The Gault Millau Guide is suggesting that "schwarz. Das Restaurant" (that's the exact - if you ignore the typeface - presentation of the restaurant's name) is the best restaurant in Heidelberg, awarded with 16 out of the 20 possible points (although the guide always insisted that 20 points are reserved for God - if he ran a restaurant anyway...). One might expect Heidelberg's best restaurant to be located near the old castle (Schloss) or the old town centre (Altstadt), but instead it is within spitting distance of the main train station (Hauptbahnhof) inside a modern tall office building that's wrapped into an energy efficient glass hull. After checking in with the restaurants separate reception desk in the lobby, we are sent to the 12th floor in a glass elevator that already raises (no pun intended) expectations; the ride is not for people with high anxiety though.
schwarz presents itself with a modern interior and great views over Heidelberg and the surrounding areas (including a very tall industrial chimney standing right between the restaurant and the castle. The maÎtre'd greeted us in a friendly way and was slightly surprised when we chased our order for an aperitif with the question what Gins might be available to chose from. With a mildly puzzled look he suggested there would be a Frederiques (the spelling is owed to the distinct French accentuation of the word) and, of course (this was suggested with an almost undetectable disapproving scoff) Gordons. We felt adventurous and went for the unknown French gin, only to find out a minute later that it was indeed Hendricks, as the head waiter confirmed with an apology. We were very happy with that turn of events, but since the gin was served just with ice and tonic, I asked whether it would be too much trouble to be served with a couple of slices of cucumber. When I saw the surprised look I hastened to add, rather undiplomatically, that Hendricks was usually served with cucumber. The maÎtre'd complied without hesitation, but seemed a little wary of what other strange demands we might come up with during the next couple of hours; indeed, I couldn't help the feeling that he was a little hurt in his professional pride to be found to offer a service short of perfection.
The lunch menu offers limited choices but changes on a weekly basis. With a couple of choices each for starters, main dishes and desserts, a 2 or 3 course menu option offering different dishes and a daily special, there are still sufficient choices to be made. We decided for the à la carte option and ordered Vitello Tonnato, perfectly cooked to medium-rare (more rare than medium) and served thinly sliced with a light tuna sauce and some rocket and fragrant cocktail tomatoes, and Scallops on a pineapple curry, in my view the by far best dish we experienced on the day, due to it's imaginative nature, perfect balance of fresh, tangy flavors and impeccable preparation and presentation: the roasted scallops sat on a handful of pineapple pieces flavored with a Vietnamese-style curry boasting the fresh aromas of lemongrass and ginger, with the sauce presented in a "spuma" that is probably about to go out of fashion again but nevertheless worked perfectly for this dish. The touch of genius were the baby shisso leaves (the purple variant) that gave the dish yet another exotic, fresh flavor that accentuated the other aromas in perfect harmony. A 19 points dish in my book, to use the Gault Millau scale on this occasion. The main dishes consisted of saddle of lamb served on a pleasantly crunchy mix of beans with potatoes (a good dish with a slightly overcooked lamb that was closer to well-done than medium, but still juicy, tender and full of flavor) and a suckling pork shank in a rich dark-brown sauce, nicely glazed and with very delicate, tender meet that practically fell of the bone, served with cabbage and a dumpling. The main course offered classic dishes updated to the modern ways of cooking and prepared with professional attention and unquestionable craftsmanship. The brilliant inspiration that was evident in the scallop starter was not to be found here, but then again one cannot expect a miracle when enjoying what would typically be served as a business lunch at a very reasonable price of 20 Euro for the main course (the starters ranged between 9 and 12 Euro and the desserts were in the same price category). We ordered a 2003 Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) Auslese from the Pfalz region from the extensive wine list, which offered good value for money at 59 Euro for the bottle and managed to convince my rather skeptical friend David that the Germans can actually produce a decent bottle of red wine! By this point the maÎtre'd had lost his initial caution after the "Hendricks incident" and allowed us to order the dessert from the Set Menu (apple tarte with raspberry sorbet - yummy) - but just because we were nice!! I decided to have the Tartlet of Nougat with Baileys Ice Cream, the latter not very imaginative and even available from Häägen Dasz if I'm not mistaken, the Nougat Tartlet though being surprisingly delicate with a wafer thin biscuit crust filled with light, nutty nougat mousse - here was that creative energy at work again! We finished with a couple of espressos (my choice of a single espresso was greeted with a playful scoff of the maître'd, suggesting that only a lightweight would give the double espresso a miss) and we were presented with a bill of 173 Euro that we felt provided good value for money.
My final comments are dedicated to the service staff: although the restaurant was almost empty, the staff found the exact right balance between being attentive and keeping in the background. It would have been tempting to "over-serve" us, which did not happen once and we appreciated the efforts of the excellent maître'd to make up for his Hendricks "mistake", again without going over the top or getting disconcertingly nervous. I will look for an opportunity to return for the 7 course tasting menu (120 Euro) and will wait with applying a score until then (if pushed, I would probably go for a 7.5/10 for now, as a result of the average between the two "9" dishes and the other "7" dishes).
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