A year ago a close friend of mine traveled to Munich while studying in Italy. When he returned to the States, I was regaled with tales of hours spent in the beer halls abroad. Long nights in large open buildings, filled with old wooden tables, jovial people and heavy steins brimming with delicious frothy brew.
Ever since I heard of these stories, I’ve longed to travel to Germany and experience these mythical places for myself. I never made it to Deutschland while living in Spain and the miserable Dollar-to-Euro ratio prevented some shoddy plans I had to travel to Oktoberfest this year. Despite these setbacks, there was a silver lining on the beer filled cloud of my dreams. The lucky residents of New York—my humble self included—have not one, but two locations to indulge our—but more importantly, my—Germanophile and beer garden filled fantasies: Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden in Astoria and Radegast Hall and Biergarten in Williamsburg.
My fantasy was recently fulfilled at the Radegast Hall. This is the newer of the two (it opened this past year) and from what my I’ve-been-to-real-halls-in-Munich-friend tells me the less authentic of the pair. A man named Ivan Kohut has a hand in both of the bars, and super authentic or not, I had a great time. Apparently, Mr. Kohut’s wife, Joanna, is a personal chef who created the menu and I must give praise to the woman for the grub.
Although my party stuck to appetizers and I wasn’t able to sample any entrees (we were there to drink after all) I finally had the chance to chomp down some Steak Tartare. I tried the trout salad, the pate and the charcuterie and cheese plate but the tartare is what I enjoy spilling the beans about. I’ve heard about the dish before and have been jonesing to try it ever since I’ve read various beer hounds accounts of sampling the plate in halls across Europe. Although I’ve seen it multiple times on menus at upscale restaurants, nothing beats a big plate of beef to accompany your liter of dunkleweisse.
If you are unfamiliar with Tartare it’s very simple to explain: take good steak, grind it up, toss an egg yolk on top, season and serve with condiments. There is no cooking involved! You sprinkle on some onion, relish, mustard, Worcestershire sauce or whatever else is available, mix it up and toss it on some bread or other tasty vessel to transport the goodness from plate to mouth. While some my cringe and cry out the dangers of eating raw meat, I say try the stuff before bad mouthing it. As long as you can trust your sources and know you are eating good beef, you aren’t going to die. Granted, if I drop dead tomorrow you may have an argument against me, but until then, go order up some tartare, a stein and daydream about Oktoberfest.
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