After an evening in last night, Bill and I decided to venture into Wiesbaden for lunch.  He needed to turn in his rental car and pick up our Toyota and we had tentative plans to visit the commissary.  But lunch turned out to be so sumptuous that we ultimately skipped the commissary and simply indulged in a wonderful meal.

When Bill goes TDY, especially for over a week, both of us suffer in terms of food. I usually spend at least part of that time “on the wagon” and I eat whatever is quick and simple to make.  Bill pretty much does the same thing.  When he comes home, we celebrate.  After we picked up the Toyota at Clay Kaserne and dropped off the rental car at the train station, we took a long stroll into inner Wiesbaden.

Our walk from the train station took us past the Bonifatius Catholic Church in Wiesbaden.  It was built in 1824 and is one Wiesbaden’s many landmarks.

The square in front of the church.  Lots of people were congregating there.

The architecture in Wiesbaden is great.  Reminds me of brownstones in New York.

There was a lit candle by the fountain.

We passed this on the way, too… 

 

We don’t usually park near the train station, so we ended up walking past some places we’d never seen before.  Eventually, we ended up on Goldgasse, which was a bit of a “restaurant row”.  Ordinarily, I don’t like these kinds of “gauntlets” because the wait staff is usually aggressive and annoying and the food winds up being mediocre.  But today, Bill and I were preoccupied and let ourselves be ensnared by a friendly waiter who invited us to sit at a four top.

I took this picture on the way out.  When we arrived, no one else was sitting in front of La Cantinetta Ristorante and Wine Bar.

Obligatory shot of Bill looking at the choices.

Beautiful fresh cut tulips.

 

The waiter spoke excellent English and offered suggestions.  I told him of my hatred for fungus.  We were just going to order main courses and dessert, but the waiter talked us into trying the homemade pasta.  He brought Bill a small order of homemade gnocci with black truffle sauce, along with a bottle of Barolo, which was elegantly decanted for us.

Bill pronounced this dish heavenly.  I could smell the truffles.

I had homemade raviolis filled with beef and Parma ham, as well as pasta stuffed with tiny shrimps and fish.  It was glorious, especially after my Kraft mac n’ cheese fiasco earlier this week.

My main course was sliced roast beef topped with rucola, roasted potatoes, and Parmesan cheese, and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.  The beef was exquisite; it was very tender and flavorful and married beautifully with the potatoes and rucola.  When I sat down at this restaurant, I was tired and cranky, but this meal really perked me up.

 Bill ended up having what I had originally chosen for myself, a delicious Iberian pork dish with bacon wrapped green beans, and baby corn…  The pork was delicious!  I would have been just as happy with Bill’s dish.

 

Although it was a struggle to finish, we did manage to get through our main courses.  After we ate, we enjoyed the rest of the wine, conversation, and people watching.  Many more people came as we were dining.  I noticed the waiters were very welcoming and friendly, inviting people to sit down.  A couple of trips into the restaurant offered a glance at the elegant interior.  They were playing the Italian version of the song “Gloria”, which Laura Branigan made famous in the early 80s.  I believe it was originally an Italian hit.

For dessert, we shared the Dolce Misto, which was a panoply of mini versions of their desserts… and I had another glass of wine…

A nice Italian white.

And the Dolce Misto, which included creme brulee, profiteroles, panna cotta, tiramisu, and fruit.  My favorite was the profiteroles.

All told, about 126 euros… not a cheap lunch, but we left happy and satisfied.  We will definitely be back, especially since I noticed so many other beautifully presented dishes coming out of the kitchen.  The chef definitely has an eye for presentation… and everything tasted and smelled wonderful.

Very close to La Cantinetta is an Argentinian steakhouse.  We will have to try there, too.

This restaurant also has pizza and pasta, as well as schnitzel, although I can’t imagine getting schnitzel at this place.  The food is quite lovely.  The waiter was a little more assertive than I like and I did notice that someone complained on Trip Advisor about the upselling.  I agree, it was noticeable. On the other hand, we were in the mood to indulge and everything we had was uniformly excellent.

On the way back to the car, we saw a Saks… Wiesbaden is definitely a ritzy town.

More architecture.  Wiesbaden is very gracious.

The train station.  Our car was parked in the garage next door. 

We stopped by the train station so I could pee.  It’s expensive there.  One euro to use the public toilet, which is very clean and has toilet paper.  I don’t really mind paying as long as it’s clean and stocked, however, one euro is a lot for a whiz.

We ended up not visiting the commissary.  I suppose we should have, especially given how much Bill has to do since he’s been out of town.  But I just wanted to come home, write about this lunch, and enjoy the afterglow of a good meal.