Schloss Berg, Nennig, Germany – 14th December 2012

“You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town”

So Christmas came early this year, both the snow as well as the invite to join two of my best friends for a pre-Christmas lunch at our beloved Schloss Berg. Jörgen had not been here since he celebrated his 50th birthday here a good 4 years ago. And of course the development of Christian Bau has only just begun it seems.

Expectations were sky high and the dull cold weather and the boring Riesling we had in the neighbouring hotel, did not spoil our moods.

The beautiful Schloss Berg

Schloss Berg had decided to open the doors for Friday lunches during the month of December this year and with a Duck theme to fit the season we were ready to meet Santa. It was good to see Daniel Kiowski – the best sommelier I have ever met, and I met a few – and Steffi, the prettiest waitress in Germany – among others familiar faces.

The two elderly gentlemen awaiting the amuses…

Good friend Jörgen…

and good friend Torben.

What then follows is among the best range of amuses you will ever find in any restaurant. I dare you. I double dare you….”Kulinarische Einstimmungen” for sure.

Tartare…

A classic by now, this time with a creme of smoked eel in the cornet.

Red beet

Amazing shrimps

Crab…

Green stuff…

I loved the grilled avocado – this amuse was amazing (if not  overly winterly !)…

The fois gras creme with parmesan…

Also a classic with bits of truffels – LOVE IT.

The bread….

The crust and quality of this bread is so good…..and also the Foccacia (not on the picture) – one can say that the bread alone is worth a visit….

So, having enjoyed all this – a first moment of being happy and impressed occured. Jörgen with his usual dry humour claimed that until now he had nothing to complain about. It is really amazing, both the number of amuses but also each single one of them are justified and still not taking the focus off the menu. And what I like is that some of these amuses you will be happy to find again on your next visit, and some have been replaced.

So – the menu as such was ready to begin….

Fois Gras from Alsace

The fois gras being matched with raw langoustines, green apple and smoked almonds. A great dish. As good as it gets.

Duck “Bouillon”

With a chinese touch, the “Dim Sum” lovely the bouillon of course very tasty and powerful with a hint of asian spices I think.

Black Halibut

Great dish, nothing to complain about here. The sheer quality of the oyster on top…the citrus and the cauliflower.

Duck Supreme “Mieral”

I guess you can tell by looking at the picture that everything on this plate was cooked to perfection.  Top of the pops.

Time for sweets….not that we were hungry at this point…but also not overly full. The lightness of the dishes makes you cope “with all this food”.

Chocolate and Banana

One of my all time favourites from the kitchen. Their updated Banana split is so so good.

Sweets two…

This little crunchy thing was a bit like your breakfast serial….Jörgen was really impressed by now. And just when he thought the dinner and the amusement was over, this little devil made him smile just one more time.

Sweets three..

Sweets four…

And it was over and out for these fat Danes.

Conclusion:

As you can tell, I was as always, and we were as always, mighty impressed. And it is hard not to be, The wines that Daniel found for us, included a GREAT crispy 2011 Silvaner from Rheinhessen, a 1999 Riesling Auslese from Saar, A 2009 Meursault from Louis Jadot, A 1998 Chateau de Fieuzal, and a Beerenauslese from 2006. His confidence, his style, his calmness. Daniel I love you.

And Christian Bau, once again – we thank you and your team for the outstanding level of the dishes, service and ambience. Nothing is left to coincidence, and nothing can be done better. Duck not being my favourite product, I must say that still you managed to impress me and us. And Jörgen has already asked when we are going back.

Rock on Christian Bau – wishing you and your dear ones and all the team at Schloss Berg a wonderful Christmas, see you in 2013

My rating for this as all other Schloss Berg visit. As good as it gets, like a Christmas evening – top of the pops.

And if you are not in the Christmas mood, then check Bruce out on the link below….

Schloss Berg, Nennig, Germany – 8 August 2012

“I got a dollar in my pocket
There ain’t a cloud up above
I got a picture in a locket
That says baby I love you
Well if you didn’t look then boys
Then fellas don’t go lookin’ now
Well here she comes a-walkin’
All that heaven will allow”

Bruce Springsteen 1987

I always think of a good fairytale when I see this building…

Having a nice round anniversary to celebrate choosing our favourite restaurant as the scene was not a hard one. And having the in-laws visiting, the babysitter situation was under control and a overnight stay at the beautiful Schloss Berg was too big a temptation to say no to.

You know my affection for Schloss Berg and for the cooking of Christian Bau. The whole place embrace you, from the arrival, check-in, and later pre-dinner cocktail and amuses – you are at all time at ease and can´t help but feeling special and mighty privileged.

The missus, 10 years burning down the road….

So, expectations high, but with absolutely no worries about them not being met

Bastian, – familiar faces and recognition always appreciated – served us a great pre-dinner Tanqueray 10.

.

The Gates of Heaven, not believing in any kind of afterlife, Im happy to find these doors right here – just around the corner…

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A rose for my friend Sony.

Wines were chosen, two half bottles – actually three but the third – a Condrieu was not living up to the expectations, and most likely also not to the expectations of the sommelier – the GREAT GREAT Daniel Kiowski, because it was taken from the final bill. Great judgement.

A great drop.

Best wine of the evening. Smooth, elegant.

So….all set – hold on to your hats folks, the usual “army” of amuses are just about to hit you….

Round 1…that falafel to the right…yummi.

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Round two, the tartare cornet, this time with salmon.

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Round three…crab, salmon and eel.

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Round 4 – Greetings from Italy…Tomato ice, textures of green olive and buffalo mozzarella.

Funny little thing, very fresh. I loved the return of the exploding olives.

Round  5 – Tuna, Caviar and radish. Light as heaven, tasty and elegant

So,……thats it – the amuses. All absolutely amazing and tasteful. All with a purpose and all greatly presented by the skilled staff. This is what you want.

But, you also get an idea about the fact that you have to bring the big tummy, if you settle for the big menu to follow the amount of amuses you get here. We did settle for less this time around. But even a smaller menu does the trick and here is what followed.

Japanese Ocean

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Blue Lobster

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Different textures of Artochoke from Brittany

which came with a little crispy salad

Simply lovely…

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Deer from Eiffel

Off all these dishes I think one can easily say, they were all wonderful, the cooking of fish or meat always perfect. But the vegetarian dish, the artichokes which was in fact a “throw in” surprice by Bau was outstanding.

Sweets for my sweet, sugar for my honey…

Structures of Peach “Melba” with raspberries and Champagne

Lots of things going on here. So you take a rapsberry, and it turns out it has been done moleculary and is indeed restructured. Or the peach stone – is in fact a nougat creme. Mind you this is a pre-dessert. Look at the details. That plate must take an hour to prepare. I would like to know how fast actually…20 min ? Have to ask next time.

Multivitamin – tropical fruits in different textures

Ending the menu here with a very refreshing and indeed light plate.

Final round…

I for my part ended the meal with a lovely Poire William from Alsace, generously poured by Yildiz Bau, who despite a virus was as charming and entertaining as always.

Conclusion:

I don´t think I have to tell you how much we love and adore this place. This night was no exception. Bastian, Steffi, Daniel, Yildiz, – the other service staff and all those guys behind the kitchen door made sure we had a memorable evening and a worthy 10 years anniversary. If one should have any regret, its only that money does not allow us to eat here more often. But its probably a good thing. My weight would sky rocket given the chance. Mind you the above was the small menu (!) – with the artichokes being an extra surprice dish. But that menu comes at 128 eur pp – and simply have to be the best gastronomic offer you will find almost anywhere. Be sure to book ahead in good time.

Thank you Yildiz and Christian – we will be back to celebrate our 20 years anniversary – and hopefully before that

And as for you “Mrs. Bo” – Thanks for being such a big part of my life. I love you dearly, and thank you for mostly being a good sport when I have my mood swings. Rock on Astrid.

My rating for this visit:

I know Bau does not like to be rated by amateurs like me (or anyone for that matter…) But let me just say we had a perfect evening with no flaws whatsoever. You should be very proud of your team, food and restaurant – and I bet you are. Top Score my friend. A league of your own – or at least of a very few.

So – at this point – our bed was calling us – a bed that would fit a king and a queen.

Goodnight…

“Rain and storm and dark skies
Well now they don’t mean a thing
If you got a girl that loves you
And who wants to wear your ring”

Bruce Springsteen 1987

“Just one of the guys” – Schloss Berg, Nennig, Germany – 21 October 2011

Hey, Eddie, can you lend me a few bucks
And tonight can you get us a ride
Gotta make it through the tunnel
Got a meeting with a man on the other side

Bruce Springsteen – Meeting across the river

*

Some of my friends had never tried Schloss Berg before, which is why this lunch was arranged. Christian Bau had agreed to open the restaurant just for us. I think it was a perfect way to do it, because this way 8 “loud” gentlemen had no worries in regard to disturbing other guests with our laughter or dirty jokes.

Since I have just made a review from Schloss Berg – see 18th December -I shall just recap that it was a perfect lunch. One guests was not so impresssed by one dish, one maybe had reservations about another, but in the end we got outstanding food, and perfect wines to match. Daniel engaged again in storytelling and opinions on the wines chosen. And I promised the guys to put of a little something so we can always remember this very special afternoon we spend “across the river on the other side…”.

Here it goes…

Tasters…

So of all these…I think the white truffles/chestnuts creme stood out. What a feast for your nose and palette.

And the menu could start….

Fois Gras - Bau style...

I love this. Having had it before here in more or less the same presentation, I think actually that Bau had been TOO generous with the amount of Fois Gras today – it was ALMOST more than one could handle. Off course only almost.

Scallop with Pumpkin - what a beautiful dish !

Fish, Langoustine and shrimps....

Some of the “audience” wondered why the presentation was done like that. I mean, we amateur chefs all learn daily from television or books etc. that a real gastronomic dish is naturally centered in the middle, and you avoid the ring around the plate. So what does Bau do ? He avoids the middle and place everything in the ring. Maybe he just wanted to remind us all that there are no rules in good food.

Nebraska beef

Some discussion here, one of the guys was not too impressed with the meat. I think it was just about lovely. But I do prefer the presentation from 18th December – where I forgot to take a picture – sorry. But the standing slimmer pieces worked better than this.

Re-take on a classic - Banana split !

Simply loved it…..The desserts here NEVER lets you down. Explosions of taste in your mouth.

Sweets...

Non-alcoholic (!!!) Mojito shots...great colour.

So….thank you guys for joining me, I think we had a blast. And again I thank the wonderful staff on the floor and in the kitchen for having us, and for performing at such high level always. We especially thank you for opening the doors at a time where the restaurant is normally closed.

Happy faces and full bellies....

I cant wait to be back in Spring. I wish you a all at Schloss Berg a Happy New Year.

If you have the time, take a moment to read this wonderful post by a good friend. he visited Schloss Berg for the first time, and he puts it in top 5 of the world. And he has tried many along the way….

http://michelinstarfinedinings.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/victor%E2%80%99s-gourmet-restaurant-schloss-berg-perl-nennig-german-cooking-precision-oriental-inspiration/

Hey Eddie, this guy, he’s the real thing
So if you want to come along
You gotta promise you won’t say anything
‘Cause this guy don’t dance
And the word’s been passed this is our last chance

Bruce Springsteen – Meeting across the river

Schloss Berg, Nennig, Germany – 18 December 2011

“Now the hardness of this world, slowly grinds your dreams away
Making a fool´s joke out of the promises we make

And what once seemed black and white turns to so many shades of grey
We lose ourselves in work to do and bills to pay”.

Blood Brothers – Bruce Springsteen

*

Schloss Berg with Christian Bau and his team is our local pride, situated “just across the river on the other side…” – you will know by now that this restaurant is my favourite one. We were invited by best friend Jerome to share a wonderful December Sunday afternoon. The daily routines and stresss has left little space for nursing our friendship with Jerome lately, so a quiet place with the best food and wines in the world seemed like a good spot to be to catch up.

Jerome with the missus and Jochen Hünd in front of Schloss Berg

We always get warmly greeted by all the staff, but Jerome seemed to take some of the focus, since this was his second or third visit within the last months. He loves this place, and I am happy to have introduced him here. We settled for the medium menu, and many good wines landed on our table. I am more and more impressed by the sommelier Daniel Kiowski. He is everything you want in a sommelier. He is dedicated and passionate, relaxed and still with a lot of style. He engages in each and every single wine he serves. The first question he will always ask you whenever a “blind” wine is served is…”Do you like the wine?”. I hope he never leaves Schloss Berg. He is a true gem.

What did we drink this day….I forgot.  But we started with a local Riesling 2004 (?) , and further on a California Chardonnay which was outstanding. A Chassagne-Montrachet 1. cru from Paul Pillot was followed by this pearler..

Lovely - vibrant.Thanks Jerome.

The usual army of amuses came heres a few of those…

Excellent, loved the melon

The duck liver flan with truffles and a foam of parmesan is back on the menu, and its absolutely stunning, but very difficult to get a picture to show – so you just have to imagine the most perfect delicate duck liver flan, topped with truffles amd then a light foam, – the foam is all you see when the dish is presented, so you have to dig in….but no picture this time.

The menu started then with the Asian inspired “sushi” dish…

Hamachi - Bau Style

A scallop never tasted better than this...

Fantastic, simply fantasticly cooked scallop.

Turbot....

Best dish of the day in my book. Perfect turbot, decoration and balance wise this dish just was to die for. Could I have one more please ?

What followed was the Nebraska Beef, 3 standing slim slices with a piece of slowly cooked rib-eye on the side and this was a presentation and taste worth a whole page alone. But I forgot to take a picture…so you will have to go there yourself and check it out

You get a picture of the table deco instead

A rose (for the Nebraska Beef)

Pre-dessert...

The dish was perfect, nuts and apple in different textures….

Dessert

A walk through the forest in the fall…..with a fat truffle on the left…chocolate truffle in this case, but what a taste.

Then came the sweets and the coffee. And what was left was big smile around the table.

My conclusion for this visit:

Its fairly easy, and I shall make it short. So let me just state. This is as good as it gets in my book. Thanks Mrs. Bau, Daniel, Jochen, Jovana, Bastian and all the others on the floor for taking so excellent care of us. And BIG Thanks to Christian Bau, Tristan Brandt,  , Michael Mikolajczak and the rest of the kitchen staff for continue to produce small miracle both on the plates and in our palettes.

Thank you Jerome for your friendship, always…

“But the stars are burning bright, like some mystery uncovered
I´ll keep moving in the dark with you in my heart, my blood brother”

Blood Brothers – Bruce Springsteen

*

My rating for this visit:

Food 10p (10), service 5p (5), ambience 5p (5), Total Score  20p (20)

Schloss Berg, Nennig, Germany – 28 April 2011

I am a privileged person. I live only 35 kilometers from heaven. If I had one last meal on earth, and could choose it – it would be at Schloss Berg in Nennig. The constant development of the dishes together with the asian influences, and the respect for the produce is simply second to none.

I simply love the room, and the warm ways of all the staff. You feel at home. The small room with the high ceiling embraces you.

Yesterday I was happy to re-introduce my good friend Pascal to the place. He had not visited the restaurant for some time and thus the changes both in the room but also on the plates of the last two years were all new to him.

I have already told you a few times about the stunning quality of the kitchen of Christian Bau and his team, and let me just say that the food yesterday was up to the incredible high standard I have gotten use to here, and thats an effort in itself. Because putting the bar so high time after time…as a chef – you are bound to disappoint a client every now an then. But no. Not here. The food was again stunning and taking the grand voyage together with a food and wine lover was an extra bonus.

But the highlight yesterday in the room for me was young Daniel Kiowski. Maybe it was because I was with Pascal – a true admirer of German wines whos knowledge on that subject was more a match to Daniel than the standard knowledge of yours truly. Daniel shone like a diamond throughout the evening. Entertaining us, explaining us, testing us. A lot of different wines landed on the table, in between the suggested bottles, we got small tasters….just the way you want it to be. This was the only time EVER – I experienced someone coming  close to the level of passion and service that my good friend Jan Restorff offers you at Sölleröd Kro in Denmark.

We almost only had German wines – (and coming of age, starting to appreciate Riesling), I was again and again stunned by the wines – perfect companions to the excellent food -  that were selected.

I shall give you some shots of the evening. Not all the plates we had, just a few.

Fois gras...what a dish....for me it broke the scale.

Nebraska Beef. Beef seldom get any better than this.

Exotic fruits. One of my best desserts - ever.

My conclusion:

Spending an evening at Schloss Berg is always fantastic. Your eyes are spoiled with beautiful arrangements. You are welcomed and treated like a king, and your palete is served the best plates and exciting tastes you can ever imagine. Yesterday we experienced a young sommelier on top of that with a passion for his job – wine – which clearly matched the high quality of the kitchen. He was in his element. Simple as that. Thanks to the whole team -  to Yildiz, Jochen, Christian, Tristan – and especially to Daniel – we had a blast. I even liked the German Pinot Noir (Friedrich Becker Kammerberg 2005)

On a leaving note I can inform you that the sous-chef of Christian Bau, – Tristan Brandt – is in the finals for becoming Chef of the year 2011 in Germany. A contest for young and upcoming chefs. I wish him the best of luck. Good to know that the knowledge and ideas of Christian Bau is passed on to the next generation.

My rating for this visit:Ambience 5 (5) Service 5 (5) Food/Wine 10 (10) : Score 20 out of 20.