Restaurant group D&D London has announced a new menu concept for German Gymnasium, its flagship site in King’s Cross.
German Gymnasium opened in the Grade II-listed building in 2015. Despite the name, what it offered was more of an international range of dishes, rather than anything outwardly Teutonic, prompting Jay Rayner to remark in his scathing review of the restaurant just after it opened that it was “about as German as my cat. (My cat is not German.)”
However, now the restaurant is set to go all in on German cooking, thanks to the arrival of German executive head chef Alexander Thiel (previously of Barrafina, Beaufort and Berlin’s Sachs and Dressler), who will be drawing on the home-cooked dishes of his childhood.
For starters, expect the likes of flädlesuppe (clear beef bone broth) and krabben cocktail (surprisingly, ‘krabben’ actually means prawns). Mains will be more substantial, such as ente aus dem rohrwith (whole roasted duck) and forelle mit mandlebutter (pan-fried whole river trout). And, of course, for dessert there is strudel.
German wines will also be given greater prominence, with Spätburgunders from Pfalz’s Weingut Kranz and Rheinhessen’s Carl Koch cited.
And, for something stronger, Monkey 47’s Dry Schwarzwald Gin, distilled in the Black Forest, will be available in German Gymnasium’s Restaurant and first floor Meister Bar. In the latter, head bartender Jerome Orive has developed a new range of cocktails, including ‘The Black Forest’, which fittingly combines Monkey 47’s gin with jasmine, wine from the region, peach liqueur, Supasawa and grapefruit bitters.
