 26 June 2025. Since the beginning of the year, Jens Madsen, who succeeds Bobby Bräuer in the exclusive premises of BMW Welt, has been working together with BMW Group Designworks, the BMW Group's innovation studio, on a unique concept: THE CLOUD by Käfer. Here, chef Jens Madsen, restaurant manager Mona Röthig, sommelier Luigi Pecchia and their team welcome their guests with the "CULINARY NOMADISM" concept.

THE CLOUD by Käfer is a calm, immersive place that focuses on the culinary delights and symbiotically combines the play of colours of the blue and golden hour. These special lighting moods around sunrise and sunset create a unique atmosphere with their warm, golden light and cool, bluish tones, which is reflected in the design of the restaurant. The premises under the roof of the iconic building in Munich's Olympic Park were completely redesigned over a period of six months under the direction of BMW Group Designworks, creating a sensual culinary journey. The culinary motto of Season 1 is NOMADIC EARTH.

"With Nomadic Earth, we are opening the first chapter of our new travel diary. We want to offer our guests a special experience at the highest culinary level that expands their horizons and puts the flavours and textures of the world into a surprising and harmonious context with the highest quality products from the region. With Jens Madsen, Mona Röthig and Luigi Pecchia, we have found a team that will perfectly realise this ambitious task with great expertise and passion." Michael Käfer, Member of the Board of Käfer AG

CULINARY NOMADISM, which the Nomadic Earth menu follows, is a philosophy rooted in movement, memory and origin. This new concept combines culinary traditions, skills and spices from all over the world with the best local produce in an independent cuisine. In Season 1 of THE CLOUD by Käfer, these are the flavours and ingredients from East and South Africa, combined with the produce and rhythm of our region. Each course reflects a stage of a culinary journey: sometimes inspired by distant shores, sometimes rooted in local fields. The result is a cuisine that curiously embraces the global and is anchored in the local - sensual, surprising and open to new perspectives.

In eight courses with complementary side dishes, the best regional foods such as goat's milk from Lenggries, char from Kinsau or venison from Poltinger Forst meet dukkah, black pepper soup or pilau from Perl emmer. The milk-fed veal brochette, for example, is inspired by bar food, which is often served with beer in Africa. Jens Madsen takes the best of the veal, skewered on an ear of corn, and combines it with tiger nuts, chapati and habanero.

"With THE CLOUD by Käfer, we are adding a new dimension to the BMW Welt experience. In addition to vehicle delivery, we now offer our guests an inspiring culinary journey in a unique atmosphere designed by BMW Group Designworks Munich. At the very top of the third floor, guests can enjoy an impressive view of BMW Welt, embedded in an extraordinary fine dining experience."

Sandra Wittemer, Head of BMW Welt Since 2023, the experts at BMW Group Designworks and Käfer have been working closely together to create a space for all the senses and make a visit to THE CLOUD by Käfer unforgettable. Light, music, visuals and haptics flow into one another, with every light and every piece of furniture contributing to the overall experience. BMW Group Designworks collaborated with renowned partners for the realisation, including the architecture studio hildmannwilke, the German lighting design brand Occhio, the artist Oscar Zabala, known for his generative, audiovisual performances and installations, and the innovative Swiss textile manufacturer Jakob Schlaepfer, who produces for haute couture houses worldwide.

"To bring Käfer's vision to life, BMW Group Designworks developed the spatial concept and storytelling for THE CLOUD. We created an atmosphere that is reflected in materials, shapes and details - sensual, rich in contrast and emotional. In this way, the design becomes part of the overall culinary experience."
Anders Warming, Head of BMW Group Designworks

The elegant, inviting and technically sophisticated design of the restaurant reflects a clear reference to BMW's design language. The guests' journey begins after ascending to the third floor of BMW Welt, designed by COOP Himmelb(l)au as a floating structure. Once on Moon Island, they can disembark and get in the mood for the evening. This arrival is subtly accompanied by a digital artwork featuring a quarter moon that slowly changes from the golden hour to the gentle twilight and the deep blue tones of the night. At the Biophilic Bar, made from Perlino marble, artfully presented ingredients from the menu will arouse curiosity about the evening's menu over an aperitif.

Afterwards, a personalised cocktail is served at the Slim Bar, where guests can also have a last drink at the end of their journey. It forms the transition from the golden to the blue hour. Via the Chef's Atelier, decorated with travel photos and exotic kitchen utensils, guests finally reach the Dining Cloud, where they can dine at tables with a panoramic view of the BMW Welt.
tables with a panoramic view of BMW Welt. The eponymous object floats above the centre of the room, an amorphous installation made of transparent, feather-light material that is brought to life weightlessly and in constant flux by a projection, echoing the gold of the sunset and the midnight blue.
To allow guests to share in the chefs' art, a five-tonne monolith made of titanium stone lies between the kitchen and the Dining Cloud. On this impressive stage, the kitchen team puts the finishing touches to the plates before the service brings them to the tables.