By Carmen Ibáñez Quignon
The joy of the German biergarten (the famous beer gardens) will be available from October 23th in Rota. Javier Sánchez and Ruth Stadler, heads of the Learning & Cooking Spanish and cooking school, have launched this new project called ‘The German Restaurant’ made for enjoying Bavarian cuisine and outdoor seating.
They will take advantage of the enviable building in which their school is located, on Veracruz Street, which is still full of projects and collaborations, also as a private club. ‘The German Restaurant’ will occupy the first floor, both inside and outside, in the Plaza de la Merced where they will install the terrace with a capacity for 20-25 people, plus 12 seats inside.
Ruth is from Munich and for Javier, Germany is his second homeland. So it is not surprising that they want to show the best of German cuisine to local audience, including the American people from Rota Naval’s Base. Javier says that many of these soldiers have passed through German naval bases, and demand their recipes. The restriction due to Covid-19 for the base staff to occupy restaurants inside, have made the outdoor seating area the most special space.
They will not only focus on food, they want to build an space for activities such as tastings or musical performances, following that concern that has always accompanied Ruth and Javier to contribute with something more.
‘The German Restaurant’ will be open from Friday to Sunday, three days in which customers could experience Oktoberfest, the German beer festival. Its opening hours will be from 1:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday. On Sunday they will to bruch, adding coffee and juices to their usual menu from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There are few precedents for true German food in Cádiz. The closeness of the project promoters with Germany guarantees the authenticity of the dishes, since they say they have reached agreements with German distribution companies. In its menu, knuckle, a dozen varieties of sausage, knödel (some bread or potato dumplings), spätzel (a type of fresh pasta that comes to Germany due to the influence of northern Italy), or the schweinebraten, a roast pork which resembles chicharrones showing that Cádiz and Germany are closer than we think. All this will be accompanied by German and Belgian beers, and a decoration that will lead customers to the authentic Oktoberfest, but in Rota.
The Learning & Cooking team clearly think that, despite these difficult times, “we should go on and adapt to current circumstances”. For this reason, and for the peace of mind of their costumers, they have obtained the certificate of Anticovid Healthy Space of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.
