In the Wurst Way

German food is poised to make a major local comeback thanks to Brauhaus Schmitz.

by A.D. Amorosi

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Jun 9, 2009

Jessica Kourkounis DAS GOOD: Brauhaus Schmitz owners Kelly Schmitz and Doug Hager in front of their giant rendering of the Reinheitsgebot, or German Beer Purity Law. The couple's South Street bierhall should be open by the end of this month.

[ openings ]

The opera doors on the second floor of the old American Pie building on South Street are wide open on this drizzly day, swaying with the ever-so-slight breeze. Church pews and butcher block tables are stood on end on the street level, and though no one's around, there's an air of drama surrounding the proceedings.

That's German food for you — Teutonic charm makes even the simplest brat a theatrical prop. A door slamming in the wind is just another stage setting. Welcome to Brauhaus Schmitz, Philly's first German restaurant in some time, and one with a married-couple pedigree straight from the motherland.

Kelly Schmitz is of German descent. Doug Hager has dual American/German citizenship. The two got hitched in 2004, and promptly sold their possessions, quit their jobs and bought two one-way tickets to Germany. "Get married, go on a week's honeymoon, return to the same job — that wasn't significant enough," says the Aschaffenburg-born Hager, who worked at Cologne's biggest biergarten during his time away from Philly. (It was at Oktoberfest in Munich that he first saw his wife in a traditional dirdnl, or peasant dress — more on that later.)

It makes sense that such immersion would lead to a concept like Brauhaus, which looks to open by the end of June. When was the last time Philly had this kind of traditional German eatery? Not since Ludwig's Garten closed. Hager worked at that defunct beer bar (it's now Time) before and after the move to Europe. "The food there was great early on, but lost the love toward the end," opines Hager. "When it closed [in Feb. 2008], there's no question we had to get serious and put our plan into action."

While anyone can go to Rieker's in the Northeast to get the ingredients for a German meal at home, it's been a while since a restaurant has gone for straight-up Teutonic cuisine. Centerpiece flavors include caraway, marjoram, nutmeg, juniper berries, paprika and all manner of vinegars; there are also regional distinctions, such as the north country's dedication to fish and beef, and cheese production in the southern cattle-raising lands. Pork is another mainstay of German cuisine, and executive chef Jeremy Nolen (Bridget Foy's, Coquette) uses it for sausages, roasts, schnitzels, chops, hams and bacon.

"Anyone who makes sausage for fun is exactly the kind of person we want working for us," says Hager of Nolen's traditional Nuremberg-style bratwurst, crafted in-house. Nolen's pastry chef wife, Jess Vogel, will make Apfelstrudel (apple strudel), Schwarzwälder Torte (black forest cake) and Sachertorte (dense chocolate cake).

Foodies curious about advancements in German fare will note some of Nolen's twists on dishes such as Pfanne, baked in the oven and served on a board in a cast-iron skillet. Options here will include pork with Zigeuner spicy pepper and onion sauce and a vegetarian choice. "There are lots of restaurants in Germany serving contemporary cuisine based on regional ingredients, but prepared in a more upscale way," says Hager.

This brings to mind two interesting points. The first is that when I was in Hamburg in the autumn of '08, I was taken to tony Chinese and Italian restaurants — but no German ones. Hager snickered when I told him this. "German food is peasant food — family-style dining, meat and potatoes," he says. "Germans are typically frugal people. If you go there and want German food, you need to go eat at someone's house. Restaurants in Germany are for occasions and beer drinking."

Secondly, does Hager think American diners are intimidated by German cuisine? The Brauhaus co-owner blames that fear on misconceptions — that German food's bland and flavorless; that it's all sausages; that it's solely for home consumption. There's nothing bland about what they have cooked up: You'll soon be eating full meters of bratwurst served on wooden cutting boards complete with sides, German mustards and a liter of Hausbrau, Brauhaus' signature beer from Stoudt's in Adamstown. The kitchen's sauerbraten — meat slow-cooked in a spice and vinegar mixture — is also up to Hager's standards. "It would go great with a good Doppelbock, or Ayinger Celebrator perhaps," says Hager, referring to the bar's 20-tap system, 16 of which will be filled exclusively with rotating German beers.

So Brauhaus' personality will be built around hearty food, specialty beer and woody bierhall décor. (A mural piece featuring the Reinheitsgebot, the nearly-500-year-old German Beer Purity Law, will be hung behind the bar.) But before those opera doors open, Brauhaus is taking the authenticity even further by seeking out German-speaking staffers — and getting its ladies into peasant-y dirndl outfits. "Several staff members are fluent in German, [and] almost everyone has enough experience to not butcher the pronunciations of the food and beer," says Hager.

As for the bodice-flattering dress of German maidens? After much deliberation, the dirndls will officially serve as Brauhaus' female employee uniforms. (These things are expensive, and there's only one store around that sells them — Ernst Licht in Oley, Pa.) "Most of the girls we interviewed are looking forward to wearing the dirndl, and some even asked if they can buy their own," says Hager. "Kelly [had] been experimenting with different styles. [So] I [got] a dirndl fashion show once in a while. Now if only I can convince her to wear one every day. Is that weird?"

No.

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)

Brauhaus Schmitz, 718 South St., brauhausschmitz.com.

Mass A-Peel
The Week In Eats
Feeding Frenzy