Manzanita feels more like a desert mirage than a real restaurant. If someone told you there was a fine dining restaurant in Cornville that’s been serving traditional German food since 1991, you’d probably never believe it. But thankfully for Northern Arizona diners, Manzanita is a real desert oasis. Swiss-born Chef Albert Kramer opened Manzanita as a German restaurant in 1991. After 15 years in the kitchen, Albert sold the restaurant to current owners Randy and Susan Hale back in 2006. Albert trained Randy, who works as the restaurant’s chef and traveled throughout Europe to improve his cooking skills.
The restaurant features many hallmarks of fine dining: table cloths and a real candle and a fresh bread basket on every table. Soft music pipes in over the speakers. Customers can look forward to a mix of European and seafood dishes. We started our meal from a plush corner leather booth with one of the most popular appetizers − crab cakes. These featured a crispy-on-the-outside crust that gave way to tender, flaky crab. The dish was accompanied by crunchy (and addictive) beet chips and served with a remoulade sauce. Next up was pumpkin soup − another menu highlight. Our server accurately described this dish as “pumpkin pie in a bowl.”
For our main course, we opted for a traditional German dish: Schweinshaxe or a ham hock. The meat on this braised pork shank melted right off the bone and was served in savory juices, ideal for dipping. Sides included spaetzle − miniature German egg noodle dumplings − and perfectly seasoned red cabbage. The night ended with a picture-perfect house-made Swiss chocolate mousse topped with fresh whipped cream and a sprig of mint. The dessert − like the entire meal − was rich and refreshingly authentic. – A Sedona Foodie
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