The Magic of a Meal at Der Zauberlehring..

Ever since my husband Bill and I moved to Germany, we've missed indulging in one of our favorite pastimes... eating out at fine restaurants. When we were living in the States, we used OpenTable.com to find new places to eat fine food in major cities around the country. I thought that hobby might be suspended when we moved abroad, not because there aren't any good restaurants in Europe, but because we might not be able to find them as easily.

What is OpenTable.com?

OpenTable.com is an online reservation service that makes it easy for diners to reserve tables at restaurants that accept reservations. I discovered this service back in 2002, when I turned 30. I was looking for a nice place to celebrate my birthday and searched on the Internet for restaurants in the Washington, DC area. I stumbled on OpenTable.com by accident and have been using it ever since. Although OpenTable.com is not available everywhere, more and more restaurants are subscribing to the service, which is quickly expanding internationally.

I was very happy when I discovered that OpenTable.com is starting to catch on in Germany and that's what led me to try out Der Zauberlehring. So far, Der Zauberlehring is the only restaurant in the Stuttgart area that is a member of OpenTable.

What is Der Zauberlehring?

Der Zauberlehring translates to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and is a reference to an old ballad by the German writer, Goethe. Der Zauberlehring is also the name of a small hotel and restaurant in central Stuttgart, Germany run by Karen and Axel Heldmann. Bill and I did not get a chance to stay at the hotel, since we live fairly close to Stuttgart. Instead, we came to Der Zauberlehring on Saturday, February 16, 2008, looking for good food and good times.

First impressions...