Hessen, Saturday night

Our first dinner at Landhaus Diedert…

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you might know that Landhaus Diedert, a beautiful restaurant in a former Kloster, is a relatively frequent setting for elegant Sunday lunches. Over the past few years, this restaurant on the outskirts of Wiesbaden, has become a favorite place for Bill and me to enjoy German style comfort food. Service is always professional and usually very friendly.

A couple of nights ago, just after Bill returned from his latest business trip, I suggested that we go out and do something this weekend. But we couldn’t decide where we wanted to go… Did we want to visit one of our favorite places, Villa im Tal? Or perhaps Little Italy, in downtown Wiesbaden. Or Landhaus Diedert, which never disappoints? Our answer was dinner at Landhaus Diedert on Saturday night, and lunch today at Villa im Tal. It’s currently “Spargel” (asparagus) season, so both restaurants have a special “Spargel Karte” on their menus.

Below are some photos from the walk in. We parked on a street a block from the restaurant/hotel, because they were busy last night! They have a lovely play area for kids, and when the weather is good, a beautiful outdoor sitting area under huge oak trees.

Bill and I have never had a bad experience at Landhaus Diedert, and last night was no exception. My asparagus soup with herbed ham, for instance, made me stop in my tracks with its burst of flavor. It was followed by Perlhuhn (guinea fowl) with sausage, asparagus, wild garlic gnocchi, and the zestiest cherry tomatoes I have ever tasted, along with a savory sauce. Bill had fried dorade (fish) with cauliflower, barley corn, and rhubarb. Then for dessert, there was chocolate cake with fruit and for him, and New York cheesecake with raspberries and pistachio ice cream for me. Bill’s dessert also came with ice cream, but it was an interesting flavor that neither of us could identify.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the sommelier, who noted our reservation and showed us to a table in the middle of the dining room. Almost every table was taken, with a couple of tables decorated with “Happy Birthday” candles.

I’m getting to an age at which three courses are a challenge. Not only do I not need the calories, but I find that it’s very hard to eat that much in one sitting. However, I didn’t want to miss the soups… and I’m glad I didn’t. It was hard to choose between the asparagus soup and the wild garlic soup… They also had a tomato soup that looked appealing.

And then came the hearty main courses, which almost put us over the edge. I thought about taking some home, but by the time I got to that point, I only had a few bites left. So I finished… but it was a delicious challenge!

Although we were full, we decided to have dessert… I know we probably shouldn’t have… but it’s hard to go out to such a nice place and not enjoy a sweet ending. I had the cheesecake, and Bill had the chocolate cake. I would have gone for the chocolate, except I’m not a fan of lava cakes.

Dinner took about two hours and ran a couple hundred euros… but it was so nice to get out and have some really good food. On the way out of the restaurant, I took a few more photos of the Biergarten area.

And on the way home, I got a few pictures of Wiesbaden, which is such a gracious, posh, opulent city. I feel lucky to live here. Someday, we’ll visit the Ring Church so I can see what it looks like inside!

It’s great to have Bill home again, and I’m so glad we ventured out for dinner. Stay tuned for a post about Villa im Tal later, and lots more photos! This is quite the weekend for “Hessen Essen”.

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Luz Bistro for dinner!

Last night, Bill and I decided to take his mom, Parker, to Luz Bar & Bistro in Nagold.  I have written about Luz Bistro at the Alte Post in Nagold several times.  We usually go there for lunch on the weekends, but last night we decided to have dinner there.  I chose Luz because I knew the food and service would be excellent.  I also had a feeling we wouldn’t need reservations.

We arrived at the restaurant at about 7:00pm.  The bar area was pretty busy, as was the small dining room to the right.  I had never seen that dining room full.  Fortunately, there were still a few empty tables in the dining room to the left, which is where we usually sit if we aren’t outside enjoying Nagold’s city scenes while we drink wine.  Bill, Parker, and I took a seat at a four top and Bill ordered a bottle of Rioja and our usual sparkling water.

I was intrigued by a couple of the choices on Luz’s dinner menu last night, but I needed Google translate for a few things.  For instance, I had forgotten the word “Topinambur”, which is Jerusalem artichoke.  I also didn’t know the word “Saibling”, which is German for “char (a type of trout)”.  Parker chose a trout dish that was served with a citrusy pickle cream sauce.  I don’t know how I stood being in Germany without Google Translate.  It’s saved me a few times.  Anyway, below are the dishes we enjoyed last night.

I was originally intrigued by a dish that featured shrimps, onions, bacon, and mashed potatoes.  Since I was really hungry, I opted for a rib eye.  Luz has several steaks, a couple of which come in a “lady’s cut”.  The rib eye is one size only, 230 grams.  I ordered a side of fries, although I probably should have had a salad.  The fries at Luz are nothing special, although they arrived hot.  The steak, on the other hand, was juicy and delicious and beautifully complimented by a chilled garlic spread that was delicious.  It really married well with the beef.  

Parker’s dish was trout with a pickle and cream sauce.  I didn’t taste it, but she said the sauce was citrusy.  This dish came with a simple preparation of potatoes and greens.  I probably would have enjoyed it.  Maybe next time.

Bill had a very hearty plate of goulash made with venison and served with cranberry sauce and spaetzle.  I could tell he enjoyed this dish, based on how clean his plate was.  It was very satisfying.  I don’t routinely eat venison, but I might have liked this dish, too.

After our sumptuous main courses, Parker and I decided to have dessert.  I think our waitress might have been a little “weeded”, handling the rest of the crowd in the bar area and the other dining room.  She brought our desserts before she brought drinks.  I could see the ice cream was melted, which makes me think it sat for a few minutes.  But anyway, it still tasted good… especially Parker’s dessert.  I must have it next time I go to Luz Bistro.  It was a real hit!

My creme brulee came with red wine ice cream, blackberries and blueberries, and a crisp cookie.  It was a pretty standard incarnation of creme brulee, which I would have liked more had the ice cream not been so soft.  But… having waited tables myself, I am willing to cut the waitress a break.  She was working hard.  About halfway through the dessert, I had the prosecco I ordered.

Parker’s dessert was my favorite culinary treat of the evening.  She had a dark chocolate tart with sea salt ice cream, berries, whipped cream, and a vanilla sauce.  I swear… next time I have PMS, I hope I can get my hands on that dessert.  It was absolutely delicious.

 

Last night’s dinner came to about 159 euros before the tip.  I think had it not been a little busy last night, we would have had an almost flawless meal.  The good news everything tasted great and we were together, enjoying each other’s company.  Luz and the Alte Post remain another of my favorite local restaurants and it’s always a good bet for a weekend lunch of when company is around.

We are headed to Berlin later today, which excites me because it’s the first time any of us has been there.  It’s a blind booking on Eurowings, which we haven’t done in the past five years.  It should be fun.  I look forward to seeing some sights and writing more travel articles.  Berlin has been on my “must visit” list for a long time, especially since I’ve been to so many other European capitals in countries where I don’t actually live.

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Winner, winner chicken dinner? Not at our house!

Those of my readers who live in the Stuttgart area may already know that the weather was horrible yesterday.  It rained all day.  It was cold and nasty and neither Bill nor I were in the mood to go out.  Bill resolved to stop by the “baby” Real (a German store kind of like Walmart) in Jettingen for some supplies.  Since they didn’t have any whole chickens at the commissary, he looked for one at Real.  He found one, brought it home, and cooked it…

I was really looking forward to last night’s dinner.  I love roasted chicken.  I especially love it when it’s moist, tender, and juicy.  That’s the vision I had in my head last night as Bill roasted the chicken he found at the Real.

Finally, at about 7:30pm, he called me downstairs to dinner.  I was hungry and definitely ready for a nice meal on such a miserable night.  Bill had prepared wilted spinach and mashed potatoes and opened a nice bottle of locally produced red wine that we picked up in Tuebingen last week.

He goes to cut the bird and had surprising difficulty, even with our trusty Wusthof knives at the ready.  At one point, he broke out the kitchen scissors to separate one of the legs the rest of the carcass, noting that the bird was pretty scrawny and tough.  I started wondering what kind of chicken this was.  I mean, I know Germans don’t use a lot of antibiotics and crap in their chickens like Americans do, but this was a most unusual specimen of fowl.  It was like the bird had been in training for marathons her whole life.

We struggled to eat the rubbery chicken.  I swear, in all my years, I don’t think I’ve ever run across such a tough bird, even when I lived in Armenia.  Bill ended up throwing the rest of it away.

This morning, Bill looked at the label on the packaging and noticed that it said “Suppen Hänchen”, which I take to mean that it was supposed to be used to make a nice stew after having been boiled for hours.  Now we know.  I’m writing this post for others who might be similarly fooled.  Soup chickens are for soup.  Got it?

The weather is supposed to suck again today.  I wish our house had a fireplace or a masonry heater.  Last time we lived here, we lived in a house that had an awesome masonry heater that was perfect for days like today.  The house we’re in now is relatively inexpensive, but has no romantic heating methods.  I guess we’ll have to depend on oil and each other… and our two spoiled dogs who both begged for that chicken last night.

Part of the awesome masonry heater in our first German house.  This house also had heated floors and a cistern that used rain water to flush the toilet.  You could sit on the bench and toast your buns…    

 

I don’t know if we’ll get out today or not.  When the weather gets bad, I tend to want to stay in and hibernate.  But if we have another gourmet meal cooked at our house today, it’ll for sure be something other than chicken.

 

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BeNeLux

Dinner in Clervaux, Luxembourg at Hotel du Commerce…

Saturday night, after we checked in a Hotel du Commerce in Clervaux, Luxembourg, we were too tired to go searching for the perfect meal at a stand alone restaurant.  Since the chef had checked us in and obviously had a big stake in the hotel (as in he probably owns it), we decided to just eat there.  We were invited to choose a table in the pleasant dining room.  We picked one in the corner, where I hoped we wouldn’t be too conspicuous.  Clervaux doesn’t seem to attract a lot of Americans.

The menu was in French with no English translations, which was fine with me.  I don’t speak French, but I find that reading the menus helps me learn.  Bill overheard a male waiter advising a young female waitress to let him handle us.  He asked her if she spoke English and she gave him the “sort of” hand gesture.  It was pretty funny.

Bill enjoys a little sparkling water to go with the nice tannic red he picked out…

I started with a salmon and toast appetizer.  This was kind of expensive at 14 euros,  but I was wanting protein.  It came with some raw onion and capers.  I shared a lot of it with Bill, who opted for the soup of the day.  It was a delicate vegetable soup that was pureed into creaminess.  

I enjoyed duck breast with pommes and a delicate and slightly sweet sauce…

Bill had a veal cordon bleu with mushroom sauce.  I didn’t try it because mushrooms are of the devil.

For dessert, I had delicious chocolate mousse…

Bill had a molleux.  Based on the description listed in the menu, I told him I bet it would be a lava cake.  Lo and behold, I was right.  Lava cakes are also of the devil.  Just kidding.  This was a nice dessert, but everybody is doing lava cakes.  They are EVERYWHERE.  For that reason, I don’t like them.

We end with a lovely coffee…

I think our bill for this meal was about 139 euros.  I had a brain fart, got up, and went to the room without my purse, so our waiter kindly delivered it to me.  Good thing we were staying in the hotel.  We were only stared at by one person.  She probably wondered why I was taking photos of all the food.

I enjoyed our meal at the Hotel du Commerce.  I think the food is the star attraction, rather than the accommodations, which were plenty adequate, but not all that luxurious.  I’d eat there again and would stay again… if I could find a place to park.

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Dinner at home…

We finally cleared our backlog of Hello Fresh meals and have enjoyed a couple of our own creations this week.  Last night, I decided I would get in the kitchen and make dinner.  There was a time when I made dinner every night.  In fact, back in the 90s, I even worked as a cook at a church camp for two summers and cooked for up to 75 people three times a day.  It was probably the best job I’ve ever had.

Somehow, our roles flipped and Bill took over cooking a few years ago.  I think it happened when we lived in Germany the first time.  I never knew when he was going to get home and hated the convection oven.  He likes to cook, is good at it, and didn’t mind dealing with the oven.  But every once in awhile, I have to get back in the kitchen and pound out some dough.  We had some leftover produce from Hello Fresh that needed to be used, as well as a cup of red wine that neither of us liked much.  I decided to make tomato sauce and bread and then it turned into baked ziti.  Here are the end results.

Homemade bread.  I find making bread from scratch very therapeutic.  I got the recipe for French bread from the Virginia Hospitality cookbook.  Dinner was sort of Italian-ish.  Talk about fusion.

I decided on ziti because I already had a box open and it was just enough for the two of us… and the dogs, of course.  I got Bill to pick up some ricotta on the way home.  It never ceases to amaze me how much better ricotta is in Europe.

Bill set the table and Arran was quick to take his place.  The dogs love this new seating arrangement, which makes it easier for them to mooch.  I like it because it better accommodates all the presents I’ve been giving my ass.  

No, our dogs don’t drink, but Arran looked so cute waiting for dinner that Bill decided to present the wine to him.  “I trust the wine meets with your approval, Arran.”

After dinner bonding.

 

Arran loves Bill… and vice versa.

And then the post meal stroll around the gardens…  

It was a very pleasant repast.  I should cook more often.

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