Schanz Restaurant received a 3 Michelin star rating in 2022.  Chef Thomas Schanz opened his restaurant next to the hotel owned by his parents in 2011.  He received his first star in one year and the second in 2015.  Chef Schanz previously worked in other 3-star restaurants before opening his place in this small town.  Piesport was a picturesque little town in the Mosel area, where his parents have been winemakers for years.    It is an ideal setup to have the attached hotel where you can walk inside to the restaurant and stay in a modern, comfortable room.  His father checked us in and his mother greeted guests at the restaurant – a real family operation.  Breakfast was included with the room.    The French-inspired menu is available in a 4 – 6 course tastings or a la carte.  The small room was well lit with faint music in the background.  A variety of tables filled the room, some with booth seating, which had one wall made up of windows to the outside.  At one point they offered outdoor seating but humidity had brought everyone inside.  The well-spaced tables were on a dark wood floor with minimal art and decorations.  It was very comfortable and I highly recommend it as a place to try and visit.  Chef Schanz was in the kitchen but came out toward the end of service to meet his guests as they departed.  The entire meal was 4.5 – 5 hours, so get a room if you can.

Set-Up

 

Food

The meal started with some ‘gifts from the kitchen’.   Raw tuna was stuffed with trout caviar.  Inside the raw fish was a crisp shell that held cream mixed with the trout eggs.  It was lovely.  In the middle was an egg yolk on top of a wrapped hollow cracker.  The yolk was nicely creamy and there were salty and smokey flavors added from other ingredients.  This was just one large bite but so good.  On the right was French toast with tartar.  The toast was soft in the center and it had a smokyness overall.  All of these had lingering fine flavors in the mouth.

 

Next they brought a selection of breads with grapeseed oil, tomato butter and salted butter.  The breads included pretzel rolls, baguettes, Scottish white bread, crackers and a nut bread.  All were good but the crackers were especially to my taste.  The butters and oil were fun to play with.

 

A creamy egg dish was the next gift.  It was topped with a sliced truffle and inside were lots of mushroom and truffle pieces giving the creamy foam filling a marvelous flavor.  It was light and really tasty.

 

Last before the menu started was a ‘soft minestrone.’  A foam dome was dotted with raw green olive slices, stuffed with veal tartare then topped with lemon sorbet.  This was a good blend of flavors, being both salty, tart and sweet with some fun temperature variations.  Overall it was quite nice.

 

Rosace of foie gras with sheep’s cheese, caramelized beechnuts and pepper ice cream started the tasting menu.  The goose liver foie gras slices were on a thin crisp and topped with a glaze.  They were served with a brioche on the side.  The pepper ice cream really did have quite the flavor of pepper and was outstanding when mixed with the liver.  This course had yummy textures.  The brioche was nice but I really just liked eating the slices with a bit of the ice cream.

 

Poached red mullet from the Vendée was topped with “Kaviara Kristal” caviar on banana slices alongside some asparagus tips in a cardamom-Riesling broth.  The perfectly cooked firm fish was delightful with the strongly flavored sauce.  Add in the brine of the caviar and the sweetness of the banana and you have an inspired melding of flavors.  A great combination.

 

Atlantic Merluza “Caribbean-inspired” was on sea spinach, topped with mint, dried papaya and roasted rice all in light broth dotted with lemon leaf oil.  Another perfectly cooked piece of fish was fun with the crunchy toppings and delicious spinach.  This one was filled with flavor too.

 

Grilled Portuguese carabinero was with raw celery and melted beef marrow in a “bergamot sauce” dotted with mint oil.  The Portuguese ‘shrimp’ was in an edible cage made from its shells.  A couple of slices of marrow were on top adding even more richness to the dish.  This great one had a wonderful freshness to the flavor.

 

Label Rouge Pigeon breast, ragout and offal croustillant on pickled pumpkin with Vineyard field salad and rooibosjus (made with red bush tea).  Some pumpkin purée made up one side of the plate and 2 thin slices of raw pumpkin helped make the frame for the rare tender bird.  The liver was in the small fried package and was also quite good.

 

A liaison of kiwi, Pattaya mango and parsley made up the first dessert.  The sculpted rectangle was filled with kiwi flavor and sweet, but not overly so.  Lots of textures went into this dessert which made it a fun finish.

 

The next dessert was banana ice cream with radicchio, pineapple and cashews.  It had a cracker of something on the bottom that gave texture to the creamy top.  This one was refreshing.

 

Final treats were several in number.  In the spoon was a bonbon flavored with Grand Marnier and on the top was a French white nougat with hazelnut and pistachios.  At the top of the round plate was peach and pineapple.  Moving clockwise was an espresso “capsule” filled with chocolate coffee, Grandma’s cheesecake, salted caramel with peanut butter and eggnog.  Favorites were the caramel and peanut butter and the chocolate coffee, but all were very good and many had a liquid center, so one bite, but all well flavored.