Stuff we like: Oktoberfest done with style
Oktoberfest menus are always so much fall fun.By: Jana Hollingsworth, Duluth News Tribune
Oktoberfest menus are always so much fall fun.
You’ve got your beer, your sausage and your sauerkraut, and a whole month to celebrate.
At Sara’s Table/Chester Creek Café, in its infinite seasonal-menu-changing wisdom, took a tour this month of the Rhine Valley.
With influences from the Netherlands and France, this Oktoberfest menu isn’t just about Germany, although there are some German heavy-hitters.
I pored over the online menu before dining, with “I want that!” on repeat in my head. Luckily, there is a smattering of small plates and sides along with a well-edited list of entrees. Mixing and matching is a ball.
I had the Alsatian onion soup, a shared side of Spaetzle and the bratwurst platter. The aroma of the onion soup was lovely. A strong gruyere was grated over the top, melting into baguette croutons that crackled under the poke of a fork. I dunked them deep into the broth to get that right combination of bread, cheese and caramelized onion on the spoon. Sliced apples added a flavor dimension that I never knew was missing from onion soup — which I consider to be the most soul-satisfying soup created — until I had it.
The bratwurst was a spicy grilled sausage from Pastures A Plenty Farm & Co. in Kerkhoven, Minn. It came on a buttered baguette roll with sautéed apples, homemade curry ketchup, Riesling mustard and sauerkraut. The roll was pretty big, and kind of hard to get an all-around bite. It was a great sausage and the condiments were full of interesting flavor.
The German Spaetzle dumplings were a nice comfort food addition to my meal, and a steal at $4.
The menu should run through most of November. (They’ve got Hacker-Pschorr Oktober-fest and Summit Oktober-fest in the beer lineup.)
At Sara's Table/Chester Creek Cafe
What: Alsatian onion soup, $8; bratwurst platter, $11
Where: 1902 E. Eighth St.
Contact: (218) 724-6811, www.astccc.net
Note: Chester Creek — known for being a “farm to table” local ingredient-loving restaurant — has a standing menu for each meal of the day, and a foodie-beloved dinner menu that changes.