So what does a supper club do on an unseasonably cold day of 30 degrees in November? Take a ferry to Staten Island in search of sausages, of course. We decided to get our bellies ready and explore the unknown (Staten Island). The day began around 3pm at the Staten Island Ferry depot. We had two visiting friends from California, Debbie Hampton and Marina Myler, who Dan had somehow duped into boarding a ferry in the freezing cold, to eat sausages, in Staten Island, with a bunch of NY lushes. So, with the group intact and 100 other unassuming tourists, we boarded the free ferry. The boat ride was actually pleasant, with beautiful views of the city and Statue of Liberty. We arrived in the massive terminal-like port and took a guess at which outlet would have the correct #46 bus. That was our first mistake. (Not that anyone will, but if you do read this and decide to do what we did, make sure you find out how often the buses come around.) We lined up outside and after watching several of every other bus fly by, our group began to get anxious. Yoga poses, interpretive dance moves and lots of inappropriate touching and hugging took place. Just when we thought we couldn't take it any more, we saw the #46 rounding the corner... and just as excitement peaked, the sign changed to OUT OF SERVICE and the shouts of "Hooray!! Woohoo!!" turned quickly into expletives and rhetorical "Why God?!? Why us!??" This happened at least three more times. Either God didn't want us to eat sausage that day, or He was testing us as Zupperites. At one point, reaching her wimpy temperature threshold, Jane stomped over to one of the drivers with her left hand reared back in a punching stance. It must have been her scary presence, or the pink flower on her knit cap, but he quickly took off and bypassed the group.
Finally, a #46 pulled to our stop and the crowd broke into cheers (Well, only us 8 really. The other locals looked at us as if we were psychotic). For many of us, this was our first (and probably) last time in SI so we tried to enjoy the scenic drive through town. After a few false alarms of getting off, then getting right back on, then right back off, we reached our destination - Nürnberger Bierhaus (a.k.a heaven). Walking into that restaurant was the best thing in the world. We all swore that we'd never leave and contemplated moving in. The front room was a welcoming bar area, with a neighborhood pub-like feel. The bartender immediately greeted us and promptly started to dole out steins and lagers. After getting that warm, fuzzy feeling we headed into the main dining room, outfitted with a fireplace and all sorts of random and authentic German memorabilia. The menu is extensive, offering a wide array of traditional German plates, including an entire section called Kartoffelpfännchen (from what we understand, "whale's vagina" in German) - a massive meal of homefries, bacon and onions served with whatever wurst, schnitzel or chop you may desire. Although there were many choices, about half the group quickly announced the were ordering the Wurstteller mit allem Drum & Dran (basically a sampling of all the wursts they serve: pork-beef, pork-veal, kielbasa, veal weisswurst and pork-heartattack). Alex and Tenny ventured out and ordered the jägerschnitzel (breaded port cutlets fried in a brown mushroom sauce). The sausages, particularly the kielbasa and bratwursts with mash pos were the crowd favorite. You can just imagine the sausage jokes that were made with mature 35 year old males at the table. The Reibekuchen appetizer and apple cake dessert are also worth mentioning. Reibekuchen is a fancy name for fried potato pancakes served with applesauce and sour cream, and were so good, we devoured them in seconds. I think it was because they were crispy and delicious, but it also could have been that we had been waiting an hour to put something warm in our bodies. The apple cake, eh, well... came when we were over-served so I don't remember much, but just take my word and order it. It was delicious, I think.
The service was great and swift with the food and the beer refills. Actually, very swift. At one point, out of no where, we heard a gasp, then the sound of broken glass and dripping beer. Von Klutz Rollman shattered his 12 inch pilsner glass all over the table. Luckily, it was completely full. After his blushing and apologizing, our dear waitress quickly replaced the beer. Not even 15 minutes later, Dan was in the midst of telling a joke and, as if in slow motion, he gently grazed the top of his beer glass with his hand. Again in slow motion, it bobbled up and down and up and down and just as Rollman was about to catch it in his lap... it splashed everywhere and crashed to the floor with humiliating embarrassment. Tenny could have been the saving grace but burst out laughing so hard, she only aided in the fall. At this point, our whole table had our heads down and were laughing so hard we were certain we'd be kicked out. We were...kinda. The somewhat senior (very Eastern European) waitress immediately dropped off our check (without being asked) and gave us all a disapproving stare (without being asked). Not to be undone, we went over to the bar for one last round. Dan's was served in a sippy cup.
As we embarked home, a determined Alex ran back to grab our mini-van cab and thankfully saved us from a bus ride. The car trip and wait for the ferry were filled with the obvious sausage and weiner jokes, a few hand slap tricks from Dan and group photo sessions (see above). Yes, we're massive dorks. But, we were having such fun we decided to keep it going and ended up at White Horse Tavern (near the ferry). It was packed. Well, there was actually only a waitress and a guy who had passed out in his beer, but with our spirits, we felt like it was packed. Even though the adventure began with blustery weather, ferrys, late buses and mysterious German words, I think it was one of our most delicious and soul nutritious yet. So great that it inspired Marina and Debbie to begin a Zupper West club! Zupper franchising, here we come!
So the final word is: If you dare venture to Staten Island, we highly recommend making a trip to the Nurnberger Bierhaus for some wurst, cold beer and apple cake. Just wear a bib and don't piss off the waitresses.
