An Evening in Deutschland -- Pittsburgh Style
By Vice Chargé de Presse Ken McCrory
If you're interested in sampling a wide variety of German wines, there's
only one place you need stop in Pittsburgh -- the Grand Concourse Restaurant.
Proprietor Matre de Table Restaurateur Rick McMaster has built an impressive
cellar of German labels and is always interested in sharing not only the
wine but his considerable knowledge.
Rick's Grand Concourse Restaurant is located in the old Pittsburgh & Lake Erie terminal building at the foot of Mount Washington. Mount Washington is accessed by an inclined plane first built by the German immigrants of Pittsburgh in 1860 who settled on the top of the Mount. For those unfortunate people who live in flat terrain - an inclined plane is a cable car on elevated tracks that is pulled up a hill by a engine. The hard working Germans needed a way to get home after work. Of course, if the Grand Concourse, and its extensive German wine list, had been around at the time, the incline might never have been built. Those early settlers would have stayed at the bottom of the hill tasting Reisling!
What better place then to have a combined Chaine des Rotisseurs and l'Ordre Mondial German wine dinner - and what better occasion than the visit to the U.S. of Helmut Jung. Herr Jung is the Director of Education of the German Wine Institute. Helmut's tour of the United States included stops in only four cities and fortunately Pittsburgh was one of those. Mr. Jung's knowledgeable commentary and inside information throughout the evening was a wonderful addition to the German food specialties served up by the ever versatile chef, Bruce Patterson.
The reception included a 1994 Prinz zu Salm Rheingraf, Riesling Sekt, Brut and such German delicacies as smoked salmon roulade with apple horseradish, drei ecke kissen, onion trtlettes, sauerkraut balls and pheasant won tons (alright won tons aren't exactly a German dish - but they tasted great). The first course was a wonderfully creamy Brie soup accompanied by a 1991 Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling, Kabinett, by Dr. Thanisch. Our salad of greens with Gorgonzola was joined by a 1995 Maximin Grunhaus Abstberg, Riesling, Sptlese from C. Von Schubert located in the Mosel.
Our fish course of salmon and sole roulade "ala Keller" with a dill beurre blanc sauce had a pastry crust that was "lighter than air". A quick inspection of the room showed clean plates all around as the last drops of sauce were scraped from them. After a Riesling Sorbet, the meat course of grilled veal tenderloin with Kse Sptzle and asparagus was accompanied by one of the few German red wines - a 1993 Oberbergen-Baden Pinot Noir from Franz Keller. Pastry chef Mark McNulty did a perfectly layered baumtorte which was accompanied by a sweet but refreshing 1976 Niersteiner Rehbach Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese from Anton Balbach. For dessert wine aficionado, Chevalier Henry Rae, this last wine was Nirvana.
When asked their opinion of the dinner, Vice Conseiller Honoraire Mort Aronson and his wife, Sabine, both exclaimed -- Deutschland Uber Alles!
