Weinhaus Messerschmitt

Weinhaus Messerschmitt is the serious wine restaurant of Bamberg's old town. It occupies a 1728 burgher house — the birthplace, incidentally, of Wilhelm Messerschmitt, the aviation engineer — whose vaulted stone cellar, carved wooden ceilings and gilt-framed oil portraits of dead wine merchants remain almost untouched.

The kitchen is modern Franconian: Aischgrunder carp in Silvaner cream with wild herbs, roasted Spessart venison with juniper jus and a potato-celeriac gratin, a six-course tasting menu that changes with the season and sits comfortably at €85. The wine list runs to 400 Franconian references — the deepest Silvaner and Bacchus selection in the city — plus a respectable Austria, Burgundy and Alto Adige programme for out-of-region diners.

The service is older-European: white linen, silver cutlery, a head sommelier who has worked the room for twenty-two years and will ask which direction you want to take your evening before reaching for the list. Dress is smart; jackets are normal but not required. It is Bamberg's quietest business-dinner room.

To Close a Deal: Weinhaus Messerschmitt's vaulted cellar tables, 300-year-old wood panelling, and formidable Franconian Silvaner programme give the evening gravitas that modern restaurants cannot manufacture. The head sommelier pairs quietly, the kitchen moves at negotiating speed, and the bill — under €150 a head even with wine — reads as discreet rather than lavish.