Veronika

I hope you haven’t been holding your breath for TOO long, dear bloggy friends, since I left you yesterday with that little teaser. I would hate to see your faces turn blue, after all.

But without further ado, here’s the story behind the photo.

A couple nights ago, Joe and I went out with Helly and Allan, some friends from church. We tossed around a few restaurant ideas, and then Joe suggested we try out this place Helly had recently blogged about, since it sounded like good food, AND it would count for one of my 101 items, which is to try ten new restaurants in the area.

It’s a German place (hence the lederhosen!) called Brummis, and it’s run by a delightful woman named Veronika, along with her husband and her daughter.

Helly already wrote all about the great food at Brummis, so I will just point you over there to read all about it. The food is tasty! It’s simple, it’s authentic, and it’s incredibly filling.

But what I want to tell you about is the person wearing the lederhosen. Here’s the full version of the teaser photo, which depicts Veronika, our lovely server and the owner of the restaurant.

I don’t know if you can tell, but this woman is absolutely brimming with cheerfulness! We walked in around 8:15 PM, and Veronika came right up to us and greeted Allan and Helly by name, hugging them both, then turned to introduce herself to Joe and me.

Throughout our dinner, Veronika came by our table to tell us stories about the restaurant, people who’d come in and raved about her food, and how her daughter has to drive to Orange County every week to get some of their authentic German meats. She showed us pictures of herself and her husband and daughter, and she offered advice on which foods we should try.

(Oh, and when she took this photo, she told us (in so many words) that our smiles looked lame and ordered us all to say, “Bockwurrrrrst!” We did, and look how great the picture came out!)

Beyond being just a wonderful hostess and server, Veronika was taking the time to get personal with us, and she didn’t hold back at all. She shared about how Christmas is difficult for her because her parents died around that time, and how she was moved to tears when everyone in the restaurant sang Silent Night to her (“in some English, and some German”). I was really struck by her gentle spirit and her openness to share with a bunch of strangers.

On Veronika’s order, we stayed well past closing time so that we could enjoy our dinner at a leisurely pace. And after she brought us dessert (yum!), she hollered to us from the register, “I love this song!” and then turned up the radio, which had been playing a mix of German and American tunes all night.

When she turned it up, we heard Creedence Clearwater Revival performing, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” And I, having grown up listening to the Oldies station, started singing along when the chorus came. Veronika’s face lit up, and she came running over to our table and sang with me. Eventually all of us were singing.

I’m not sure why that felt so special to me, but it did. And you can bet that Joe and I will be eating at Brummis again.

Maybe next time we’ll sing a little Chicago!

(Oh, PS: My mom thought the photo was of someone wearing chaps or something, because she asked if we went line dancing. Ironically, we DID go out to a country bar after dinner at Brummis! But we didn’t dance because the place was insanely crowded. Still, it was a fantastic night out with our friends!)