You’re one of its dedicated regularsEven though the brand is well known, the grocery store is a hidden gem, the on-site lunch counter serving cabbage rolls, spaetzle and schnitzel is more than just a place to get a hot meal after grocery shopping—it’s a reflection of the brand’s deep roots. Brandt has been in business since 1958, and this location has been open since 1976, when Ida Brandt—the company’s 86-year-old president—took over for her husband, Gerhard, after he passed away.
There’s hunter-style schnitzel with a rich mushroom gravy and pasta dotted with lightly pickled gems of teardrop peppers. Or schnitzel with a German potato salad dressed with vinegar and bacon fat. “We never use mayonnaise in potato salad,” says Melissa Brandt Welzel, Ida’s granddaughter and the brand’s sales and marketing manager. Melissa’s mother, Brigitte, is the company VP; her brother Richard, meanwhile, runs the production plant across the street.
The store’s shelves brim with products that are often hard to find outside a dedicated European grocer. The mustard and pickle sections alone are worth the trip—think preserved sour cherries, every variety of pickled cucumber imaginable and a myriad of mustards, from smooth and delicate to grainy and horseradish-spiked. There’s Dutch cookie butter as well as Milka chocolate bars and Turkish delights galore.
We can hope the utensils that handle the bacon, pork sausage and pork schnitzel never touch my food. 🙏 HARAM