Kathleen Burk finds a rare restaurant that deserves a special pilgrimage.
I have written a report on the Hotel Franz Keller Schwarzer Adler which can be found
elsewhere on the site, but the restaurant within the hotel is so outstanding that
it merits a review of its own. Situated in Oberbergen, one of the small wine villages
nestling on the Kaiserstuhl in Baden, southern Germany, there has been an eatery
of some sort on the site since 1780, when there was a tavern with some rooms attached.
The restaurant itself was taken over by the Keller family in 1893, with the first
hotel rooms being opened in 1950. The restaurant has had a Michelin star consistently
since 1969. I once thought that one-star restaurants were ideal: food good enough
to be singled out, but not so much spent on the decorative aspects that the food
and wine slid into second place. For the past few years, however, I have been repeatedly
disappointed: two one-star restaurants visited in Rome, for example, produced food
that was beautiful but boring. But Schwarzer Adler met my former expectations for
a one-star restaurant.
I do not want to imply that the food was plainly presented, the restaurant dismally
lit, or the service indifferent. On the contrary: the food was beautifully presented,
the restaurant elegantly bright and cheery, and the service impeccable without being
intrusive. There is a sunlit terrace if you prefer dining outside. But it was the
taste of the food which was notable. There are three possible approaches: the Gourmet
and Gastronomic menus, which change daily, and the à la carte menu. The words look
very different in German - Feinschmeckermenü and Gastronomisches Menü – but the difference
in their meanings in English are, shall we say, less than obvious. In essence, the
former is five courses, with four of the accompanying wines being from Schwarzer
Adler’s own winery, whilst the latter is six courses plus a ‘Pré-Dessert’ and, except
for one German wine from Rheinhessen, the other wines are from elsewhere, three from
France and one from Austria. The latter is from €24 to €47 more expensive, depending
upon whether you also order the accompanying glasses of wine. Your choice will depend
on your hunger and your preferences: the quality of the food will certainly be the
same.
And the quality is wonderful. In my review of the hotel, I raved in an unbridled
manner about the monkfish in a rosemary and lime sauce – the best dish I’ve ever
eaten in Germany – and the crème brûée of Epoisses cheese, which did indeed have
a sheet of burned sugar on the top, and which was innovative and delicious. But there
was also local venison (‘fillet of venison from local hunting’), served with a spicy
sauce, pepper cherries and semolina dumplings; a gateau of north sea crab with avocado
and cucumber jelly; their own foie gras with apple chutney, Gewürztraminer jelly
and brioche, filet of local calf with truffle sauce, spinach, and potato ravioli;
and turbot ‘caught in the wild’ on beurre blanc with a Venere risotto. They also
have a section of dishes on the à la carte menu for two to four diners, which includes
truffled chicken served in three different ways: roasted; cooked in a crust of sea
salt; and cooked in a pig’s bladder filled with foie gras, rice and vegetables, the
last-named, not surprisingly, requiring advance notice. I also enjoyed the dessert
menu, which is in two parts: Our Desserts and Classic Desserts, the latter including
variations on Valrhona for lovers of chocolate.
The wine list is overwhelming. It has twenty-five hundred different wines, with
a very strong emphasis on wines from Germany, Bordeaux and Burgundy; in 2010 the
restaurant was deemed by a major guide to German wines, the Eichelmann 2010 Deutschlandes
Weine, to have the best red wine collection in Germany. Huge numbers of restaurants
provide a wide range of wines: what this one does is provide a wide range within
the range. Perhaps you like burgundy? There are seventeen different vintages of Grands-Echézeaux,
from 1981 to 2000. Or wines from Bordeaux? There are twenty-two vintages of Cheval
Blanc, from 1962 to 1999, whilst if you prefer the Left Bank, Château Margaux is
represented by twenty-six vintages, ranging from 1937 to 1997, and Château Haut Brion
also by twenty-six, although in this case the vintages begin with the 1911. If I
had the wealth of Midas, I would organise a Vertical Club. The restaurant can also
provide a range of sizes: you can drink a magnum of Cos d’Estournel 1914, a double
magnum of 1990 Haut Brion, a jérobaum (six bottles) of 1990 Lafite Rothschild or
Latour, or an impérial (eight bottles) of the 1976 Latour or Pape-Clément. Fortunately,
perhaps, there is an extensive list of half-bottles.
To reassure you, you can enjoy wine at the Schwarzer Adler without taking out a
mortgage. You can even enjoy an extensive number of verticals at reasonable prices
– there are six vintages from 1975 to 1995 of the Cru Bourgeois Supérieur Exceptionnel
Chasse Spleen, at roughly £33 a bottle, for example. The German wines are glorious,
there are some significantly good Italian and Spanish wines, and there are a few
from South Africa, Portugal, Austria and Greece. There are also three from California,
all of them stars. Most of them are moderately priced. Even the expensive ones seem
rather cheap in comparison with the great French wines, which seem inexpensive compared
to what you would pay for them in London restaurants. The entire list is on the Franz
Keller Schwarzer Adler website, where those who enjoy reading wine lists can have
a blissful hour.
In all ways, dining in the restaurant is a wonderful experience. The head chef,
Anibal Strubinger, has been there for thirty-three years, and the continuity shows,
with a combination of classic dishes classically made and more innovative ones. The
restaurant is not cheap, but neither is it hugely expensive. Those who prefer to
pay a bit less for delicious but less formal food can cross the road to the sister
gastropub, the Winzerhaus Rebstock, whose chef is the wife of Herr Strubinger. Here
you will still enjoy a wide range of wines, but the emphasis is more on the local
wines from the Kaiserstuhl, including very good wines from the estate’s Weingut Keller
itself, as well as some of the best-known in the local area. The ambience is of an
old-fashioned Kaiserstuhl inn.
The restaurant, in short, is well worth a visit, and any visitor to that area of
Germany should make every attempt to dine there. The true amateur du vin should insist
on it.
Restaurant ratings
Food – 42
Wine – 20
Service – 9
Ambience – 5
Value for money – 14
Total - 90
(For an explanation of the ratings click here)
Franz Keller Schwarzer Adler Restaurant
Badbergstrasse 23
D-79235 Vogtsburg-Oberbergen
Tel. no. 0049 76 62-9330-10
Opening hours:
Friday – Tuesday 12 - 3, 6.30 - Midnight
Closed Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 1 February – 4 March
Major credit cards accepted
Dining on the terrace
