Maison Kammerzell
Maison Kammerzell is the most elaborately carved Renaissance building in Strasbourg — a five-storey timber confection of biblical figures, zodiac signs and merchant portraits built in 1427 and expanded in 1589. The restaurant inside has been feeding travellers since 1873, and the choucroute garnie here is the benchmark version in the city.
The building as much as the food
The ground floor is stone; the three upper floors are progressively more ornate half-timbering, each storey jutting slightly further over the cathedral square than the one below. The carved figures on the second-floor bay windows include portraits of the original merchant owner — look for the man with the fur collar.
Inside, the painted wooden ceilings and stained-glass windows by artist Léo Schnug (installed 1905) make every table feel like a private dining room in a fairy tale. Request a window table on the upper floor for a direct view of the cathedral's south portal.
What to order
The choucroute garnie à l'alsacienne — slow-braised sauerkraut mounded with smoked pork belly, Strasbourg sausage, Montbéliard sausage, black pudding and a boiled potato — is the dish that defines Alsatian cooking. Kammerzell's version is cooked in Riesling and rendered pork fat, not water, which makes all the difference.
Follow it with a tarte aux mirabelles (golden plum tart) in late summer, or a kougelhopf glacé (iced Alsatian brioche cake) year-round. The wine list leans heavily and correctly on Alsatian Riesling and Gewurztraminer; ask the sommelier for a glass from a small domaine in the Bas-Rhin.
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