Sometime last winter, Klaus Riedelsheimer started quietly infiltrating Louisville menus. You might see his name on the occasional menu; at Holy Grale, for instance, the house-made beer cheese was being served with “Klaus’ Freshly baked pretzel bread loaf.”
Even where Riedelsheimer’s name wasn’t prominently mentioned, his bread was becoming a feature. You’d find it at places like Baxter Station (where it’s served as the preferred dipping implement with an order of mussels), or Hammerheads, where any sandwich can be had on his pretzel rolls for a small upcharge.
These days, his pretzel hoagie serves as the platform for the estimable Philly cheesesteak at New Albany Exchange as well as for the sliders at Equus & Jack’s Lounge — not to mention the outstanding Equus Hot Brown featured in last week’s column.
After eating his bread for months, it finally occurred to me to wonder, who is this Klaus? It turns out, he’s harder to find than his bread, but chef Richard Lowe of the Coach Lamp Restaurant was able to put me in touch — which seems fitting, since it was last year about this time that the Coach Lamp put on a series of Oktoberfest dinners that introduced Riedelsheimer’s pretzel bread to the city and persuaded Riedelsheimer that there was enough demand to sustain a business.
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