Von Bismarck restaurant, from Chapel Tavern owner, opens in Reno
Johnathan L. Wright
At Von Bismarck, a sausage became a prince.
When the German-inspired restaurant (which opened June 13 on Wells Avenue) first took shape two-and-a-half years ago, it was going to be a beer and sausage spot called Washoe’s Wurst.
But owner T. Duncan Mitchell soon realized he wanted to do more than beer and sausage. The name Washoe’s Wurst, he said, “was too limiting.”
Mitchell’s research on German food and culture led him to Otto, Prince of Bismarck, better known as Otto von Bismarck, first chancellor of the German Empire in the late 19th century — and a famously expansive eater.
“He became our mascot,” Mitchell said, and Washoe’s Wurst became Von Bismarck, a fitting name for a restaurant with ambitions beyond bock and bratwurst.
“We’re pulling from Germany,” Mitchell said, “then doing it our way.”
Family producers
A portrait of von Bismarck surmounts the back bar. The chancellor, painted by Reno artist Jaxon Northon, is shown in military dress, his left hand grasping a saber.
The painting, appropriately, hangs along the central axis of the restaurant, the chancellor gazing across the dining room into the distance.
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VON BISMARCK
Address: 805 S. Wells Ave.
Phone: 775-622-3687
Hours (to start): From 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday
On the web: Website
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The opening menu at Von Bismarck features about a dozen draft beers, including highly regarded Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock, a rich full lager first brewed by Bavarian monks.
The wine list of 10 or so releases crafted by small (often biodynamic) producers ranges from a riesling of decisive minerality from Jochen Beurer, an innovative winemaker in Southern Germany, to a version of trollinger, a lightly fruity German red with good acidity.
“I think beer and wines from Germany are underrepresented in our area,” Mitchell said, especially German wines, which tend to be limited in Reno restaurants to Dr. Loosen riesling, say, and perhaps a gewürztraminer or two.
“I think they need a place to be represented,” Mitchell continued, “and the food can be a vehicle for that.”
Germany as inspiration, not prescription
The opening menu at Von Bismarck offers smaller and larger plates, nearly two dozen in all.
There are housemade pretzels with cheese sauce for dredging and housemade quark (a soft fresh cheese used in traditional German cheesecake, for one).
There is asparagus with smoked herring mayonnaise, rye pancakes paired with grilled trout (and with more of that quark), and a twist on classic jaegerschnitzel that uses bone-in elk “instead of going for a chicken cutlet or a pork cutlet,” said Scott Arn, chef of Von Bismarck. “We wanted to do something fun and play.”
The menu will rotate seasonally. Some dishes might not even be German, strictly speaking.
“Germany is an outline or guideline for the food,” Arn said, “but if there’s something that looks awesome that we like the taste of, we’re not going to restrict ourselves. We’re being fluid in what we’re doing. It will get more and more interesting as we go."
Light, bright, airy
Ten years ago, Mitchell opened Chapel Tavern, a pioneer of Reno’s craft cocktail and natural wine culture.
He later opened 40 Mile Saloon, named for a stretch of the Northern Nevada desert, and Shawarmageddon, a grab-and-go shawarma spot off the Truckee River in downtown Reno. He’s since sold the saloon.
Von Bismarck, Mitchell said the other afternoon, “is not Chapel Tavern. It’s the opposite.”
In part, Mitchell was referring to the look of the two places. Chapel Tavern is dimly lighted, stylishly moody.
Von Bismarck, by contrast, is bright, airy, spacious, a renovated transmission garage flanked by terraces, where ceilings rise to 12 feet and light pours through windows that roll up for indoor-outdoor dining.
Pale pressed cotton embossed with arabesques papers some of the space. Paint sandblasted revealed the original pine and Western red cedar. On the walls: sheepskin pelts, a kitschy (and tonally consistent) nod to ancient Germanic tribes.
Families welcome
But when he spoke of opposites, Mitchell also was speaking of atmosphere and approach.
At Von Bismarck, he’s replaced Chapel Tavern’s late-night bar focus with a restaurant where he said he wants families to feel comfortable.
“Not that we want to be Chuck E. Cheese,” he said, “but we’re trying to do a place with really good cocktails, wine, beer and food that’s still a space where kids can come. We’re trying to be family friendly.”
To that end, the south terrace will feature an outside bar and wood-fire grill, while the north terrace, Mitchell said, “will be more family-style.”
Food at Von Bismarck also arrives family-style, on platters at communal tables, and that’s deliberate, too, Mitchell said.
“We want everybody in here, big groups and families. Everything here is meant for hanging out and sharing and having fun."
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Johnathan L. Wright is the food and drink editor of RGJ Media, part of the USA Today Network. Join @RGJTaste on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.