Cafe Heidelberg

This would fall under the category of evidence that's purely anecdotal -- maybe even intuitive -- but it may be that our economy is beginning to rebound, if only just a little. The clue: It's been a while since I've seen an empty restaurant even on a weeknight.

If indeed a rebound is happening, it's presenting its own set of problems, foremost of which is that after months of staffing for empty dining rooms, restaurant owners and managers who are finding their businesses somewhat busier -- if only occasionally, so far -- are being caught flat-footed on the service end. In a few recent experiences, restaurants were considerably busy but also considerably understaffed. Such was the case at Cafe Heidelberg in the middle of a recent week, when nearly all of the tables were filled, and served by one very busy woman who moved from table to table almost at a runner's pace but managed to keep both her cool and her tables straight.

We figured out the situation early on and she -- being clearly a wise and seasoned professional -- offered us drinks to tide us over, so we settled in over glasses of wine and relaxed, resigned to a long wait. The kitchen didn't seem to be as short-staffed as the dining room, and once we ordered our food, the pace picked up considerably. And it was the real deal -- particularly important if German fare is soul food to you, as it is to me.

In keeping with tradition, Cafe Heidelberg's menu is short on appetizers, so we chose both the Bavarian potato soup ($6, or $4 with an entree) and the soup of the day, which was a creamy curried spinach (ditto). Both were excellent, the latter filed with delicate spinach leaves and mellowed by the hints of curry, the former a fairly conventional potato soup. One thing that surprised us about the potato soup was that it was curiously short on salt -- something we rarely (which you could pretty much translate to never) encounter in restaurants. And I'm sure not complaining about that; we can always add salt, but taking it out isn't much of an option.

Leberkäse ($23) is one of those dishes that's best if it's the kind of thing you grew up with and maybe an acquired taste if it's not -- which I guess should be expected, considering that the literal translation is "liver cheese." A traditional dish in Austria, Bavaria and environs, it's sort of a pate or terrine or maybe a very finely ground meatloaf, whose principal ingredient is ... well, meat (although maybe we should remember the axiom about not examining too closely the making of sausage or laws). Sometimes that's beef and bacon, which means those versions contain neither liver nor cheese -- Got it? -- although pork liver and veal are used in this one.

At any rate: The best way to eat leberkäse is sliced off the loaf, browned lightly and topped with a fried egg or two, which is the way it's served at Cafe Heidelberg. This was a most generous serving of two large slabs of meat, the edges delicately browned, the eggs sunny side up, and on the side a nicely acerbic German-style potato salad and an out-and-out vinegary (which is a good thing) cucumber salad, both of which did much to offset all that richness.

The Schnitzel combo ($27) is for those who can't make up their minds between Wienerschnitzel and Jägerschnitzel. The Wienerschnitzel part is clearly labeled as pork -- which is how they've been serving it for decades in Austria and Bavaria, my friends -- instead of the traditional veal, though a veal version is also available here. The Other White Meat is pounded thinly, coated in breadcrumbs and sauteed in butter -- yum -- the Jägerschnitzel similar but topped with a forest full of mushrooms and a light gravylike sauce. Red cabbage in which the sweet-and-sour yin and yang were perfectly balanced was served on the side, as well as a pile of delicate späztle, which are tiny dumplings.

And here was the one clinker of the evening (well, besides the short staff): The menu notes that bread and butter is available on request, and during our long wait that seemed like a good idea. The marble rye we were served was slightly chilled, but it was a really good marble rye, and neither the request-only policy or even the slight chilling was a problem for us. What was a problem was the Country Crock served with it. Somewhere, a Bavarian grandmother is weeping (although with a wonderfully rich accent).

Since the demise of the Swiss Cafe and with the exception of the mammoth (and sort of loud, usually) tourism-corridor Hofbräuhaus Las Vegas, Cafe Heidelberg is the only game in town when it comes to German food. The staffing situation was a negative, but it clearly felt like a product not of arrogance but uncertainty.

This blasted recession is manifesting itself in any number of ways.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@reviewjournal.com.