REVIEW | Restaurant Ritzi in Stuttgart

July 2022. As a teacher, Steve has the possibility to do a bigger trip in the school summer break. I don’t, or rarely do. After The Hague in 2020 and Utrecht in 2021, we decided to go to Germany for a now more or less traditional three-day weekend in July. Our eye fell on Stuttgart, in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

We stayed two nights in Stuttgart. We arrived on Saturday and left on Monday. This meant finding restaurants for a Saturday evening and a Sunday evening. So we did some research. Steve found Restaurant Ritzi and we booked a table for Saturday. Luckily we did so, because it was full house.

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Introduction

“There are no culinary boundaries for Ben Benasr. Born in Tunisia, he loves Swabian cuisine, international dishes, meat, fish, vegetables and vegan options. With the Ritzi, he fulfills his dream of implementing innovative ideas and conjuring up magical moments of pleasure for guests. And three times that…”, the website says.

“Together with his guests and his team, Ben Benasr embarks on a journey through the variety of culinary possibilities. The creative cuisine is modern and, with Ben Benasr’s memoirs of taste, brings an incomparable oriental twist to the amazing play with high-quality products and aromas.”

Such official presentations often talk much and say nothing substantial. For a restaurant, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Vibe

As it was a hot summer’s day, we didn’t go inside. The terrace is located on a square. Black and dark grey furniture and parasols welcomed us for dinner. The atmosphere is relaxed. A chino and shirt is a good attire.

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The menu

The menu is not super elaborate and that’s a good sign. It’s better to focus on a few dishes than to offer plenty, but actually it’s the same. Individually, the dishes are pricey, certainly for Germany!

Not on the website, is the set menu on offer. We we went for the four courses for 78 euros and the wine pairing for 48. For a menu in a gastronomical restaurant, that’s a good price.

As a starter I had the coeur de boeuf tomato with burrata from Puglia (Italy). Steve does not eat cheese and had Black Angus beef and tarragon as alternative.

This was followed by yellowfin tuna and veal from South Tyrol.

As a main, free range poularde and oriental couscous.

As dessert marinated strawberries with chocolate parfait, aged balsamic vinegar and sorrel sorbet.

The wines were mostly regional wines. Did you know there are vineyards in the city of Stuttgart?

So?

The menu was well-balanced. Four dishes is enough and you can’t expect more for that pricing. There were no amuses. For dishes as advertised, nothing more. In France, Belgium and the Netherlands, you get extras. But in Germany or in Austria not (often). It’s a question of habit. We did get pralines with the tea and coffee.

The food was really well prepared. The conception is not overly complicated. The tastes are pure and recognizable.