The Best Pig?
I posted a New York Times article a week or so ago about Carl Edgar Blake and his quest to make the perfect pig. He matched a Russian wild boar with a Chinese pig that he had read about on the interwebs - in 1821 King Wilhelm from Germany bred these two pigs and started winning contests with what was called a Swabian Hall pig. Now Carl is winning awards all over the country with his Iowan Swabian Hall pig.
Stephen Colbert holds an Iowan Swabian Hall piglet while eating prosciutto. Hysterical.
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The Best Pig?
I posted a New York Times article a week or so ago about Carl Edgar Blake and his quest to make the perfect pig. He matched a Russian wild boar with a Chinese pig that he had read about on the interwebs - in 1821 King Wilhelm from Germany bred these two pigs and started winning contests with what was called a Swabian Hall pig. Now Carl is winning awards all over the country with his Iowan Swabian Hall pig.
Stephen Colbert holds an Iowan Swabian Hall piglet while eating prosciutto. Hysterical.
(Source: http://media.mtvnservices.com/)
I love anyone who opens a German or Austrian restaurant in LA. It’s such great comfort food!
Austrian Cuisine hits Beverly Hills
BierBeisl isn’t a locally minded restaurant.
Whenever possible, chef Bernhard Mairinger turns to the country of his birth, Austria, to stock the kitchen of his new Beverly Hills spot.
Stiegl, the Salzburg brewery that’s gloriously inescapable in Austria, dominates the beer list. And there’s plenty of Grüner Veltliner, Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch, too.
The sausages at BierBeisl aren’t imported, but the smooth texture of the bratwurst ($9), made by Continental Gourmet Sausage, might convince you otherwise. Mairinger brings a delicate touch to the links here, belying his training at L.A.’s finishing school for chefs, Patina. His sausages aren’t strictly about snap and char; some, like weisswurst ($9), are simmered in milk.
That deftness carries over to more definitively Austrian dishes such as schnitzel ($19 to $25). Feel free to choose whichever fried cutlet–turkey, pork or veal–you’d like to eat with lingonberries. But we implore you to pick the potato salad for your side dish.
Despite all the true imports Mairinger brings to BierBeisl, this vinegary salad (click here for the recipe) is the Austrian dish we’re most glad to now have available; this is the potato salad we fell for when visiting Vienna–the one we’ve been chasing ever since.
BierBeisl, 9669 Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills; 310-271-7274 or bierbeisl-la.com
“I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait….”
You know Wurstküche. You love Wurstküche. Exotic, succulent sausage and endless German beer in the Arts District—these aren’t the sorts of things you complain about.
Except for those nights when, say, you’re in Venice. It’s rush hour. There’s no way in hell you’ll make it anywhere near Downtown.
In which case you’ll want to come here: the long-awaited Wurstküche Venice, officially soft-opening Thursday night.
Basically, you’ll feel like you’re inside the original, only… farther west. So yes, you’ll see a bunch of brick and concrete housing exotic sausages that involve rattlesnake, alligator and rabbit. And yes, you can grab them from a takeout-friendly counter in a small room just off the street. Or find some seats in the cavernous hall of communal tables next door, where you’ll enjoy your sausage/neighbors and one of more than 50 beers like Duchesse de Bourgogne, a tangy red ale.
And you’ll notice this one’s a bit bigger than the original—and it’s got an inviting little greenhouse-y situation in one corner, almost like a quiet(er) front porch to get you away from the crowds, with a bunch of windows whose upper panes are missing.
Because all you’ve ever asked for is a sausage greenhouse.
Wurstkuche
I know I post a lot of reviews from other folks but here is one of mine. I checked out Wurstkuche in the arts district of downtown Los Angeles this weekend and I really liked it. Having grown up with German food, I’m a little picky. The traditional sausages were traditional enough but different - in a good way. They have something like 24 different beers on tap, awesome fries and some pretty exotic sausages all served on very good rolls. I tried the sauerkraut and it was GOOD. Check this place out. The back room looks like it could be very fun with a gaggle of friends and the outside patio area must be nice at sunset too.
The only real hassle is that it’s next to impossible to find. We drove around for awhile before we figured it out so put it into your GPS or take a map with you.
My star rating: 3 out of 4 - Great brats in a relaxed beer hall type setting!