The Twisted Bavarian Blog

Michelles Leaving Thingamajigger

2006-10-13T11:43:00.000+02:00

I (<- that girl) am going away, hence I will be having a going away party. This Saturday, October 15th, anytime after 6. I'll be there. Then I will be gone, because it is, after all, a going away party.

Lets do it right one more time.

DJ Pao Friday Night

2005-09-28T17:11:00.000+02:00

Greetings Kids,

DJ Pao will be making his last appearnace at the Twisted Bavarian this Friday night. He will exit stage left and head back home to good old U S of A soon. He is by far one of our most popular DJ'S at the Twisted, well along with DJ Bubble "G" who will be with us on Satruday night.

The winner of the wet dirndl competition took home € 125,00. last Saturday night. Second place won dinner for two and our third and fourth place contestants need to come back for their prosecco, you forgot it here at the bar ladies.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped make our after Wies'n parties such a success!

Cheerio!
The Skipper of this boat

Hurricane Katrina Benefit Success!

2005-09-27T20:31:00.000+02:00

Thank you to everyone who participated in the fund raiser.

Humane Society 202.00
American Red Cross 280.00
and for the family we adopted 600.

A special thanks to the South Carolina gang at BMW!!!

Hurricane Katrina Fund Raiser @ the Twisted Bavarian Sept. 16

2005-09-13T17:36:00.000+02:00

When: Friday, September 16, 2005
Where: Twisted Bavarian (Haus Savoy keller)
Tengstrasse 20 (U2 Josephsplatz)
(089) 27 11 44 5
Time: doors open at 17:00

€10,00 entrance fee with unlimited trips to the buffet (20:00)

€2 helles, €3 long drinks, €4 cocktails all night long!

DJ Spoily will be setting the mood from 21:00 – till?

SubEtherRadio will be on hand to sign their CD, Fuchsias Jewel (proceeds from the sale of CDs go to the victims of Hurricane Katrina)

Hurricane Katrina fund raiser benefiting the following:

American Red Cross
The Humane Society
Family of Five

We at the Twisted Bavarian have adopted a family of 5 who lost their home and all the contents to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. They are currently staying with friends in Georgia while attempting to raise enough money to relocate to Idaho. They need gas money, food for the trip, etc.

Special Thanks to the following for their donations:

DJ Spoily

SubEtherRadio

The Paulaner Brewery

Michael Dickinson of Just/Travel

Marion Hagspeil of Menads Public Relations

My oh my!

2005-07-25T17:44:00.000+02:00

well you would have certainly thought from that last post that we'd be posting here more, wouldn't you! Well we've still got some technical issues to work out here, but it's coming along nicely now.

The Little Blog That Could

2005-01-14T15:20:00.000+01:00

This poor blog has been found in the corner of the bar, scared and alone. All of its abandonment issues reinforced in a most dramatic way. We are sending it off to therapy for a few months, and in the meantime we will try to take better care.

How are things? Fine thanks for asking. Tonight we unroll a new, oh-so-lovely cocktail menu, so new that some drinks do not even yet have names.

Last week, We started our happiest hour, die beste fiesta, or something like that: jumbo cocktails for 5,50 euros, and normal-sized for the bewildering price of 3,33 euros. How do they do it? I will pretend I didn't hear that, as do not feel like revealing the magical inner-workings of the Twisted, but I will say this: the fun stops at 20.00, so show up early, okay?

The ballot by menu is essentially over, and we can expect a final menu from Chef Juergon and Chef Bob any second now. I can confirm rumors that there will, in fact, be no hot dogs on the menu, despite the protests from certain quarters.

******************************
When we become fully aware of the nature of the burrito, we can transcend the burrito, as though it is not there. But, really, why would we want to do such a thing?

Onward thru the fog,
Johnny

2004-12-31T17:47:00.000+01:00

Now that Picsie is once again energising other projects around the world, you can find out what he's doing at...

the picsiepages

Firsts and Lasts

2004-12-10T13:48:00.000+01:00

Last night saw many firsts as well as lasts.

On the last list...

Last evening for Georgie in Munchen. She went out in style, drinking as much as an Aussie Girl can handle then passing out on the couches.

Last time we use a boombox for any kind of music. Music was good, sound quality nicht so gut.

Last time we let dogs wander around without leads. At certain points, when behind the bar, we would keep seeing dogs out of the corner of our eyes. Pia, Pia, why can't you just sit down.

On the first list...

Our first puker! Won't name him but Kev was a class act. Whether the culprit was too many tequila shots or the fact that he mixed his drinks throughout a long long night or that the perfect white T he was wearing was just asking to be thrown up on, who knows. Unfortunately, Picsie had to clear up the mess in the toilet since Kev forgot.

First time we max out at 3 dogs in the bar at one time.

First time we served the former staff of the former owner. 5 Italian blokes with a good sense of humour and broken German. Perfect.

See you soon and if you read this Georgie, you left your scarf.

Twisted

Updates Shmupdates

2004-12-08T13:55:00.000+01:00

Many calls have been made via the normal media for us to regularly update this blog. Your calls are now being answered.

Now that we have WLAN set-up in the bar, we can all surf and create and write and spread our love as often as we please. It's taken Deutsch Telecom far too long to organise this but they finally got there. (As a side-note we have had many discussions in the bar regarding German efficiency. Does it really exist?).

We've also decided upon new Oeffnungzeiten!

Sonntag bis Donnerstag 1700 - 0100
Freitag bis Samstag 1700 - 0300

Business Lunch on Frei 1130 - 1430
Brunch on Sunday 1130 - 1430

Our website will be up by the end of the week and you will then be able to see our menu, special offers, events und so weiter!

Other news of random interest:

Picsie has moved into the back cellar and may occasionally be seen in pyjamas and dressing gown wandering through the bar during the early hours of the morning.

We now have GUINNESS and KILKENNY for 3, 80 - as cheap as you'll get in Munchen.

Sagittarius party on Saturday 11th Dezember!

New Menu!

New Toilet material!

See you soon...

Mind Space and Focus

2004-11-19T13:12:00.000+01:00

It's draining to focus on too many things at once. If you are not in the habit of juggling balls either metaphorically or not, then heading into the on-coming traffic of 'things to do' can fill up your mind space so much that nothing gets done.

And switching from left-brain to right-brain so frequently can transport you to a zone where nothing gets done.

So what to do?

You can only trust. Trust your instincts and keep going.

And that's what we're doing.

We've made mistakes and we will continue to make them. But in every hour of every day we learn something and take action. And that's the vital part. Act don't talk.

And for this, you've gotta move from right-brain ideas into left-brain rationality. Which leads me to think that the perfect blend for a team is to have left-brainers, right-brainers, and above all directive leadership with both.

Then you have a fluent system where rational decisions, intuitive decisions and emotional decisions can all unify in one perfect whole.

It's fun.

Looking forward to feeding you soon...with drink, food or ideas.

Cheers

Twisted

PS www.globalideasbank.org great source of creative inspiration through ideas.

Riddled with Worms

2004-11-11T20:19:00.000+01:00

...and Trojans and adware and blasters and all sorts of other malfarious items that have caused me so much frustration these past few weeks.

This is why the blog has not been updated for a while.

Perhaps I should take my good friend Martijn Aslander's advice (of elvenstone-networks.nl) and get a mac instead.

Hmm.

So...news.

In under 12 hours we will be inspected by the KVR, who will let us know within about 30 mins whether or not we can officially open. We have spent so many hours cleaning the place (especially Mr Gene Justice whose hands are now deformed from all the chemicals he has come into contact with) to meet their standards. God knows how the previous tennant managed to stay in business. On that note, if you ate there previously, there are certain things you may not want to hear!

But it's spotless now and we will maintain these standards to ensure that all customers receive the very best. After all, a clean and healthy kitchen means a clean and healthy meal.

Spin around and change perception.

We are excited. Slightly nervous, but excited. And we feel that we have come so far in these past few months to actually get to this point that opening the doors for real will be such a cathartic experience. Imagine being couped up in a cellar for months only then to be allowed to breathe air for the first time. Imagine holding back something you've wanted to say to your spouse for months then letting it all out in one titanic speech over a few Mass bier and pretzels. Imagine being sexually frustrated for months and then... you get the idea.

Cross everything that can be crossed.

Twisted T.

Halloween Night - A View from the Bridge

2004-11-01T16:01:00.000+01:00

Thanks to all those who came and dressed up and drank and ate and danced and fell over and passed out on our Helloween Party.

We loved sharing our space with y'all and we look forward to sharing it with you again.

The Countdown Clock has now been set in motion.

We will be opening very soon...

TWiSted T

Not Knowing What You Don't Know

2004-11-01T15:54:00.000+01:00

The former finance minister of Chile, Fernando Flores, is one sharp knive. He consults the largest companies in the world on communication and has written two very successful publications on Entrepreneurship and Building Trust.

One of the key things he says about entrepreneurship is that those who prosper are those who can live with the things they don't even know they don't know.

Let me explain...

Some people need to know everything before they will commit to action. Working with such people is exhausting and takes a lot of time and energy.
Others can handle a little bit of ambiguity or uncertainty and still act, knowing that what they don't know is just a matter of finding out.
However, there are very few people who can operate in the zone of not knowing that they don't know and these guys just do it.

At the moment, we are operating in-between the knowing that you don't know and not knowing that you don't know.

It's scary and exciting at the same time. We are bootstrapping our financing and that's risky but we have the confidence in our collective pool of experience and talent AND we have a following.

So bear with us.
We are getting there.
And all will be well.

Tschus.

Twisted Team

Fait accompli

2004-10-21T16:37:00.000+02:00

It's done.

We signed the contract to open up the Twisted Bavarian at the former Savoy Bar and Diner on Tengstrasse, Schwabing.

It's taken a lot, and I mean a lot of negotiations, to-ing and fro-ing, will it / won't it, can we / can't we, scratchy-headiness. It's been frustrating, exciting, delighting and frightening.

And the fun has only just begun. We have so much work to do re processes, back-office set-ups, food costing, logo designs, corporate designs and so on. But we now have a focus and above all, sorry to push the obvious, a location.

Opening date?

Good question.

That will all depend on some of the major alterations that need to take place, primarily the signage out front. We are also intending to open up a side door for access to the smaller bar and split the whole place in two. You'll see what a difference it makes to the original design when you come.

More to be posted soon since if you can't tell from the writing, we need some rest.

Bis bald.

Technical At'issues

2004-10-16T13:53:00.000+02:00

PC crashed and burned on Wednesday night. Type typey type then boom, 'serious error', blue screen then computer death.

Thanks to Oliver Wissmann and Andelko Vulman for getting me back. You are both heroes.

We are now only a few days away from signing a contract for a location. Let's keep up the suspense and reveal the exact address later but we'll let it slip that it's an historic venue.

We're also engaging ben davis (http://www.bdfreelance.com) to work with graphics for the site and web platform.

And we need to give a huge thank you to John Cummins for translating the entire business plan into German.

It's getting interesting...

Another Day, Another Euro

2004-10-11T14:57:00.000+02:00

Now that our brains are switched into the Euro system we no longer need to convert into dollars or pounds. And I'm getting rather attached to the 2 euro coin. It's largesse and heaviness are most welcome in the change section of my wallet.

It's a big week ahead.

We have important meetings with Paulaner and one of the restaurant owners with whom we've been 'negotiating' for some months. We also have a networking evening at AGBC to explain our concept and further advertise the Twisted Bavarian.

We're also pushing on with the development of the website, courtesy of the skills of one Johnny Lewis and his team. Watch this space.

We'll finish off with a little poem

Patience
For Us
Has been the watchword
Sleepless nights
No time for rest
As long as we trust
And do our best
It'll come
And they will come
And we will all eat.

Hungry?

Get down to the Bondi tonight (Montag) between 6 and 11pm and share in our food.

Guten appetit...

Twisting Winding Roads

2004-10-07T18:52:00.000+02:00

A long and tiring day.

Meetings (with Lowenbrau and owner of restaurant on Blumen Strasse...georgeous location...shame about the price)...explanations...more explanations...translations...finance matters...legal matters...Ltd v. Gmbh...taxation...foreign investment...shareholdings...und so weiter.

Business Plan needing to be written then translated into German.

Time is short.

Then again, perhaps the beers at lunchtime didn't help. When in Munich...

Cut to today

We receive an email from Lowenbrau representative who we met yesterday. (Would copy in full but for legal reasons have desisted from saying that it 'may' be perceived as being just a little superior / patronising). Didn't like the idea of us putting webcams in the kitchen to share knowledge and understanding to hundreds of potential chefs.

Also didn't like the fact that we didn't have hundreds of thousands euros in the bank.

Their key selling point was the the Westend area to the west of the Wiesen was 'up and coming' and they wanted to be very careful about who they backed to invest in the area.

For my part (Picsie), I just stayed in the background with my bruised face and watched body language.

Fascinating.

And let's just say, never co-invest in a project with a man in his thirties who wears a waistcoat and never takes his hands out his pockets. Only joking...just that their enthusiasm and full support on one day metamorphisisisied into complete disinterest the next.

How to trust?

Just gotta keep doing so.

Trust, trust, trust.

Elephants can't fly

2004-10-05T13:41:00.000+02:00

Spent the majority of yesterday evening in the company of Jonny Lewis (http://www.earthmann.com), photographer, journalist, creative provocateur. At some later point, I successfully managed to trip over an unidentified foreign object and smash my face off the bar rail. It's been such a long time since I've had a black eye. I feel quietly dangerous.

The focus of our conversation was the virtual side of the Twisted Concept - websites, databases, media platforms and so on. Our minds raced in all directions and although we initially thought around, above and below each other, we eventually connected.

Have you had this experience in a creative brainstorming session?

You know when...

...there seems to be so much data that you need to look at that you don't know where to start?
...those of you brainstorming go in different directions at different times and it becomes confusing?
...you catch yourself thinking, are my thoughts just too crazy? Should I air them?
...you just want to stop the thought train and get off?

That was our twinned experience. However, we did get things down on paper and according to my belief system (which may be viewed at some future time in my own blog), this is enough for the moment.

And so today we have a couple of meetings...one with the owner of a bar / restaurant in Schwabing / Munchener Freiheit area and another with our tax / accountant / legal guy. We're finalising the business plan and creating an action plan for the immediate future. This feels good.

(Note to self...rambling is OK).

I have a question for you...

Do you think it is a good or bad thing (please provide supporting arguments) to open up one type of restaurant in an area where there are other restaurants of the same type. i.e. open up an Italian restaurant next to 4 others?

I have my own thoughts on this, which I will share later, but would welcome your comments.

Until later...

Remember that elephants can't fly, so it's OK that you can't do certain things either.

The Day after the Two Weeks B4

2004-10-04T13:53:00.000+02:00

Scene 1 - King Kling Living Room, Haar

Picsie, King Kling and Texas Tornado rise (slowly) from their respective resting zones. They have just completed a two week stint serving Tex-Mex food at the Bondi Bar during the hectic Oktoberfest period and are as exhausted as George Bush's brain cell. (Apologies for political references at such an early stage in our evolution).

They sit on bar stools in King Kling's living room eating breakfast burritos (we will never tire of you dear Beannie) and discussing the way ahead. Jerry and Indie Kling (Hunde) look up from down there. They are slevering.

Scene 2 - Picsie's Thought Stream

The way ahead is right there in front of us. It's tangible. During the early hours of this morning, in that twighlight zone between full alertness and sleep, I experienced the sensation of the Grand Theory of Everything. I felt it. I remember the feeling. Unfortunately, I don't remember anything else. But a feeling is as powerful, if not more so, than a thought.

We have been looking for the perfect location for our concept for months now. We have viewed about 40 properties. It is frustrating but we are insistent that we do not rush into anything. The F and B industry is a risky one and we want to source the right location and vibe for a concept which we fully intend to transfer to other cities and regions. All decisions at this stage are important.

And we will get there. And we will open up the first Twisted Bavarian. And they will come. And all will enjoy the ride.

Let it be so.

Talk to y'all soon

The Twisted Team
(Please note that in reading the individual blogs you may sense differences in style. This will be due to the fact that any member of the Twisted Team - owners, management, staff - are being encouraged to input their thoughts and ideas.)