We got hit with the coldest temperatures in a couple years for most of the week. I loved it. Got me thinking of German food. And that led me to schnitzel.
For the uninitiated, schnitzel is an escalope, a piece of meat that’s pounded thin, breaded and fried. It can be served as is, or with a variety of sauces.
I chose to feature one contestant that’s a purely German restaurant — German Knodle in downtown St. Pete — and another one that’s not: Clear Sky on Cleveland, which calls itself a Global Bistro. Why? Because I rarely get to Clearwater for FFF, because the contrast seemed interesting. And because I can.
GERMAN KNODLE
At 6:30 on Tuesday, it hovered around 50 degrees when we lucked into a parking spot directly in front of this small eatery a half block north of MLK Street on Central Avenue. I didn’t even need to wear my beloved Scottish-bought newsboy cap, but I did anyway.
German Knodle’s brightly lit interior reminded me of a creatively designed kindergarten classroom — with bottles of wine in the cubbies.
I asked our server how to pronounce “knodle.” She said, in a German accent, “c’noodle.” Later, when I ran “knodle” through a German-to-English translator, it came up … “knodle.” (Okay, then.)
I ordered Porkloin Jeger (with mushroom sauce) Schnitzel ($18), with fries instead of potato salad. Bonnie added plate Spätzle ($12.99), egg noodles with cheese and the same mushroom sauce. We each got a pint of Kulmbacher Pilsner draft.
Appearance
Man, it was a lot of mushrooms for someone who’s not wild about mushrooms. I expected someting more gravy-like with ‘shroom bits. But that’s on me. The two huge cutlets were a lovely golden brown. The fries, which I’ve had before on their own, looked fetching as ever.
Texture and Taste
The knife cut easily — but not too easily — through the cutlet. The breading was at once crisp and tender, and blended well with the meat inside. I ate slowly, slicing small-ish pieces, occasionally dipping them in the cheesy sauce in the spätzle bowl.
I tried a few forkfuls with mushrooms, but didn’t have much use for them. Had I a do-over, I would’ve gotten the schnitzel Vienna-style — plain, with a slice of lemon on the side.
The fries were as splendid as I remembered. In a 2022 Food Fight, I wrote, “the rugged outer shell [gave way to] sumptuously moist potato.” I’m sticking with that.
The spätzle was like an elevated, zestier mac-and-cheese; the pasta, about double the thickness of spaghetti, was more al dente, the cheese sauce less creamy. I pushed the mushrooms aside.
Bonnie liberated some pieces of schnitzel from my plate, but even then we left half a cutlet remaining. I’d say that, in all, this was a German-sized meal.
CLEAR SKY ON CLEVELAND
Wednesday night’s temps passed for bitter cold in Florida. I loved it. We entered Clear Sky just before 7 and the place was full. My hunch was that quite a few of the patrons were headed to the Los Lobos concert at the Capitol Theater, which is right across the street. We were. A Lightning game showed on several big-screen TVs.
The conversational volume was turned up high, but well short of 11. Our foursome sat at a table along a wall, the wives on the banquette, the husbands in chairs.
Bonnie and I decided to split the Pork Tenderloin Schnitzel ($19), with a lemon butter sauce, sided by mashed potatoes, vegetables, and a charred lemon.
Appearance
A handsome dish. The cutlets were smaller than the competition’s, but I saw that as a good thing. The charred lemon added an artful touch.
And the Winner of the Holy Schnitzel! St. Pete vs. Clearwater Clash Is …
Clear Sky on Cleveland.
