[mc32]

Funny you mention much of the good Italian provisions go to Spain and on the other hand Spain is sending much if its Jambon Iberico to China, pricing out some of the locals who cannot now afford the high prices.

Speaking of East German food, how have you found Walzwerk's [in SF] fare to be, IIRC, they are/were East German.

[Karnickel]

One of the Walzwerk founders (Christiane Schmidt [2]) is from Saalfeld, a town very close to where I grew up. I've been to the restaurant a few times, usually with American coworkers, once with a friend from Saalfeld, so there was a lot of talk with Christiane that evening, and we went out with them after they had closed the restaurant. That was well over ten years ago though, almost fifteen, so I can't speak for the food they serve today. Back then it was quite authentic apart from the Thuringian sausages ("bratwurst thüringer art" on the menu [3]). They still were good, but you won't get Thuringian sausages outside Thuringia, impossible, even if many are labeled "Thuringian". No idea why, the recipe can't be that much of a secret or too difficult. Anyway, the Walzwerk that I knew (until 2004) has my recommendation, since it's under the same ownership it probably still is a good destination :-)

I guess you know that, but just to add a few links for others, the name "Walzwerk" (translation: "rolling mill") refers to an East German steel factory [0] (very very dirty and run-down at the time of the reunification) about 15 miles from where I used to live. Today it looks a lot different [1] (like everything around that area - from lots of ashes, even ash mountains, and gray, to clean rivers and everything is orders of magnitude nicer).

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyxg9JUSkDE (German video)

[1] http://www.stahlwerk-thueringen.de/

[2] 2011: Article in the local Thuringian newspaper about the Walzwerk (German): http://www.otz.de/web/zgt/leben/detail/-/specific/In-einer-S...

[3] http://www.walzwerk.com/menu/