Guten Apetit

A couple weekends ago, my parents visited from Brooklyn. My father grew up for much of his childhood in Texas and even went to college here in Austin. But amazingly, he had never been out to Fredericksburg (A German town out in the hill country). Since I had never been either, he was eager to check it out. My mother, being pretty easy going most times, was along for the ride happily.

On our way out to Fredericksburg, we drove to the Pedernales (oddly pronounced, "perdinales") Falls State Park. My dad said that while he was at UT, his frat brothers went out there all the time, but he was never along for the ride. As we entered, there were many signs warning of the possible fast rising flood waters. While the signs were attempting to be serious, their language was pretty hilarious for those of us who have a dry/sarcastic sense of humor (I am my parents' child...what can I say). The signs gave orders of what to do if you saw flood waters coming your way, which essentially consisted of drop your belongings, turn away, and run as far and as fast as you can. But the last "order" given on the sign could have either been the result of if those previous steps were successfully taken or it was the oddest order I've ever been given, "LIVE." Oh good. I'm glad they told me to live because otherwise I might not have chosen that option after dutifully dropping my belongings, turning around, and running as fast and as far as I could. ...Ok...maybe you had to be there. But we got a chuckle out of it.

In any event, while in the Hill Country (a name that those from more mountainous environs might think was actually tongue-in-cheek), we passed a number of vineyards and farms. Sadly, it was a little early in the season for the farm stands by the side of the road to really be in full bloom, but mark my words, I'm going out there at some point with the express purpose of hitting up every single farm stand. I'm a sucker for food that is lovingly cared for by human hands, where you put a fiver in a tin can as part of the honor system when the owner isn't right there looking over your shoulder. Reminds me of buying corn up in the Berkshires. Yum.

Once we got out to Fredericksburg, we were pretty ravenous (I think it was something like 2pm at this point). Things were getting a little testy, but we all kept our cool. My father had been given the recommendation to find "the best German place" on the far end of town, so we drove through town (blink: there it goes) and found nothing. As we were aiming for the "far side," though, we did notice a place called Der Lindenbaum. It was featured in a book that I had gotten for my father to keep at my house so he could pick restaurants/farms/sites out of it to see when he visits so I'm not saddled with the whole cruise director task.

If I'm going to be totally honest, I wasn't keen on eating German food. I didn't say this to my parents, but frankly, I just couldn't think of what was German aside from beer (which I'm just fine with, of course) and bratwurst. Not that I have a problem with cased meats, just it didn't sound that great. But the Hill Country was settled by vast numbers of German, Czech, Polish, etc. back in the day and some of those cultures live on quite strongly. So we decided Der Lindenbaum must have been what my dad's friends were talking about, and I might say, it changed my life.

First of all, we had the most amazing waitress. Clearly a bit overstretched in terms of the number of tables she had to cover, but she was perfectly attentive and had a great "straight talking" kind of attitude. You want to know what the best thing is on the menu - boom: Jagerschnitzle. You want a hefeweizen (that was just me) - boom: you want the Erdinger not the one listed on this menu. You want a dry reisling - boom: here you go. You want to know which dessert to get - boom: she says, "avoid this, avoid that." No punches pulled. And she didn't pull that same old song and dance you get at so many restaurants when the waitress is asked, "what's the best thing on the menu." "Uhhhh....it's all good." Great. Nice to know you have a discerning palette. But this lady did. She got high marks for taking control, but for also listening to what we wanted.

Being suddenly struck with a tad bit of culinary trepidation, I decided just to go with the plain ol' weinerschnitzle. Pounded out pork, pan fried, with a lemon to squeeze over it. It was divine. As per her suggestion, my mother got the Jagerschnitzle. This is the same thing I got but with a mushroom "sauce." While the mushrooms were remarkably tasty, they were still very firm and meaty and pretty big to begin with, so we felt it was really more like a side dish instead of a sauce. Super tasty all the same. My dad got the gulash. He says he's had better, but that it was still pretty good.

The star of the show, however, was something that I had seen Tony Bourdain sample in East Berlin with a former spy. The TV show "No Reservations" rarely has items that I think I'll really have an opportunity to properly sample. But amazingly, they had it on the menu at Der Lindenbaum - currywurst. My dad and I wanted to get a side dish of it after I told him about it. My mom also sampled it an enjoyed. Basically, it's some sort of wurst (I don't know my different wursts, so forgive me) in this amazingly succulent curry sauce. I kid you not, had I not been with my parents (and maybe not in public), I would have picked this plate of sauce up and licked it clean. The wurst drowned in the sauce was exquisite. The weinerschnitzle drizzled with the curry sauce was even better. I now know that if I ever make it back to Der Lindenbaum (which seems like an inevitability), I will not even open the menu and will order the currywurst platter. (And another Erdinger Hefeweizen Light or two.)

Scrumptious.

Der Lindenbaum
http://www.derlindenbaum.com/
312 East Main Street
Fredericksburg, TX 78624
830.997.9126