When the weather starts to cool, but I am always reminded of the old Alpine Village Inn and the Rathskeller in Las Vegas, (Closed in 1997).  This was my favorite place to get a hot bowl of chicken soup, cold beer in a goblet and seasoned cottage cheese to go with a small loaf of bread.

The long gone Alpine Village Inn was located at 3003 Paradise Road, across the street from the Las Vegas Hilton. This famous place began serving German food in a downtown location in 1950, then moved four times before settling into its final location on Paradise, in 1970.

The main 250-seat dining room was looked like of a Bavarian village, with wrought-iron grill-work, sloping roofs, the male staff workers all wore lederhosen and the waitresses wore long skirts like the ones on a St. Pauli Girl beer bottle. The atmosphere was always festive.. The underground Rathskeller, my favorite, was a bar and sandwich shop under the main restaurant, with peanuts on the floor. Guest were encouraged to sing along with the piano player where you would attempt to learn German by singing the Schnitzelbank song, the board pictured below is owned by Las Vegas’ own Lonnie Hammargren.

The chalet-style peaked-roof architecture, along with big-game trophies, Swiss clocks, decorative horns and copper bells, and an extensive miniature train set all made Alpine Village a Las Vegas landmark for 27 years. The Alpine Village Inn closed its doors in March 1997.

One of the most memorable items of the Alpine Village Inn was their famous chicken soup and the seasoned cottage cheese. The soup was always served piping hot in heavy pewter bowls and the cottage cheese were served with mini loafs of pumpernickel bread.

Here is the Chicken Soup and the Seasoned Cottage Cheese Recipes:

This recipe was featured in the Las Vegas Review Journal after the restaurant closed.

UPDATE 12/11/2013: During the winter months, Charlie’s Down Under Bar on West Lake Mead and Buffalo in Summerlin, cooks up a batch of Alpine Soup every Thursday, call ahead a see if they have some. (702) 804-5172

CHICKEN SUPREME SOUP

2 quarts water
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 teaspoons Accent
1 pound ground chicken (cooked)
1 medium onion, ground
Yellow food coloring (optional)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon
2 to 3 carrots (ground)

Roux:
1/2 cup oil
1 cup flour

Cook
Boiling the soup ingredients for 30 minutes.

 Cool
Removed the pot from the heat and allowed to cool slightly.

Blend
Ladled the mixture into a blender, about 2 to 3 cups at a time, and blended until almost smooth. Be careful during this process, hot soup in a blender can shoot everywhere even with a lid on. The blender process gives the soup a creamier texture as was served at  the Alpine Village Inn.

Thicken
To prepare the roux, heat oil add flour slowly and stir with a wire whisk. It should be the consistency of mashed potatoes. Don’t burn the roux.

Poured the blended mixture back into a large pot and add the cooked roux and continued to cook until the soup thickened.

Note: when adding the roux to the soup, use small amounts as the roux is a thickener and watch the consistency (you may not need it all- try not to over thicken) you want it to look like a thick gravy.

SEASONED COTTAGE CHEESE

2 pounds cottage cheese, small curd
1/2 teaspoon caraway
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon Accent
1/2 teaspoons white pepper
1 tablespoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon celery salt

Mix all ingredients together and chill for several hours or overnight. Serve as a condiment or as a dip.

Enjoy

Tags: Alpine Village