Sunday, October 14, 2012

German Night

We had a perfect evening after leaving one car at Fran and Ricky's house far away from the local Pumpkin Festival. I got out of town early to avoid the exodus of the masses. We arrived right on time to a rather gritty part of the city yet found a perfect parking spot right in front of the restaurant. Here was the sign on the front door going into the place:

So interesting. It was soooo German. East German.

Throughout the evening, men wearing leather lederhosen arrived on bicycles and scurried into the back room. The "Oktoberfest" room. Lots of serious fun going on back there!

There was never a pause in our the conversation. The boys on one side of the table, girls on the other. It was great fun to have some time to have serious a conversation. Margit is the special education teacher for a middle school so we talked a lot of teacher talk. The boys? I heard a lot of laughing from that side of the table!

The food. Glorious. Very traditional. Since Speckman's closed in SF, there has been no really good German restaurant to be found. We were thrilled to discover this gem. Michael ordered the Grilled Thuringer Bratwurst with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes while I had the Beef Roulade (Tri-tip stuffed with bacon, pickles, mustard and onions) with spatzle and red cabbage. I gave Michael half of mine and he shared a bite of his sausage. It was marvelous. We also traded my spatzle for his sauerkraut. Margit and Bill had the Schnitzel (huge breaded porkloin) with mashed potatoes and veggies and the Garlic Roast Pork with potatoes and veggies. Bill and I had water, Margit enjoyed a glass of wine and Michael smiled through a wonderful German beer.

Desserts. There were only three offered. We ordered all three! I took a forkful of each:
Michael - A tiny layered cake made with chocolate, rum and butter cookies
Margit - Red Berry Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
Bill - Apple Strudel with Ciao Bella Vanilla Ice Cream served warm.

All of this for a grand total of $109.00. Very cheap for a city restaurant.

And the very best part, we were home by 8:00. No late night! No exhaustion!

We are primed and ready for a lot of fun today. We are watching the recording of the F1 race from Korea right now while eating breakfast, the 49er's play in SF at 1:00 and the first game of the playoff between the Giants and Cardinals begins at 5:00. It is a sports day! Oh, and the Pumpkin Festival continues today.

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