A dinner party at a private house of well-to-do German people is always a very long feast, lasting at least two hours. The cookery, though good, is heavy and rich, and too many sauces accompany the meats. Many of the dishes are not carved at the serving* table, but are brought round in order that one may help one’s self. Just as one is struggling into conversation in defective German, a pike’s head ob- trudes itself over the left shoulder, and it is necessary M 178 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe to twist in one’s seat and go through a gymnastic performance to take a helping. Except in large cities the German gentry are not given to feeding at restaurants. A golden rule, which may be held to apply all over Germany, is that it is safe to take ladies wherever officers go in uniform. The Rathskeller In most German towns where there is a Rathhaus (a town hall) one finds the Rathskeller, where beers or wine, according to the part of the country, are the principal attraction, simple dishes, cutlets, steaks, cold meats, oysters, caviare being served more as an adjunct to the drink than as an orthodox meal. The most noted of these Rathskeller are at Bremen, Old Liibeck, and New Hamburg, and that at Bremen is first in im- portance. It is a mediaeval Gothic hall, built 1405- 1410, and it holds the finest stock of Rhine and Moselle wine in the world. The wine is kept in very old casks. One of the cellars is of particular interest as being the “ Rose ” one, where the magistrates used to sit in secret conclave, sub rosa , beneath the great rose carved upon the ceiling. The German Emperor generally pays a visit to the Rathskeller when he visits Bremen. In the Liibeck Rathskeller, which contains many excellent bins of the finest Bordeaux, is the “ admiral’s table,” said to be made from a plank of the ship of the last Admiral of Liibeck, who flourished in 1570 ; and even more interesting than the Rathskeller is the Schiffergesellschaft, with its strange motto and its even stranger sign, German ’Towns 179 Beer-Cellars Throughout Germany one meets in every town the large establishments, Bierkeller in the south, Bier- restaurant or Biergarten in the north, beautifully decorated in the “ Old German ” style, of the various beer companies, most of which are Munich ones, the Lowenbrau, the Pschorrbrau, the Miinchener Hof- brau, and others. In South Germany the beer is tapped ice-cold without a carbonic apparatus. Be careful to close the metal top of your Schopps if you are drinking with German companions, for if you do not they have the right, by the custom of the country, to place their mugs on the top of the open one and demand another “round.” If when you have emptied your mug, you leave it with the lid open, the waiter, without asking any questions, takes it away and refills it. Dresden Dresden is not exactly an epicure’s paradise, but there is one restaurant which may be safely recom- mended as an establishment of the first order. I refer to the Englischer Garten, which is Englischer Garten, managed by its proprietor, Herr Curt Waisenhausstrasse Roething. The principal entrance is through a rather dingy looking archway in the Waisenhausstrasse, nearly opposite the Victoria Salon Music Hall. The prin- cipal public rooms are on the ground floor, and are pleasant and bright in their way.

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A dinner party at a private house of well-to-do German people is always a very long feast, lasting at least two hours. The cookery, though good, is heavy and rich, and too many sauces accompany the meats. Many of the dishes are not carved at the serving table, but are brought round in order that one may help one’s self. Just as one is struggling into conversation in defective German, a pike’s head obtrudes itself over the left shoulder, and it is necessary M 178 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe to twist in one’s seat and go through a gymnastic performance to take a helping. Except in large cities the German gentry are not given to feeding at restaurants. A golden rule, which may be held to apply all over Germany, is that it is safe to take ladies wherever officers go in uniform. The Rathskeller In most German towns where there is a Rathhaus (a town hall) one finds the Rathskeller, where beers or wine, according to the part of the country, are the principal attraction, simple dishes, cutlets, steaks, cold meats, oysters, caviare being served more as an adjunct to the drink than as an orthodox meal. The most noted of these Rathskeller are at Bremen, Old Lübeck, and New Lübeck, and that at Bremen is first in importance. It is a mediaeval Gothic hall, built 1405- 1410, and it holds the finest stock of Rhine and Moselle wine in the world. The wine is kept in very old casks. One of the cellars is of particular interest as being the “ Rose ” one, where the magistrates used to sit in secret conclave, sub rosa , beneath the great rose carved upon the ceiling. The German Emperor generally pays a visit to the Rathskeller when he visits Bremen. In the Lübeck Rathskeller, which contains many excellent bins of the finest Bordeaux, is the “ admiral’s table,” said to be made from a plank of the ship of the last Admiral of Liibeck, who flourished in 1570 ; and even more interesting than the Rathskeller is the Schiffergesellschaft, with its strange motto and its even stranger sign, German ’Towns Beer-Cellars Throughout Germany one meets in every town the large establishments, Bierkeller in the south, Bierrestaurant or Biergarten in the north, beautifully decorated in the “ Old German ” style, of the various beer companies, most of which are Munich ones, the Löwenbrau, the Pschorr-brau, the Münchener Hofbrau, and others. In South Germany the beer is tapped ice-cold without a carbonic apparatus. Be careful to close the metal top of your Schopps if you are drinking with German companions, for if you do not they have the right, by the custom of the country, to place their mugs on the top of the open one and demand another “round.” If when you have emptied your mug, you leave it with the lid open, the waiter, without asking any questions, takes it away and refills it. Dresden Dresden is not exactly an epicure’s paradise, but there is one restaurant which may be safely recommended as an establishment of the first order. I refer to the Englischer Garten, which is managed by its proprietor, Herr Curt Roething. The principal entrance is through a rather dingy looking archway in the Waisenhausstrasse, nearly opposite the Victoria Salon Music Hall. The principal public rooms are on the ground floor, and are pleasant and bright in their way.

The gourmet's guide to Europe