A classic combination at Cafe Mozart

DC's thriving food scene has produced some pretty sexy restaurants of late. Wolfgang Puck is serving up his signature upscale cuisine at his newest outpost, The Source, at downtown's Newseum. Eric Ripert, of Le Bernardin renown, has DC's scenesters flocking to the West End, for haute bistro fare at his aptly named Westend Bistro, while Michel Richard dishes up luscious $29 lobster burgers at Central. And you can't talk about DC's restaurant scene without mentioning Jose Andres, the man who brought such sleek venues as Cafe Atlantico, the minibar, Oyamel, and Zaytinya to our fair city, delighting the palates and emptying the wallets of Washingtonians eager to dine at restaurants as sophisticated as any you'll find in the traditionally great restaurant cities of NYC or San Francisco.

Indeed, as anyone who's been to Penn Quarter lately will attest to, DC now boasts an almost dizzying array of these chic joints. And don't get me wrong - I wouldn't turn down a reservation at the minibar if I were Wylie Dufresne himself.

However.

Sometimes a girl just wants some sauerkraut.

And a beer.

That's where the oft-overlooked Old World charms of Cafe Mozart come in. It doesn't look like much from the outside of its H Street location, its lit-up deli storefront the lone bit of life in this gray and blandly landscaped part of DC's office district. Hidden behind its modest exterior, however, lies the type of humble gem that reminds me why I write about food in the first place.

Cafe Mozart is actually a deli, lounge, and restaurant all in one. Upon entering, you are greeted with a konditorei-like area, where you can peruse the large variety of German snacks, confections, and groceries, or have a seat to sip some coffee or have a snack from the deli. Walking further into the establishment, however, the neon lights of the deli give way to a dimly lit lounge area, paneled in dark wood, which, in turn, leads to the actual restaurant itself, a quaintly-decorated dining room, whose formality is tempered by its cozy size and the soft strains of live classical piano music.

Jason and I both ordered the sausage sampler, a plate brimming with bite-size samples of about five different kinds of sausage, accompanied by wonderfully briny sauerkraut, red cabbage, and German potato salad (which was flecked with bits of bacon). My favorite of the sausages was actually mild and slightly garlicky, which, judging from the descriptions on the menu, was probably the Smoked Chicken Apple sausage. There was also a nice, hearty bratwurst somewhere in there, along with what appeared to be the Polish Kielbassy. In addition to a mouth-watering variety of sausages, Cafe Mozart's dinner menu also offers lots of other traditional German entrees, including six different kinds of schnitzel.

On the beverage front, beer was the obvious choice, alhough I can't recall what kinds we ordered. Mine was a Pilsen-something, and tasted a lot like Heineken. In taking our beverage order, our waitress asked if we would like a "small, half-liter, full-liter, or (and I am not making this up) a keg with a straw." Being reasonable human beings, we went with the half-liters, but I'm pretty curious to see what happens should you choose the last option.

I was definitely tempted to order the Black Forest Cake for dessert (Chocolate cake, with a Kirshwasser flavored filling of whipped cream and Morello cherries), but, alas, I was too full to justify it. We ended up ordering some schnapps instead though, peppermint for Jason and apple for me.

Happily buzzed and talking only half-jokingly about planning a trip to Germany for Oktoberfest, we ventured back out into the chilly January night. Walking down 14th Street, I realized we were nearing the stylish Butterfield 9, whose glittery decor and upscale modern American cuisine I've been wanting to experience since it opened to critical acclaim a couple years ago. I usually lust after it each time I walk by.

I don't know what it was, but this time, I found myself pining just a little bit less.

Good to know:
Cafe Mozart is located at 1331 H Street, NW, about equidistant from the McPherson Square Metro stop on the Blue or Orange line, or the Metro Center stop on the Red, Orange, or Blue line. Atmosphere is pretty casual. For those with cars, please designate a driver if you order the keg with a straw.

Photo of sausage platter (or wurstplatte) by Flickr user Bopuc. (It's not a photo of Cafe Mozart's sausage platter though, which I couldn't find online.)