"In recent years, no chef has influenced the modern Palatinate more than Benjamin Peifer, whose Star Kallstadter „Erstlokal“ has been intensifying for a good two years(e ive and novel taste experiences, and therefore receives quite a lot of recognition from restaurant guides, reviewers, food bloggers, publishers and other institutions of good taste. The award with a Michelin star after only three months since the opening actually says everything about the great work that Benjamin Peifer and his team in Kallstadt do. This extraordinary chef, together with his culinary accomplice Johannes Lochner, who leads the connected Vinothek “Rawstoff”, opened the most cool wine barbistro of the Palatinate in the middle of the quiet Wachenheim. That was in January this year and a visit was still pending. At the end of August, two palate friends from Hannover held their “Sideways” in the Palatinate. In the sense of a balanced cork life balance, the two delightful sprouts revealed various wineries. What are we talking about? Peach grape juice. It was not about the fact that the two Riesling-Rocker, with a dedicated mindset from the “lower” Saxony, proposed this Izakaya for a first meeting with the writer of these lines. They apparently wanted to go to the epicentre of the Palat-Avantgarde! At least in the highest coolness factor. I was excited and looking forward to this evening week in advance. I handed over the reservation to the guests and was curious how the evening would run at the Wachenheimer Winkekatze-Weinclub. I traveled by train to Wachenheim when I knew about the vinophilic attitude of my two roommates. The fact that due to the good table talks (and notices the time went as in the flight and therefore the last train was missed in the direction of South Palatinates home, my nursing wife called the plan that brought the men round well and safely to the hotel or at home by night pick-up service. So she also met the two sympathetic connoisseurs briefly, even if at a later hour. On this warm Friday evening, the two lonely table notes seemed to be fresh from the Jesuit garden (or was it the tone stone... in the deepened wine-dine room to Wachenheim. They didn't want to give up a liquid carrier. A bottle of her gently beading house brand was actually overscored to the freshly married champagne innovations. Thank you at this point for the Blubber-Bouteille. She stays in my wine hall and waits for the moment. Before I take the few steps to the former winery restaurant from the 18th century Up the century, I greeted myself to the right of the Josper grill, which was placed in front of the entrance door. A first note that grilled or smoked treats would appear in the Izakaya menu tonight. In the interior of the restaurant even the interieur-produced food vibrates the eyes, as it would not really suspect such an ambience in the medium-haired wine province. From the bare table culture to the grounded light concept to the visible kitchen there are everything that is considered to be taste-proof and fashionable in metropolises. About venerable fish-green parquet we drove into the middle of the guest room, the small but fine area where Alexej Hirsch kindly received us from the service. On the back you will meet the "Rohstoff Division" equipped with a long table, lushly filled wine rack, Berkel cutting machine and Dry-Ager. A true sanctuary for every wine lover who has fun in discovery. In this Separee you can also enjoy a few small items from Yannick Schillis kitchen on the big Sharing table. On the other hand, the complete Omakase program is only available on reservation. In Izakaya there is only one menu for 60 euros. Point. Mastermind Peifer wants to translate the Japanese expression with “s’werd gesse, what uff de Disch kummt”. A culinary credo that is also intense for its star. The five fixed courses can be extended with two additional dishes at an extra cost. For the Otoshi a kind of "place fee" is calculated, as is customary in such Japanese stores, 5 euros. It can be enjoyed with water, butter, good bread, a small appetizer and a hot, damp towel (Oshibori quite relaxed. So the interior was informal, so relaxed Alexej Hirsch, who filled the service party to our full satisfaction. He liked to explain the components of the respective corridors at the table, answered questions and was always friendly competent. Our cutlery was in a specially designed wooden box. The menu, which serves as a cover that greeted us with a cordial “Hirasyamase!” was one of the small details that made Peifer’s handwriting distinctive. We went through the “clamp of wine” and ordered a beer first. Everything else in a vineyard would have been totally insane. For the table notes of the men, this was certainly a counter beer that they – probably drawn from numerous wine tastings – then also visibly enjoyed. The pleasant cellar beer (0.33l for 3.50 Euro came from the nearby BrauArt Craftbeer brewery (sausenheim near Grünstadt) and had the Izakaya logo with Maneki-Neko on the label. Again a small far-eastern feature, which continues sufficiently in the form of a clearly larger, clear Palatinate wine affinity Winkekatze (with dubbe glass in the paw). Something placative maybe, but definitely a real eye-catcher. On the table there was a bowl with “Pfälzer Edamame”. These incense piles surrounded by hearty Kimchimarinade and sea salt (of course from Josper... were a first appetizing indication of the delicate Far East trip to which Chef Yannick Schilli sent us tonight. In addition, this amuse with a fall was also a first culinary indication of the unhindered atmosphere spread by the entire crew. They didn't count the heirs, they grilled them! In any case, we have tented the gently smoked pods for the last heir with enthusiasm. A single charity. A fluffy foccacia, fragrant for herbs that we were allowed to make in a rather unspectacular tomato wood emulsion, then shortened the time to the first stage and was a welcome basis for our subsequent alcohol consumption. The idea of buying a bottle of the 2017 Chardonnay Grande Reserve (36 Euro from Bremer Beaujolais-Aficionados highly respected winery Bietighöfer from Mühlhofen seemed more plausible to me. The juicy white had the typical type of melt and a beautiful fruit. Good wood gave him additional spices. Not exhausting, but elegant and balanced. We were at the table. The gear number 1 then tasted as if the solid tire summer had been staged in a ceramic shell with colour. Aromatic tomato pieces from the region (Meckenheim and a creamy goat cheese from Antje Wutzke from Zeiselbacher Hof (Neustadt Weinstr.) were accompanied by a tomato vinaigrette, which was simply, but completely harmoniously poured onto the table. The crispy sesame chip advertises the already formidable tomato salad slightly textured without stealing the small, sweet-saure taste bombs. A successful kick-off that felt more. One at the table came out as a friend of imperialist fishermen who gave him a pearl spoon with 10g of finest scatters for his “Raindropcake”. For an obolus of 22 euros, the Geleee hypersphere with Shisovinaigrette and Leeköl was offered as an additional course. The donated gourmet even made me taste caviar. Of course, he also tasted without the acidic-spiric glaze. In combination, however, apparently much better, as he assured me convincingly. Of course there was the second gang back for everyone at the table. Alexej Hirsch served a yosper-drilled romanasalate that was blessed with a lot of taste thanks to a broachivinaigrette and thinly cured umamispeck. Romanasalat again ensured the temperature contrast in the bowl – only this time as Sorbet. Garlic-Brot-Brösel gave a subtle wort which, together with the fat bacon, arrived very well with us. Overall, this was a contrasting and rich in ideas, which was convinced by a successful taste play. It is fascinating what the guys here are prepared from relatively simple ingredients. Now the salmon trout followed grilled over Japanese binchotan activated carbon, which was accompanied by three different soy sauces in fermented soy sauce (Shoyu inlaid radish varieties (Tsukemone and the elaborately prepared XOXO sauce already used in the Intense restaurant. By the way, the latter is obtained from dried wood, self-produced ham, smoked Dashi and Pfälzer XO-Weinbrand. There were also many small product details from home that were creatively processed. The XOXO sauce burned deeply into my long-term culinary memory. In addition, one worked with textured contrasts that could increase the palate of the rather simple arrangement. Cracky radishes, ultrashort fish and an umami-supplying memory sauce – I bet you don't get that better in Kyoto. Maybe different... The next additive gear – Dim Sum from Wagyu and Shiitake (for 16 Euro extra – none of us would have dared to go. For this purpose, this Asian preciosis, which was thrown onto the table with Wagyudashi, was already on the menu. In addition to the dough bag with aromatic meat-pulll filling, there was still a thin slice of finely marbled Wagyu beef that slowly even pulled in the spicy broth with Yuzukoshu and Wasabi, in the dark ceramic dish. For me was the highlight of the evening. Aromatic, juicy, dense. Balance with sharpness and acidity. Damn high bar. Even before the Novinophobia (strong feeling of fear of the situation without being wine, the Chardonnay has now been displaced, we took the flight forward and ordered the next bottle. This time we drove in the “Red Area”. It should also be a bit more speedy. There were no 12.5% Beaujolais Winzer with Pinot restriction on the table. Fire! We were loyal to Stefan, which led to a 2015 pinotage of the same winery (50 euros). Last time a few years ago in Montreal in a B.Y.O.W. restaurant as a companion of the Palatinate together with my father, this was a very special drop for me, which was also good for our special round. Geil tissue from competent consorts. And, of course, an appropriate accompaniment of our “grill plate”. Under the motto “Sharing is caring”, the gently grilled garden and then grilled rafters of butcher masters and meat-hommelier Heiko Brath from Karlsruhe were placed in the centre of the table on a rustic wooden floor. They came on board in the “St.Louis-Cut” popular with BBQ professionals who brought a fantastic delicate meat edition. The grilled speciality from the middle part of the ribs had previously been clamped with Far Eastern Teriyaki marinade, which led to a slightly red crust. A clear “incenseed confession” in which the wonderfully merciful meat was literally sucked by the bones. In separate bowls a slightly sweet onion cream, lukewarm bean salad and a granular “smuggelware” from distant Japan were served as supplements. The latter was the high-quality round corn rice called "Koshihikari", which is one of the best sushi resorts in the world due to its optimal starch content. A bit of sesame and spring onion was added to the sticky aroma rice. Puffed rice grains on top additionally produced some crispy. The two “Ribsters” from me also had a lot of fun on the delicious finger food and the soul food plate lying in front of us was quickly cleaned. On this mouth-filling evening, even during dessert, the omnipresent Umami club swung together. Dessert with the title “Mirabelle und Aprikosenhefe Sahne und Miststück” was the harmonious interplay of sweet, fruity and slightly salty components that created this interesting taste choir. Above all, the moose cake covered with yeast cream took up the not particularly sweet finale pleasantly. Then there was a frozen Gin-Tonic in water ice format for everyone. The transparent plastic bag inspires youth memories while we enjoy the ice-cold “long drink”. Yuzu gave his Asian touch to the baptized “Gintense” Palatinate. The juniper fired in Mallorca would certainly have kept me in liquid form. But a good idea was this kind of administration definitely. Especially in warm weather. Many great ideas and details combine in the Wachenheimer Izakaya as a coherent overall concept. But Benjamin Peifer can really be proud of his “Lecker-Meets-locker-Laden” for Japan-affine Weincouts. If you add the innovative wine card to the delicious card of trust and multiply it with the warm-competent service of a casual crew, this results much more than what the Korinther have sworn together in their new compendium. As the Japanese say, “A friendly word can warm up three winter months!” A common meal at Izakaya in the best society definitely creates even longer."
