Not Fast Food

I have to start off by saying that European airports never fail to delight me. It's like a perfect exercise in supply-and-demand: Europeans demand sit-down, good meals, no matter how much time they have. The airports provide them with anything from coffee bars to full restaurants, placed throughout the space where we would normally see Pizza Hut and Cinnabon, or those horrible Cheers-type bar/restaurants that are anything but inviting.

This was my first meal after the long plane ride between Chicago and Munich, before our next leg to Toulouse. After some very sorry fare on United (calling it "food" was a stretch), we sat down at this place and I ordered a Weiner Schnitzel. It was delicious, generously portioned, made well, and came with a plethora of cold salads. Sadly, I think they added the ketchup because they though that as an American, I would ask for it anyway. Do they write that on the order pad? "A" for American, which means, add ketchup? Sigh.

There was a noticeable difference on our next flight, which was on Luftansa. For just a little over an hour's flight, we received a very nice sandwich for lunch - good bread, good cheese, and a smear of butter to help it go down. I don't want to continually gripe about Americans or American food, but our airlines are not helping me to feel very nationalistic about it.

Summer of My German Sandwich

It was an exciting week for our friends Christiane and David, who opened Schmidt's Deli on Wednesday, on the corner of Folsom and 20th Street in the Mission. We were invited to a special tasting lunch for friends and family on Tuesday, and were so delighted with the experience! The restaurant is only open for lunch now, to be followed with a limited dinner menu of sausages and beer, and then brunch.


Their other restaurant, Walzwerk, has been a longtime favorite of ours. The atmosphere there is wonderfully dark and moody, a place where you want to meet to receive secret instructions to carry out a worldwide plan. Schmidt's, on the other hand, is light and bright, but with the same straightforward, simple attitude, and rooted in East German cuisine. They are printing paper menus now (above) but will eventually do away with them and just print the day's offerings on the large corkboards.


The food was great - and although the menu was small, it had something for everyone. I brought my friend Sean, who is a vegetarian, and there were just as many dishes for him to choose from as there were for carnivores, and I think he was pleasantly surprised.

We started with an assortment of organic German sodas, similar in taste to ginger ale.


Then we shared an amazing salad - Mache with Raw Asparagus, Pistachios, and shaved Ementhaler cheese. What great flavor.


We also shared the Herbed Spatzle, which is one of my favorite dishes at Walzwerk. It is the ultimate comfort food, and has the taste of a dumpling with the texture of a fried noodle. So so good.


Sean enjoyed the Rudabaga/Kohlrabi Gratin, which I was able to taste - it was rich, cheesy, and delicious.


My husband and I both had the Veal Schnitzel Sandwich with a fried egg on top - perfectly cooked, crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, and hell, a fried egg makes even the best thing even better.


Believe it or not, we also had room for dessert, which we gobbled up so fast that I didn't even have time to photograph it. Silky chocolate pudding and a nice piece of apple strudel - a great ending.

I am so proud of our friends and can tell that they have a success on their hands. The place has been a long time coming, so it's great to see the result of all of their hard work. The fact that they do this full time along with the other restaurant, David's furniture business, and a beautiful baby girl to take care of is simply inspiring. I wish them the best and look forward to many long, sun-filled lunches at Schmidt's.