Strasbourg

[cabrales]

I'd appreciate members' input on the two-starred restaurant Le Cerf of Chef Michael Husser. The restaurant is located within an acceptable drive of Strasbourg.  

Also, what are the rooms of the Hostellerie associated with the restaurant like?

[Fat Guy]

I just noticed this post, sorry for the delay. I dined there a few years ago. It was superb. Here are my somewhat primitive first-draft notes from I think 1997:

The restaurant at Hostellerie du Cerf looks like a genuine, half-timbered Alsatian farmhouse on the outside and a modern, clean hotel dining room on the inside. Were it not for the beautiful multi-colored flowers on the tables and genuine Alsatian art on the walls, you could easily confuse it with the restaurant at your local Ramada Inn (I noticed several instances of this phenomenon in France--I had to unlearn the lessons of America, where a restaurant's cuisine is more likely to follow its decor). Part of this impression is due to the emptiness of the restaurant when I am seated at 8:30 but, by 10:00, almost every table is full.

My nouvelle-Alsatian adventure begins with a plate of head cheese and foie gras on toast points. The head cheese looks like what it is: Chopped-up bits of a pig's head. I close my eyes and take the first bite. My taste buds overrule my brain and I come down in favor of the head cheese. The foie gras is pretty good too.

Looking through the wine list, which contains dozens of unpronounceable Alsatian bottles, I notice that the 1989 Trimbach Reisling Cuvee Frederic Emile is available in half-bottles for about $25 (this wine can easily go for over $100 on New York wine lists). I order it, and the sommelier, although too polite to come out and say so, clearly has a better idea. I force it out of him, and he says that he thinks the half-bottles have not aged so well. He recommends a younger Reisling, a 1994 from Frederic Mochel, at a similar price and it does not disappoint. Later, when I ask him more about the wine, he comes up with a copy of a little brochure from his tasting file. He also pours me a glass of Muscat as an aperitif, which never appears on the bill.

I enjoy my Muscat with a tasty little bowl of herbed soup with crème fraiche. I observe that this is the first restaurant I have seen in France with a waitstaff composed of equal numbers of men and women. All the fancy restaurants I have visitsed up until now have had all-male staffs, while the more moderate ones (as well as the bistros and cafes) have had predominately female staffs.

The parade of Alsatian dishes continues with more head cheese, this time heated, wrapped in a pastry crust, and served with a salad of greens and quail eggs. The robust vinaigrette has the consistency of Hollandaise and is filled with little bits of vegetables and who knows what else. Again, the head cheese wins me over. Still, this food would be hard to sell in America.

As I await my next course (pacing is slow here, although not overly so--it just so happens that this is the one evening of my trip that I am in a bit of a rush). The next course arrives: Escargot in a garlic broth with lardons and swirls of pasta-like dough. The waitress lifts the lid from the porcelain crock, and the smell of garlic hits me seconds later. This is one of those rare instances in which a restaurant makes something with enough garlic even for me.

A very attractive couple, obviously dressed for a date, arrives (probably from Strasbourg). I watch the man enthuse over each dish while the woman smokes and remains uninterested. He and I wind up in the bathroom at the same time. He asks if I am English. I say I am American. He complains that his date does not care about the food. "How can I marry such a woman? What will become of the family if she cares nothing for food? This is the second date. I think there will not be a third."

Next, a single raviole filled with foie gras is served in a broth. At this point in my trip, unbelievably, foie gras consumption has started to seem like a chore. Nonetheless, this is one of the better preparations I have tried. Foie gras alone can be overwhelmingly fatty, and the pasta and broth serve to minimize that sensation while maximizing the taste of the liver.

Believe it or not, the main entrée is still to come: Sauerkraut with assorted meats and sausages (in particular, little blood sausages). To the extent that such a dish can be "light", this is a much lighter and non-greasy version than what I had imagined. The sauerkraut itself is positively bursting with vinegar and cabbage flavors, while the meats are diverse and flavorful. On the side is a platter of condiments in little white porcelain shells: Assorted mustards, as well as horseradish worthy of a serious Passover Seder.

I particularly enjoy the restaurant's twist on the traditional cheese course: A whole boiled potato, hollowed out and peeled, then filled and coated with ripe, melted muenster cheese. If you have never sampled really stinky Alsatian muenster cheese, beware that it is nothing like the bland American supermarket variety.

I figure, with a meal like that, the dessert is going to be something heavy. To my surprise and delight, it is not. A fist-sized ball of raspberry sorbet is covered in a local eau de vie (poured at the table) and served with assorted cookies. It is one of the finest examples of fruit sorbet I have ever tasted, and a perfect end to the meal. The meal, however, is not over. The petit fours are a dessert in themselves, especially the little fruit tarts. Again, there is a welcome absence of any heavy items.

The restaurant also has many non-Alsatian items on the menu, mostly nouvelle interpretations of French classics. I did not try any, but my visual inspections of the dishes coming out of the kitchen looked promising.

The hotel rents extremely small but not expensive rooms (around $75 on average). There is just enough space to walk around the bed in a standard room. You would think that this country location would afford more space for the rooms, but at least the layouts are efficient and the bathrooms are clean and well-equipped (almost as big as the rooms themselves). Per square foot, though, even our room in downtown Strasbourg the next night is a better deal (twice the price, three times the space). Also, although this will not apply to many visitors to Marlenheim, the hotel has a funky phone system that refused to accommodate my computer even though I was toting 18 adapters and jacks around France with me. At every other French hotel I stayed at, I eventually figured out how to get online.

Hostellerie du Cerf serves one of the more respectable breakfasts I tried in France: Four varieties of bread, including kugelhopf, along with jam, honey and caramel sauce. A boiled egg. A platter of sliced meats, cheeses and mixed greens. Freshly pressed organic apple juice. Great coffee and a nice bowl of assorted cut fruit.

Were it not for the tiny rooms, I would have stayed all week.

[cabrales]

Steven -- Thank-you for the description On dining room team members, L'Arnsbourg is the only three-star for which, when I dined, the dining room team was at least 50% female. The team is led by Cathy Klein, sister of the chef.

[pirate]

Michael Husser competed against Sakai on Iron Chef and won ( 3 out of 4 votes), I was impressed with his skills and imagination.

[Fat Guy]

Perhaps it's an Alsatian thing, this egalitarianism in staffing.

[jayrayner]

I have discovered I have a free lunchtime in Strasbourg on friday. can anybody point me in the direction of the echt Alsatian brasserie?

Jay

[Bux]

I can't, but to fill the void, I thought of

Since February 2002, the Westermann family has had a very informal and inexpensive "sandwicherie" up and running in Strasbourg.  Secrets de Table is located at 39 "rue du 22 novembre" in Strasbourg (03 88 210 910). It is open from Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:00/10:30 (?) until 18:00.  The facility is apparently being handled by the eldest son Jean of Buerehiesel's Antoine Westermann.

The rest is in the New Westermann "Sandwicherie", Strasbourg thread.

On the way to finding that thread, I found this in another thread.

We spent a pleasant four days in the Strasbourg, Colmar area several years ago.  These included a dinner at Auberge d'Ill and one at Maison Kammerzeller.  I am almost ashamed to say that I have more vivid and mouthwatering memories of the gigantic platter of Choucroute Royale at Kammerzeller than I do of our meal at Haeberlie's place.

It's conveniently located by the front of the cathedral.

Michelin doesn't have a separate list of brasseries, but they offer a list of winstubs with typical Alsatian ambience. In the Spanish Guia Roja, they offer a separate list of tapas bars for some cities. I wonder if this is a break for them, from the insistance upon a single ideal model of a restaurant.

[jaybee]

I can heartily endorse the suggestion of Jaybee for Maison Kammerzel. The choucroute royale is not to be missed.

[Sandra Levine]

...and a hearty third for Maison Kammerzel. Very good Riesling and Gewurz selections, too.

[Bux]

Very good Riesling and Gewurz selections, too.

There's good beer in Alsace, but I think Alsace is more of a wine area and Strasbourg is very much a wine town.

[jayrayner]

Well Maison Kammerzel it is then. thanks to you all. (And also for the fabulous Auberge de L'ille thread where I am eating tonight. have printed it out in its entirety for background. Gosh egiullet's useful.)

[Bux]

I trust eGullet will be even more useful after you add your comments on Alsace.

[lizziee]

Lunch was at the one star La Vielle Enseigne near the Cathedral. This is a family-run restaurant with the young (20 year old) wife of the young chef handling the front and husband Jean-Christophe Langs in the kitchen. It is a beautiful 18th century building decorated with yellow painted walls, copies of impressionist paintings, some wood paneling and a white planked ceiling.

There are only 8 tables, handling about 16-20 covers. The wife does it all! She takes your order, presents most of the dishes with enthusiasm and interest, carves the dishes and does the cheese service. (Incidentally she had her first child 6 months ago.)

With the champagne we were served our amuse on a large white square plate with 4 colored plates:

the yellow --- a sweet creme brulee (why???)

the green --- a watery pea soup

the orange --- a pasty squid-ink pasta with horseradish cream

the white --- a zucchini wrapped sardine

Not an auspicious start.

1st course

My husband - sardine tempura with vegetable nicoise with gingerbread spices. The tempura was greasy and the gingerbread spices overpowered the nicoise.

Me--a goat cheese and eggplant millefeuille with fresh tuna and a green pea sauce. The goat cheese, again an overpowering flavor and the tuna was overcooked.

2nd course

My husband--lamb with horseradish sauce and a layered dish of green cabbage and tomato mixed with chorizo. The dish was excellent. The lamb was perfectly cooked, the tomato chorizo mixture well balanced and the sauce just right.

Me-quail with pastilla covered with crusty string potatoes, balsamic vinegar sauce and a side dish of cepes with the quail legs. The potatoes were over-done. The pastilla was so sickly sweet that it was cloying. If you scraped it off, to try the quail without it, the quail was now rendered tasteless.

We had cheese and coffee. A small tart was served with a glacé of carrot in a small spoon; creme brulee for an amuse and carrot sorbet for dessert!

A mediocre to poor meal served nicely by nice people in a very pretty space.

Au Crocodile--We had been looking forward to eating at Au Crocodile for months. It was, at first, a difficult reservation to get. They were scheduling a large group who had booked everyday during our time in Strasbourg. Numerous faxes later, a cancellation and we had our reservations.

Au Crocodile is an old-fashioned looking restaurant. A huge painting dominates one wall, lamp sconces are set about 6 feet apart on the side walls, the ceiling is lit with a bluish/pinkish hue and each table is set with a small table lamp.

A large rectangular serving table dominates the center of the room with only 4 tables for deuces on either side. Most of the tables are placed around the outside of the room.

With our champagne we had an amuse of rabbit and vegetable terrine on a bed of lentils with 1/8" diced carrots and onions.

2nd amuse--a consommé of clear tomato water with a few finely diced vegetables in the bottom served with an anise flavored crisp.

We had a difficult time trying to decide on what to eat and opted for the tasting menu.

1st course--Caille confit au foie d'oie Marechal de Contades. This was a wonderful dish--quail was stuffed with a pate of goose liver and the entire thing was encased in jelly served with a cream sauce. A small bunch of mixed greens was tied in a bundle at the top of the plate.

2nd course--roasted turbot served with creamy polenta and summer truffles. The turbot was served as a "hunk of fish." It was tough and basically tasteless. The polenta added neither texture nor taste and the summer truffles tasteless.

One interesting note on the service. It is all done table side. The plated turbot was set on a burner. The sauce in a gravy boat was heated on another burner again table side. Then the sauce was added to the plated turbot and left to heat a moment. The result--a bubbling, hot sauce reheating the turbot. This presentation may have toughened the fish.

3rd course--two huge chunks of tough langoustines, heavily spiced (I'm not sure what it was as the server mumbled quickly what we were having.) There was also a puree of watercress served on the side of the plate.

A word on the service in general.

Everyone seemed to be going through the motions. There was no excitement, no willingness to make dining at Au Crocodile a memorable experience--they had lost the 3rd Star in March--why not make a big effort and maybe get it back?

There was no "fire in the belly." At one point the chef was walking the floor greeting the guests and a German couple had him explain the menu and take their order as if he were the Maitre d'. At another point the sommelier was commissioned to be a photographer.

4th course--a chicken consommé with pyramids of fromage blanc and 1/8" diced ham and carrots.

The consommé was delicious but the fromage blanc did not add much. I also wondered about the placement of the soup at this point in the menu.

5th course-veal medallion with girolles (a type of chanterelle mushroom). This was just plain boring. We ended up calling it "time warp food" as if you had been transplanted to those continental restaurants popular in the 50s.

6th course--cheese--service very perfunctory--let's get it over with attitude.

Per usual we skipped dessert and had coffee. About this time Chef Jung stopped by with a bit more time to spend. He was charming.

Wine:

98 Alsace Riesling, Les Ecaillers, Leon Beyer--very nice--a good recommendation with the early courses. This was the condescending sommelier's second choice--he tried to pass off a cheap Trimbach.

95 Pommard Rugiens, Michel Gaunoux. My husband picked this one to go with the meat and cheese. Unfortunately the meat was lousy, but the wine was good. It held up nicely for the hour or so that we had over the meat and then was great with the cheese.

We were very disappointed with Au Crocodile. It seems obvious why they lost the 3rd star. Food and service is just not at a three star level. There is neither excitement on the plate or in the staff.

[cabrales]

lizziee -- Did you initiate discussion with the dining room team about why the restaurant may have lost its third star?

[lizziee]

lizziee -- Did you initiate discussion with the dining room team about why the restaurant may have lost its third star? 

Cabrales,

We didn't as it didn't seem appropriate and other than Chef Jung who was warm and personable, the rest of the staff was quite remote.

We had met Chef Jung many years ago when he was in LA for a special event. We ended up reminiscing.

[peterpumkino]

First of all Steve Plotnicki need not answer this one. After reading his very boring tomb on Piemonte I really do not think he understands. I mean hoiw can anyone critique Italian food and talk about the Pasta course as 'ubiquitous '!!! That IS Italian food Mr. Plotnicki, if you don't like it - fine, I have no problem with that, but this does prove you are in no position to comment on Italian food the way you are doing.

Secondly I am off to Strasbourg this weekend (after China it will be a relief!) so I would welcome some interesting suggestions. I would like to eat at a typical French restaurant (regional?) serving nice food, however not the twenty-five star Michelin starred please, it's not my style.

Thanks for your help.

[Adam Balic]

Peter - Firstly, I think that this may suit your needs, good tradional regional food/wine/beer in a splendid setting. Bierstubs/Winstubs are one of the most fun places to eat in Alsace. If you can, try to go on a day where they are serving baekeoffe (although it maybe a little difficult to get through if you are eating alone). Good luck, Alsace is a wonderful food city.

Bierstub

Second - I would try to drop the anti-Plotnicki stuff, it just makes you look damaged.

[Bux]

Adam, I love the link appropriately to LePotiron.com, but I'm wondering how many non French speaking members find the Google translations to English (?) useful.

For example: "Recommended by LePotiron.com:

The opinion of Pumpkin: The old receipts Alsatian are with go of this famous address. The terrace in summer, wedged between two arms of Ill is enchanteresque... Trés good Quality-Price ratio."

Later on one reader adds his rec: "Blow of heart: the omble of Orbey to almonds." which I find trés enchanteresque.

I'm not at all convinced these search engine translations are not secret messages of some nefarious plot.

[Adam Balic]

Sigh, have you learn't nothing from egullet Bux? Obviously, it is better in French then English. . You are just damn lucky that nobody has made bad jokes about "Pierre Potiron".

[peterpumkino]

Thanks Adam for your advice. The translation is the automatic one that the site does. It IS better in French!

Sorry about the anti but someone who describes the pasta course as being 'ubiquitious' needs to be told. It's like reviewng a typical British Sunday lunch and saying the 'ubiquitious roast potatoes and gravy'!

[Bux]

Thanks Adam for your advice.  The translation is the automatic one that the site does. It IS better in French!

Better? Nonsense. It's far more entertaining in translation, it's just more useful in French.

I once tried a Google translation of a page in Spanish as my knowledge of Spanish is even less functional than of French. In translation it was almost entirely incomprehensible, in Spanish I could get a bit of it and at least read the names of the dishes mentioned.

[jaybee]

Maison Kammerszell and its Choucroute Royale was a highlight of our Alsatian meals. It is next to the cathedral. There is a lovely museum in S also near the cathedral square.

[menton1]

We were in Strasbourg for 1 day a couple of years ago. While it is not my favorite regional French cuisine, we did have a nice dinner at a restaurant called Chez Yvonne. This was actually recommended to us by a local, and it turned out to be fun. It is not a Michhelin star, and quite reasonalbe, so it should be well to your liking. Authentic Alsatian cuisine, no tourists.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

In the event that you will be traveling north to get to Strasbourg, I will repeat my suggestion of Bernard Antony's fabled cheese cellar in Vieux Ferrette, due south of Strasbourg. Antony is the cheese purveyer to many of France's leading chefs as well as some of America's best dining rooms. He offers degustations by reservation on weekends. Were I as close as Strasbourg (some 100 odd km), I'd go in a heartbeat.

17 rue de la Montagne, Vieux-Ferrette 03.89.40.42.22

[Peter Rodgers]

Other than Chez Yvonne for choucroute (outstanding, always), I'd hop in a car and head for the outskirts. To my mind, Caveau d'Eguisheim in Eguisheim still makes the perfect tarte a l'onion and quintissential choucroute. I'd choose Auberge de l'Ill over its competition in Strasbourg (Buerhiesel).