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Lunch at Benner’s Bistronomie and the last day of Wiesbaden’s Wine Fest!

We didn’t go anywhere on Saturday. I got kind of a late start and, by the time I was finished with my Saturday chores, it was already about 1:00pm. The sky was dark, and rain was promising to fall, so despite Bill’s desire to venture out, I demurred. Since we stayed in on Saturday, I agreed to go out yesterday. Bill made reservations at Benner’s Bistronomie, located in Wiesbaden’s grand Kurhaus.

Benner’s is in the location that used to house a restaurant called Lambertus. We ate at Lambertus in April of 2019. I remember liking the place, especially since the inside of the Kurhaus is historic and beautiful. I didn’t know Lambertus had ceased operations, but we were game to try the new tenant in the old world European building. I’ll say one thing for Wiesbaden; it sure is a pretty town! There’s a lot of graceful architecture and grandiosity, especially downtown. It’s what some Americans might call “fancy”.

Our reservations were for 2:30pm. We made them for later because yesterday was also the last day of a wine festival in Wiesbaden we’ve been trying to get to. We were going to hit the wine fest last week, but I was inconvenienced by a certain monthly visitor and didn’t feel like going anywhere.

Like Saturday, it appeared that we might be in for some rain. When we approached Benner’s, there were a few people sitting outside. The server who spoke to us in unmasked German advised that we might want to eat inside because it would be more “gemütlichkeit” (pleasant, cozy). Noticing the heavy dark, grey clouds, we agreed– as she reminded us to wear masks. We put them on and went inside; no one asked to see proof of vaccines or anything, not that I was expecting them to do that. So far, we haven’t run into anyone who cares if we’ve had the shot(s).

I’ll state right away that our lunch was excellent. The food was very good. The service was friendly, if not a little bit absent-minded. We had to remind the server to bring us sparkling water. We also happened to be there at the time when a lot of people were wanting coffee and cake. Having waited tables myself, I know that the coffee and cake orders can be more work for less money! Anyway, here are some photos from yesterday’s repast!

Threatening clouds!
Benner’s bar… and a sign about COVID-19 rules.
I opted not to “pimp my meal.” I think truffles are overrated.
The inside of the restaurant before the coffee and cake crowd showed up.
My darling husband.
The Schinken (ham) was exquisite and melted in the mouth! I don’t usually like it that much, but I definitely loved what they had at Benner’s. It was a “gift” from the kitchen. Bill liked the truffle butter, but I was grateful for the plain.
I started with tempura coated prawns with mangoes, chili mayo, and what tasted like a peanut soy dressing,
Bill had a big plate of beef carpaccio. We really should have shared one starter; they were pretty big.
I had dorade filets on risotto. In the English menu, this was called “sea bream”, but I thought bream was turbot. Anyway, it was excellent. I couldn’t finish it.
Bill had vegetarian bucatini with lemon and greens. His dish was also substantial and he brought half home.
We had no room for dessert… and we were eager to hit the wine fest!

After paying with a credit card and tipping in cash, we headed out to the wine festival. Much to our surprise, there was security there, but it seemed that they really just wanted to make sure everyone was registering with Luca or Corona Warn, the two contract tracing apps being used in Germany right now. I definitely like Corona Warn best of all the apps, since it does more– holds my vaccine certificates (which again weren’t checked) and allows me to scan the QR code for contact tracing. It’s also in English. Luca just does contact tracing. I also have Cov Pass, but it’s not as user friendly for Americans, since it’s in German.

Below are some photos from the wine fest. They had one tent that was serving food, and several wine tents. We only visited one, and I tried several different vinos…

It was still cloudy and drizzly when we approached.
A young guy was cleaning the rain off the benches and putting up umbrellas.
We decided to sit under the roof of the Colonnades.
Pretty soon, this place was hopping.
Nice wine, although I liked what I had at the Hofheim Wine Market last week somewhat more.
This couple seemed amused by my jovial mood. They inspired me to try the Sekt!
Always a provider.
Cheers!
The sun came out after another shower.
Bill gets me a rose.
This was probably my favorite of the three I tried.
By the time we left, the weather was positively glorious!
It was a kid friendly event, too.
Live entertainment was setting up as we were leaving. We noticed our spot was quickly claimed.
I was grateful a public restroom was opened for us… and I didn’t even have to pay to use it.
Wiesbaden was looking better on our way out!

Although we got rained on and it was actually a bit chilly outside, especially for August, we had a really nice time at the fest. I was reminded of how much I’ve missed these kinds of events since the pandemic started. Things are definitely not normal here, but they’re much more normal than they were a year ago. I’m grateful for that… yesterday was definitely a morale booster!

We have plans to go to the Black Forest at the end of the month. We will visit Stuttgart to see our dentist, then spend four nights in a beautiful spa resort in Baiersbronn, about 30 or 40 minutes from where we used to live. As much pain as we went through in our last house, I am glad we lived there. It gave us the chance to explore the Black Forest on many day trips– we completely missed that experience the first time we lived in Germany! And now that we don’t live so close, we have an excuse to vacation down there. Maybe that’s one gift of COVID life… if not for the pandemic, we’d be wanting to go farther afield, and we’d still be missing the closer gems available to us right here in Germany.

I don’t know if we’ll get around to taking a “big” vacation this year. If we don’t, I’m happy to keep enjoying long weekends in places that aren’t too far away from us. Especially if the weather stays agreeable.

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Lambertus on a Sunday afternoon…

Yesterday, as I was booking Martino Kitchen for lunch, I realized that I also wanted to try Lambertus, another well-established Wiesbaden eatery.  I actually had a hard time choosing between the two restaurants, which seemed to be equally esteemed, yet offered very different experiences.  Fortunately, my husband enjoys dining out as much as I do, and he’s very indulgent.  I talked him into a 3:00 pm reservation today.

Lambertus is affiliated with the Kuffler Group, which is a privately owned hospitality company with over twenty restaurants in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, and Munich.  However, when you step inside the place, you can see that there’s a lot of history.  In fact, I read that it used to be called Käfer’s Bistro, and I’m sure it had other names before that.  It’s in the historic Kurhaus and obviously been in use for a long time.

Although we didn’t need do, Bill and I decided to dress for the occasion.  I put on a pretty new dress that I got from Ann Taylor LOFT (a very APO friendly company, by the way) and Bill put on slacks, a dress shirt, and a sweater that matches his vivid blue eyes.  I got a new selfie for Facebook, which is a feat within itself.

The front door.  There’s a nice outdoor area that some people were using.  When the weather permanently warms up, I’m sure it will be very busy!

Wiesbaden is quite the hoity toity town.  Lambertus is right next to Wiesbaden’s famous casino, and maybe a ten minute walk from its famous baths.  I was thinking of going to the baths today, but decided not to… that’s an experience that will happen soon, though.  I am in serious need of naked spa time.

Someone was having a wedding… and a wedding photo shoot.

We were seated by a window, so I got a nice view of downtown Wiesbaden.

Just for us!

Lambertus offers traditional German cuisine, with lots of meat, dumplings, cabbage, and the like.  They do have a few international styled items, too.  Our waitress spoke excellent English.  I got the sense that she might be from Eastern Europe by the way she spoke.  She had an accent that didn’t sound German to me.  She offered excellent and attentive service.  Like a lot of restaurants, this one offers a selection of bread when you sit down, but it comes with Tyrolean ham, so there is a cover charge of 2,90 euros per person.  We opted not to have the bread, but we saw others enjoying it.

I started with a delicious Parmesan soup, which came with bruschetta.  The soup was so good– it reminded me a lot of Alfredo sauce, but in a soup.  This was a vegetarian selection.

Bill had an Indian inspired dish with naan, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and fried bread.  Both dishes were excellent!

For our main course, we opted to have duck for two.  It was a whole duck, carved at the table, and served with dumplings made with pretzel bread, green cabbage, and brown gravy.

Bill in his sweater.  This spot was very sunny and a little crowded, since we were right next to another pair who were close enough that getting up from the table would have been difficult for me.

One thing I love about Lambertus is how beautiful the restaurant is.  It has a very cozy, classic atmosphere, which a nice looking bar area.  There’s also plenty of seating.  Despite the classy atmosphere, this is a very casual restaurant.  You can come as you are.

After a short break after our first course, our waitress carved a whole duck for us on a cart.  We didn’t finish it, so we brought about half home for later.  The duck was beautifully cooked and presented almost like Thanksgiving dinner.  Thanksgiving style turkey is tough to get in these parts (although turkey isn’t).  Maybe next November, we’ll go to the Kurhaus and have this again…  

I really liked the pretzel dumplings.  I don’t usually like Knoedel that much because they’re really heavy, but these were manageable and tasty.  I even liked the cabbage.

Our experience at Lambertus was very relaxed and unhurried.  As we finished the lovely bottle of primitivo and sparkling water we ordered, we decided on dessert.  Of course, they have the damnable lava cakes that are everywhere.  But I decided to have one of the tarts of the day, of which I had a choice of chocolate, rhubarb, apple, or strawberry.  I chose chocolate.  Bill had the “Raspberry”, which was a cream filled puff pastry with raspberry sorbet and raspberry garnishes.  I had some champagne, too.

Bill loved his raspberry dessert.  I think I’d get that next time.

I think this was supposed to come with vanilla ice cream, but I didn’t care that it didn’t in my case.  This was plenty.

 

Cheers!

 

Our bill for today’s lunch was 153 euros, which is admittedly pretty steep.  We did have a luxurious lunch, though… and I really need to find a nature trail so I can walk off some of this excessiveness.  One can certainly get in and out of Lambertus for less than what we did.  They have a wide array of dishes available– everything from Chateaubriand and steaks to vegetarian dishes and pasta.  I saw a lot of people coming in just for dessert.  I’m sure we’ll be back, although I think yesterday’s lunch was more impressive.

All dolled up again.  I’m excited, because this isn’t my usual black, blue, or purple dress…

Time for a haircut, though… and maybe a liver cleanse.

 
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