Daniel Gabor’s Alpine Bar and Grill tempts with Teutonic comfort

Credit: Matt Keller Lehman

When modern German restaurant Schmankerl Stub’n closed for good after being open less than a year, chef-owner Daniel Gabor vowed to return “anywhere but downtown Orlando” and in a “better established area for restaurants, foot traffic and parking.” That place? Ocoee.

It’s not exactly known for its walkability score, but it’s certainly a departure from downtown’s party atmosphere and occasional gunfire. Which is somewhat ironic, given Gabor’s redo is modeled after an Alpine hunting lodge, or jagdschloss, presumably one in the German Alps. What struck me was the spartan decor. I mean, if you’re billing your restaurant as an Alpine hunting lodge, go full Alpine hunting lodge. Apart from the handful of antlers on a bare green wall and the vintage spider chandeliers hanging from the drop ceiling, the main dining room — once home to Bella Tuscany and RusTeak — seems very much a work in progress.

The menu, on the other hand, is a finished product. Gabor, a native of Upper Bavaria schooled at the Culinary Institute of America, serves what he calls “fresh takes on the Alpine region’s comfort food.” Many are grounded in the German dishes people loved at Schmankerl, but there’s a dry-ager near the entrance containing steaks and duck. Long day of hunting and pecking at the keyboard? Why, dig into a 12-ounce, three-week-dry-aged ribeye ($75) with a side of beef-fat chimichurri. Or perhaps a charcuterie board ($18) with luscious cuts of spice-cured, dry-aged duck prosciutto, rounds of chorizo, air-dried lonzo and paper-thin filetto. Gabor does it all in his scratch kitchen, right down to the addictive horseradish dip served with that board.

Alpine comfort, however, comes in other forms — in the Gruyère fondue for two ($36), served with potato sourdough made with trimmings from hash browns (a brunch item) and potato peels, and in the onion soup ($10) flavored with Irish whiskey and cognac and cheesed with Gruyère and cheddar. The paper napkins set inside a stein with cutlery at our table were no match for the dribble on my chin, yet I noticed cloth napkins sitting on empty tables with no mouths to wipe. Our server obliged when I asked for a sturdier serviette, but I thought it odd that every table didn’t have them.

Another thing every table should have, in addition to a refreshing Bitburger Pils or a crafted cocktail from the bar, is an earnestly presented plate of smoked and spiced Gruyère sausage ($20), which Gabor makes in house. The snap of the porky tube is matched only by the crackle of a potato pancake and pop of sauerkraut. It’s the kind of dish a strapping Teuton would eat after chasing down a sure-footed chamois on a rocky slope. Not as substantial, yet equally gratifying, is the wiener schnitzel ($31) served with a side of butter spätzle. Of note is the expert soufflieren — that puff in the crust that separates a proper schnitzel from a subpar shit-zel. Gabor dredges the veal cutlets in flour, egg, cream and breadcrumbs before its swirl in hot shortening.

There ought to be a German term for the intense enjoyment one gets from eating Black Forest cake ($12) — gaumenfreude, suggests Google — because that’s precisely what I felt after gorging on the chocolatey slab wondrously executed by pastry chef Samantha Bosen. If there’s a better BFC being served in the city, do let me know. A warm apple strudel ($10), crisped on top and set in a pool of crème anglaise, also made a worthy ender. Our only knock was that heavy saucing — it made the bottom of the strudel soggy. No biggie. Besides, here at Daniel Gabor’s Alpine Bar & Grill, I wasn’t going to make a mountain out of a molehill.

(Daniel Gabor’s Alpine Bar & Grill, 1568 Maguire Road, Ocoee, 407-347-3020, alpinebarandgrill.com, $$$$)