Da Gino - Indulge Your Inner Italian

Unimposing outside, delicious inside

I gotta admit, I’m not a huge fan of Italian food in Germany.  Much of it is trite and that’s being kind.  Like scoping out the women at Happy Hour, you really have to pick and choose.  A bad one will spoil your evening and maybe your weekend.

More years ago than I care to admit, I lived in a different Germany.  Italian restaurants were few, but they were good.  In my estimation, proliferation lowered the standards.  Fortunately, the better ones are fairly easy to spot.  Parking lots are full.  In good weather, umbrella topped tables spill out onto the sidewalks and plazas.  A dead giveaway:  you hear a lot of Italian spoken, and if you’re aurally challenged, you can go by the waving hands and arms, synchronized with the moving lips.

There are exceptions to the general rules.  I found one traveling through Landstuhl, on the way to Kinsbach.

At first glance Da Gino’s is unimposing.  No outside seating.  Looks almost industrial.  You could drive right by, and I did, until some friends let me in on the secret:  Gino runs a special place.  Busy, yet intimate.  Tasteful décor.  A stone oven.  A very happy bar.  Food that dances on your taste buds.   An atmosphere that begs for a leisurely meal and warm conversation.  Invite several friends.  Bring your loved one, or your wife.

Décor, etc can be perfect, but still the main thing is the food.  The second is a good wine.  Da Gino has got ‘em both.  I’ve sucked down the red and white house wines.  Friends have tried the rosé.  All memorable.

Bread straight from the stone oven!

Pizzas from the stone oven look wonderful and the aroma of fresh tomatoes and melted cheese follows them to your table.  Haven’t eaten one, but the crusty pizza bread Gino serves is so tasty you have to stop yourself.   The gnocchi also looks and smells delicious.

Gnocchi

The star of the show!

For me, however, the star of the show is the seafood salad.  Yes, the seafood on the salad is fried, but don’t let that stop you.  Gently fried.  Very lightly breaded, the salmon and white fish filets are tender, not dry, and the calamari are crisp on the outside and not chewy.  Shrimp?  Oh, my goodness.  Large.  Succulent. 

Wash it down with a soft Pinot Grigio, and end the meal with a dessert, if you dare, or perhaps a snifter of Grappa.   Bellissimo!

Been there twice.  Will go again. No arm twisting required.  The perfect place for a bevy of friends to chat, drink, and bolster their Italian appetites.

Buon Appetito!

Kaiserstrasse 79, 66849 Landstuhl, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

+49 6371/914441

Gino at work.

The wonderful stone oven.

A glass for every type of thirst.

Goldinger: Not Just Another Pretty Café

In the heart of Landstuhl

One of the many, many selections

Outside, patio dining and sipping

A heavenly omelet

Inside is just as green

     

My wife and a band of her equally frivolous friends meet at Goldinger’s Hotel, Café, and Konditorei on Friday afternoons.  It’s a nice custom that puts a period on the end of the week.  Good way to let off steam and find out you’re not the only one with problems and fed up with worn out solutions.  Better than therapy, costs less, and tastes good.

For the uninitiated, what exactly is a Konditorei?  Short answer:  a German candy shop.  Long answer:  a marvelous interweaving of pastry shop and art studio, where the art is the hand making of complex soft candies, and pastries.  Everything from a dozen different kinds of truffles to marzipan creations that came right out of a fairytale. Soft caramels covered in chocolate.  Raspberry tortes.  Multi-layered cakes of fruits and creams, chocolates and custards.

In the indoor and outdoor garden café, a young waitress in black and white takes your order for everything from plain coffee, to exotic teas, cream and chocolate topped coffees, and even something called a ‘Liebchen,’ a sweetheart, or darling.  Coffee with sweetened, whipped cream, and a very noticeable dash of amaretto. Light sprinkling of silky chocolate flakes over the top.

Then, there are all the delights from the pastry shop, and a full menu of meat, fish, and cheese dishes, schnitzels, and omelets.  The menu changes from breakfast to dinner, but almost everything is available all the time.  If you don't see what you want, just ask and you’ll usually get a smile and a quick nod of approval.

Besides my array of photos, there’s also a short clip on youtube, showing some of the food and the outdoor garden.  It’s in German, but most of the words are self-evident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4yk0z9czzA

We all need a way to relax and Goldinger’s is a first class choice.  As is the German custom, nobody hurries you.  You sip, you dine, you chat with friends, and the table is yours for as long as you want it.  Just what you need to slow the pace, and get ready for an even more relaxing weekend.  Quite refreshing from the mad rush of being a husband.

Best of all, when you’re sitting with a table full of women, most of the time you never have to open your mouth, except to take a sip.  When you crack a joke, they laugh politely and go back to a conversation that jerks and flows like an iPod set on shuffle.

Hey, the coffee is rich and the omelet is heaven.  Someone else is paying, so what do I care?

Hotel CafÈ Konditorei Goldinger

www.hotel-goldinger.de/Hotel Caf√` Konditorei Goldinger. Von-Richthofen-Str. 18. 66849 Landstuhl. Telefon: +49-6371-92490. Telefax: +49-6371-924924. MAIL: info@hotel-goldinger.

Cappuccino Plus!