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Lutherstuben RestaurantFrom: Eisenach, Germany
ABOVE: A flaming dessert in the Lutherstuben.
It may be touristy, but the Lutherstuben restaurant at the Ringhotel Eisenacher Hof is also a lot of fun--especially if you're visiting with friends.
It's the German answer
to the "medieval banquets" that have long been popular in the U.S. and Britain,
but on a smaller scale: The Eisenacher Hof's restaurant consists of a few small
rooms, instead of a banquet hall, and the tone is set by Martin Luther rather
than Henry VIII.
When we arrived at the restaurant,
we were shown to a rustic table in a candlelit room and given white linen bibs
to protect our clothing.
(As our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we noticed that
we were the only diners wearing bibs; the locals were either neater eaters or
more inhibited than we were.) We ordered drinks, which were served in earthenware tumblers
with cone-shaped bottoms that fit into holes on the tabletop. (We were told
that, in Martin Luther's day, diners didn't sip their beer: They swigged it,
then set their empty tumblers upside-down on the table to show that they were
ready for a refill.) Next, we took our pottery bowls to a soup station, where we had
a choice of two different soups. The soup went well with the crusty peasant
bread at our table, which may have been the best white bread I've ever eaten in
Germany. A few minutes later, waitresses brought wooden racks laden with grilled
meats and vegetables on long skewers. (Another rack held a meter-long
Bratwurst sausage.) We were also given bowls of potatoes, red cabbage, and
other vegetables to pass around the table. Dessert was a long skewer with thick slices of apples and other
fruit that had been rolled in sugar, doused with a liqueur, and set on fire.
(See photo at top of page.) After the flames died down, the narrow wooden trough
beneath the skewer contained chunks of liqueur-flavored caked sugar that most of
our group found irresistible. Dinner at the
Lutherstuben isn't high gastronomy, but it's tasty, filling, and a pleasant way
to spend an evening with companions in Eisenach, Germany. If you're the sort of person who enjoys Renaissance Faires and
other cornball theatrics, try to book a table during the "Small Luther Play" on
the first Sunday of each month.
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