TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Here in Tucson, we've got no shortage of places to eat a good meal from cultures all over the world. You can now add another one to that list. "Dan's Discoveries" takes a look at the grand opening of a new restaurant that's 12 months and more than 5,000 miles in the making.
On the West Side at Silverbell and Grant you'll find comfort food from the East. Not the East Coast. No, we're talking all the way across the Atlantic to the Bavarian regions of Central Europe.
"We figured what's the best place. So we had all the opportunities of the whole country... We were so sick and tired of the rain in Germany."
André Linke and his wife Silke decided to take a leap of faith and fly from Germany, uprooting their family to the other side of the world. A road trip of the Southwest a few years ago helped them zero in on a new homeland.
"We were sick and tired of the weather and we wanted to do something on our own," André told me.
"I said to my husband 'I have a dream'. My husband loves America. My dream is a restaurant. We put those dreams together when we said, OK," Silke said with a smile. "We drove here in Arizona and we say 'this is the place to be. Tucson.' Ha!"
To fulfill the dream of making a new life in Arizona, André decided that the people of the Old Pueblo needed to try some authentic, honest-to-goodness German cuisine.
"We only know German food so why not give it a shot with German food, yeah. We want to have the traditional schnitzel, sauerbraten, rouladen, dumplings, cabbage because I think that's unique."
The menu wasn't a problem on paper. Fresh ingredients, vegetables, meats get marinated for days and cooked to perfection over hours. But who could possibly bring the proper flavor to create these dishes in the kitchen?
CJ Buckalew knew the kinship between the desert and the old country would connect somehow.
"Oh Grand Canyon, cowboys you know Old West and stuff, I'm like, yes. And so (Germans) really like the sunshine and that kind of atmosphere (here)."
She was born in Germany to a German mother, learned to cook in Germany and just in a passing conversation heard that André and Silke needed help
"I think the rouladen is going to just kick it off because it's something I grew up with my mom cooking it. And I just think it's one of those things that screams German," CJ said.
"This is called saurbraten because it's made with vinegar and that makes the meat tender and sour. It has a sour taste to it."
Derek Anderson served in the military in Germany, married a local and lived overseas for the better part of five decades. Now in retirement he wanted to lend a hand as well. Matthew Spurlock's experience is in the kitchen but he's happy to learn about his own heritage, after all, his grandfather was German.
"I wanted to kind of honor my heritage and my family by trying to be a part of something like this," Matthew told me.
So this crew will start cooking up German comfort food and serving up suds teaching those of us unfamiliar with the German language how to express our satisfaction.
"I just finished eating and I just thought this food was excellent. This food was great. What would I say?" I asked André. "Das war sehr lecker," he said. "Das war sehr lecker? Uh huh. Ok!"
With 5,000+ instagram followers already and visits from neighbors and well wishers all before the doors even open, the Linkes are feeling a whole lot of love.
"Tucson feels like a small town even if it's not a small town. I've met so many people and it seems like everybody knows everybody,"
Check out Biergarten German Kitchen online here
Biergarten Tucson
2320 N Silverbell Rd.
Tucson, AZ
85745
(520) 351- 0500
——
Dan Spindle co-anchors Good Morning Tucson on KGUN 9 and is an award-winning storyteller whose work has earned him honors from the Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmys, the Associated Press and the Utah Society of Professional Journalists for both anchoring and reporting. Dan is passionate about history and loves to explore the Grand Canyon State. Share your story ideas with Dan by emailing dan.spindle@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or X.
