Coming to the Schmidt Rathskeller: A wintertime Renaissance feast

Jared Kaufman, Pioneer Press
Updated ·3 min read

Walking into the historic Schmidt Brewing Rathskeller space — with German beer hall decor and floor-to-ceiling barrels and cavernous granite walls — feels like stepping back in time.

For Travis Wycislak and Adam Prince, who co-own Rok Eatery upstairs, the Rathskeller gives off Renaissance Festival vibes.

So they’re leaning into it with the Hall of Feasts, a full evening of dinner and entertainment starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25. Prince, the chef at Rok, is cooking, and Wycislak recruited sponsors like Mancini’s, Clutch Brew Co., Wabasha Brewing Co., and Bumbling Fools Mead. Wycislak encourages guests to wear costumes to embrace the Renaissance spirit, too.

Tickets are sold online and run $180 a seat — already lowered from the original $240 — and Wycislak said he’d take an extra 10% off the top if you use the code “feast10.”

On the menu: braised lamb, pork shanks, sausage, a ‘peasant-style’ leek soup, and plenty of pickled vegetables, breads, cheeses and pies. Prince said he connects with this “rustic side of cooking,” especially in terms of working with local purveyors such as Peterson Craftsman Meats.

And even if you don’t have your own old-timey drinking horn, plenty of beverages will be on offer. Mancini’s, which owns the Rathskeller space, will be in charge of the bar, and local Bumbling Fools mead will also be available. (A note from me to you: If you haven’t tried Bumbling Fools’ honey wines, fix that, stat. Even their semi-sweet mead is not cloying; it has the complex structure of a good fino sherry atop honey-floral undertones.)

Onstage and weaving throughout tables, various Renaissance-themed entertainers will also help boost the feast-like spirit, Wycislak said.

Four separate belly-dancing troupes will perform, he said, along with jugglers, an “etheric witch singer,” and bands including Sycamore Gap, whose members play period-specific instruments. Vendors will sell leatherware, chain mail art, and local mead. Many of the evening’s entertainers, like royal characters Lord and Lady Spicer, are likely familiar to regular attendees of the largest-in-the-nation Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Wycislak said.

And they hope the dinner will be a more communal experience, too. To make it feel like a feast, Wycislak and Prince plan to serve dishes family-style, with a theatrical flair. Maybe, for example, they’ll drop off a pig’s head or full pork shank and knives at a table and let guests go at it.

“There’s a lost intimacy that you don’t get as much anywhere, where you get the camaraderie of having a meal with everyone,” Wycislak said. “You can ask them to pass. You can ask them to function with you, and make this a more beautiful evening together. It’s a way to rekindle that in a new light that’s also a homage to the way things used to be.”

A collective spirit also animates Prince’s goals with his regular dinner service upstairs at Rok.

“We like the more communal interactions within service,” Prince said. “Instead of your table linens behind your back, we’re like, ‘We’re going to give the whole restaurant a round of shots,’ and make them stand up and be more of a community when it comes to eating.”

If you go:

What: Hall of Feasts, a Renaissance-themed dinner with music, dancing, and other entertainment

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25

Where: The Schmidt Rathskeller; 882 W. 7th St.

How much: $180 per person; tickets are available online at rokeatery.com

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