An old marketing and success slogan for restaurants is: Location! Location! Location! But of course, as is so often the case with consultants, this is not true. I know some really bad places in the very best locations - and there is Schmidt's in Hellerau, which is anything but central. However, it has been a reliably good restaurant there since 2002, which is just as reliably very well attended most of the time (quality does prevail!).
Three people manage the service that evening, and they have quite a lot to do when the place is fully booked. But: it went without a hitch, thanks in part to the principle of dividing the service into food (Eva and Vivien) and beverage (Roman, as always a competent person to talk to) - and the fact that the word "principle" was respected, because if necessary, things could be done differently! This team served the four courses briskly and without haste, preceded by the traditional bread trio - this time with popcorn that had seen goose fat to match the menu theme "Surf & Bird". Apart from that, however, the goose season is over, the bird of the evening was the duck, the surf part in each course a different one.
The wines came - true to the Schmidt's motto: as regional as possible - mainly from Saxon winegrowers, only for the red with the main course a Planeta from Sicily flew in. It couldn't have been the price, because the "Santa Cecilia" Nero d'Avola in organic quality is not a bargain either (which you can definitely taste). I was fine with it, you don't have to be too dogmatic about an evening of indulgence - and the island wine did quite well in the company of the wines from Aust, the Drei Herren and Schloss Proschwitz 😉
The essence of the duck was fabulously strong and not as salty as you sometimes get - so the balance of reducing and not overdoing it worked. The char from the Langburkersdorf ponds was Asian in style, with small balls of yellow and beet reflecting the local flavors well. Where the chefs at Schmidt's source most of their produce can be found on a page of the menu as well as on the Internet - regionality in practice is also characterized by transparency (and, of course, the conviction that such solidarity is good for everyone). And I was at Ermischs some time ago for an article about trout and salmon farming... The Aust Riesling from the Goldener Wagen was semi-dry, which no longer puts people off (thanks to whomever!), because sometimes it's just right - especially when a little acidity helps to give the wine the necessary freshness.
Smoked eel is now one of those delicacies that is becoming priceless. 100 per kilo and more is now not uncommon - the author, who enjoyed whole eel on brown bread in his youth, is amazed at this and is no longer surprised at the minimalism of its use in gastronomy. However, eel is always full of flavor, so that it was able to assert itself in the form of a croustillant of confit duck leg. The kitchen had opted for a filigree tower construction for the visual appearance, but it survived the transportation without any damage - and the fact that the sesame butter was a decisive icing on the cake in terms of taste should also be mentioned quickly. The Pinot Gris (a 2021 vintage, i.e. still made by the cellar master at the time, Jacob Öhler) had tangibly seen wood - and thus had the strength needed as a wine to stand up to such a course. And to drink after the course, it didn't get lost somewhere...
"Finally!", I had already thought to myself beforehand when reading the menu, "finally someone is doing it in such a way that it's very likely to be good." The breast of the happy duckling was cooked backwards - with the announcement. So not with its back to the stove (har har), but gently pre-cooked first and seared at the end to give the pink interior a roasted aromatic crust. As hoped, the result was tender, tender, aromatic meat with juice (inside) and strength (outside). And because nothing overcooks with this method, it stayed that way from the first to the last bite. Whether the ducklings were really happy or whether it was just us, I am of course not in a position to judge. But there was no doubt that this course, including a fabulously slightly bitter-tasting radicchio and Saxon (!) truffle on the celeriac cream, made them happy. Although, it's fair to admit, the wine mentioned at the beginning also played its part in this blissful feeling...
To make sure it didn't wear off, the final course was topped up on all levels. Chocolate and sea buckthorn, cornelian cherry ice cream, the always surprisingly fine red wine liqueur Portos from Schloss Proschwitz: you go home (line 8, with so much wine!) pleasantly satiated and have time to sort through the many impressions again and also to remember the letter from cooking legend Eckart Witzigmann displayed in the checkroom area next to the certificates. In it, he thanks - old school: handwritten! - to Olaf Kranz for his contribution to a special evening (I was there, it's written here) on the occasion of the founding of the German Archive for Culinary Arts (uvs in falstaff). Not everyone has a document like that...
Menu
- Essence of duck
Dimsum of Langburkersdorf char | miso | cress | beetroot - Croustillant of confit duck leg and eel
Topinambur | blood orange | sesame butter - Breast of happy duckling - cooked backwards -
Crab jus | radicchio | Saxon truffle | fermented fig | roasted celeriac cream - Chocolate & Sea buckthorn
Cornelian cherry ice cream | tonka bean | malt crunch
Wine pairing
- 2023 Riesling "Goldener Wagen" Weingut Karl Friedrich Aust, Radebeul
- 2021 Pinot Gris Barrique Weingut Drei Herren, Saxony
- 2021 Santa Cecilia Planeta BIO, Sicily
- Portos red wine liqueur Schloss Proschwitz, Saxony
Info
- Menu 74 € | incl. wine accompaniment 106 €
- . Wine accompaniment 106 €
- without essence 66 € | without intermediate course 61 €
Schmidt's Restaurant
Moritzburger Weg 67
01109 Dresden
Tel. +49 0351 / 8044883
schmidts-dresden.de
[Visited on February 25, 2026]
