The Magic of a Meal at Der Zauberlehring..

Ever since my husband Bill and I moved to Germany, we've missed indulging in one of our favorite pastimes... eating out at fine restaurants. When we were living in the States, we used OpenTable.com to find new places to eat fine food in major cities around the country. I thought that hobby might be suspended when we moved abroad, not because there aren't any good restaurants in Europe, but because we might not be able to find them as easily.

What is OpenTable.com?

OpenTable.com is an online reservation service that makes it easy for diners to reserve tables at restaurants that accept reservations. I discovered this service back in 2002, when I turned 30. I was looking for a nice place to celebrate my birthday and searched on the Internet for restaurants in the Washington, DC area. I stumbled on OpenTable.com by accident and have been using it ever since. Although OpenTable.com is not available everywhere, more and more restaurants are subscribing to the service, which is quickly expanding internationally.

I was very happy when I discovered that OpenTable.com is starting to catch on in Germany and that's what led me to try out Der Zauberlehring. So far, Der Zauberlehring is the only restaurant in the Stuttgart area that is a member of OpenTable.

What is Der Zauberlehring?

Der Zauberlehring translates to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and is a reference to an old ballad by the German writer, Goethe. Der Zauberlehring is also the name of a small hotel and restaurant in central Stuttgart, Germany run by Karen and Axel Heldmann. Bill and I did not get a chance to stay at the hotel, since we live fairly close to Stuttgart. Instead, we came to Der Zauberlehring on Saturday, February 16, 2008, looking for good food and good times.

First impressions...

Der Zauberlehring is conveniently located near the Charlottenplatz area of Stuttgart. We parked our car in a parking garage on the outskirts of Stuttgart and took the U-bahn to the restaurant, figuring it would allow us the chance to digest our meals and process our wine a bit before we had to drive home. According to OpenTable.com's description of the restaurant, there is parking available at the hotel.

The hotel's lobby is inviting, with a modern looking fireplace, a flat screen television, and a couple of modern looking couches. A pleasant young man named Brian greeted us and took our coats. It was 7:00pm and we were apparently the first ones to arrive for dinner. Brian seated us in the restaurant's tiny dining room. As we sat down at our table, Bill and I noticed the very cool looking eternal flame situated by one of the walls. Brian gave us menus, which were in German and English.

The food

Der Zauberlehring serves international style fare. Tasting menus are available, as well as food that can be ordered a la carte. At first, I was a little confused by the menu because it wasn't obviously divided into sections. But Brian, who spoke limited English, was able to tell us about the four course daily special, which sounded appealing to Bill and me and we both ended up ordering it. I made one substitution, because the main course for the special was veal and I don't like veal. I opted to substitute skray (a type of cod fish) for the veal and was very happy with my choice. Bill also ordered a bottle of sparkling water and some Spanish red wine. Our bottle of water was very fancy! It looked more like a perfume bottle. While we waited for the first course, we nibbled on rolls and a very light olive oil.

Bill and I both started off with a tiny starter of octopus pepper salad and a cup of soup made with Thai curry. The salad was about two forkfuls worth, with one tiny piece of octopus on top. The soup, which was absolutely delicious, was served in a tiny cup. It looked like a cappuccino, complete with a white foam on top. It tasted slightly salty, with a wonderful zesty spice that perfectly accompanied the salad. Normally, I wouldn't want to eat octopus, but this little starter was suprisingly good. Two days later, Bill was still raving about it.

Next, we enjoyed a delicious salad made of turbot, a buttery, flavorful fish. The fish was served with greens that were bundled by a very thin piece of crispy potato. The potato had the texture of a potato chip that was formed into a ring before it was crisped. The fish was drizzled with light orange and garnished with a heavenly basil/herb butter. I don't normally like salads that much, but this was really delicious and beautifully presented.

Next came the main courses. Bill had veal which was set atop roasted vegetables. I had the skray, which was roasted with mustard and served with spicy white beans, black bean paste, and two topinambur stroudels. I'm not really sure what the stroudels were made of-- at first, they looked like white asparagus stalks, but they were actually more like fried piroshkis. I liked them a lot. Both Bill and I really enjoyed our dinners, even though it occurred to me that my entree alone, priced at 33 euros, cost about the equivalent of 50 US dollars!

Dessert was absolutely heavenly. It consisted of a small plate of chocolate, white chocolate, and vanilla sweets. There was a little chocolate molten cake, dusted with powdered sugar, a tiny sliver of flourless chocolate cake garnished with gold flecks, two little pieces of sinful vanilla ice cream, a small scoop of chocolate ice cream, and a little dollop of white chocolate mousse. It sounds like a lot, but it wasn't. It was just enough to leave us full and contented.

The other patrons

Bill and I were the only Americans in the dining room Saturday night. Again, we arrived at 7:00 and were the only ones there, but within the hour, the place was completely full. The dining room at Der Zauberlehring is very small. I was glad I'd made reservations. The whole time we were eating, a man dressed in a chef's outfit (the owner, I presume), was walking around schmoozing with everyone. He spoke English and was nice to Bill and me.

I should mention that although the food is fancy, Der Zauberlehring doesn't seem to have a dress code. Although Bill and I were dressed up, we saw other people who were dressed in jeans. The emphasis seems to be on the food, not so much on the ambiance or being seen.

TV in the men's room?

Naturally, I paid a visit to the ladies room and found it clean, well lit, and well stocked. Bill also visited the men's room. When he came back, he was shaking his head in astonishment. Apparently, there is a small flatscreen TV mounted over the urinals. Bill said a black and white movie was playing with the muted. I guess the owners decided to give the guys something to look at as they tended to business. The ladies room did not have a TV in it.

The bill

All told, our two dinners cost about 180 euros, which translates to over $200. Admittedly, it wasn't a cheap meal, but we did have wine and sparkling water. The water alone cost over $10. I did notice that we were the only ones who had water that looked like it was in a perfume bottle... everyone else had bottled water that came in plainer containers. Der Zauberlehring accepts credit cards, but we opted to pay in cash.

Final impressions

Bill and I had a very nice time at Der Zauberlehring and will probably visit again, especially since the restaurant offers cooking classes and special packages that include a night's stay in the hotel. I'm a big fan of OpenTable.com and want to reward the owners for subscribing. I'd like to see more restaurants in Germany jump on the OpenTable bandwagon. The food at Der Zauberlehring is not inexpensive, but Bill and I thought it was worth the extra cost because it was among the best meals we've had since we moved to Germany.