Missing the funeral service for Bob Battle, a colleague from the late Nashville Banner newspaper, we had a private remembrance for him by visiting Gerst Haus, the east-side German restaurant once listed on the Banner phone list as "East Bureau."
That was the old location, favored by smoking, sausage-eating, simpatico East Nashvillians, old Nashvillians, hipsters, barflies and families. Even in its newer location, it was a Bob kind of place: a friendly watering hole full of regulars with abundant beer and pretty good food.
Bavarian Pizza
I'm always drawn to the schnitzels, but in an old familiar place, the old standbys are so easy. Instead of the smoked double chop and jagerschnitzel, it was Bavarian Pizza, a cobbled-together appetizer of rye bread, pizza sauce, kraut and sausage. It shouldn't be as good as it is, but it is. The oyster roll is an old familiar, too, but this last time, it was perfectly spherical, doughy in the middle, and virtually oyster free.
I left thinking, "I should have had the chop. Or the jagerschnitzel." Anyone had either of these in the last few months?
