Staff meals at Deux Cheminées seethe with undeniable Germanic undercurrents. Even Blank’s seafood rendition of Philadelphia pepperpot—with turtle, shrimp, oysters and pumpkin—succumbs to spätzle, small dumplings scraped into the simmering pot. Blank’s love of soups and einlagen—their accompaniments of noodles, dumplings, Reibele (grated dough) and meaty, ravioli-like Maultaschen—is stoked by some twelve dozen German and Austrian cookbooks.

The Neuestes Kochbuch’s battery of homey soups—crab, chocolate, beer, liver, cherry, snail and wine soups—calls for broad bowls, big spoons and courageous appetites.