Schmidt Z & KO

Wine shop, wine bar, restaurant and cooking school in a courtyard off Rheinstraße: daily lunch, a regional dinner menu and more than 500 wines.

Schmidt Z & KO sits in a quiet courtyard off Rheinstraße and is more than a restaurant. Anja and Carsten Schmidt of the Weinladen Schmidt teamed up here with the TV chefs Ralf Zacherl and Mario Kotaska; the Z stands for Zacherl, the KO for Kotaska. Under one roof there is a wine shop with more than 500 wines, a wine bar, a restaurant and a cooking school with a show kitchen.

At lunchtime, Tuesday to Saturday, there is a daily changing lunch menu, for example a pork Boulette with mashed corn or breaded poularde schnitzel with mushroom cream sauce. In the evening head chef Gerrit Wensing cooks a menu from regional produce, in autumn for instance with poached pike dumplings in broth, venison from the Schorfheide and the catch of the day with blood sausage and beets. It starts with Sylt white bread from Jochen Gaues and whipped butter.

The wines come from Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, little-known names as well as famous estates, and the team knows the growers personally. The shelf doubles as the wine list, and whatever you like you can take home from the shop. From the afternoon the wine bar serves small plates such as air-dried ham, cheese and fries with Deichkäse.