We recently chatted with Kari Richtsmeier, 47, owner of Biergarten Germania (275 E. Fourth St.; St. Paul; 651-797-2220; biergartengermania.com), the new Lowertown restaurant near the farmers’ market that serves beer, brats, schnitzel and more.

What’s your first food memory? Eating with my grandparents on the farm. Grandma would always make these huge dinners of meat and mashed potatoes and gravy and fresh bread.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Either a doctor or a foreign service worker.

What was your first job in food? When I was a graduate student at Georgetown, I was a bartender and server at a place called Brickskeller in Washington, D.C. We had 800 different types of beer from all around the world.

How did you wind up in the restaurant business for good? I taught for 17 years at a local university and was the director of their global engagement center. I had some health issues and was thinking about transitioning into another career. I live in Lowertown and I knew that Jim Golden was going to retire and close down Golden’s Deli. I’ve always wanted to have a German restaurant that also had influences from Switzerland, Netherlands and France.

I found a great executive chef in Sergey Kogan. Then went out and found people really experienced in the field, from the front of the house to the back of the house. We worked on a fermentation style and recipe that we like for our sauerkraut and we smoke our own meats. I wanted everything to be homemade and nothing out of a can, we’re really proud of that.

What’s your favorite dish on your menu right now? I love the chicken schnitzel and the curried cauliflower that comes with it. I like that the chicken is not overly fatty but is still really juicy. In addition to cauliflower, it also pairs well with our sauerkraut and warm German potato salad. The person behind our meat is mastermind Tyler Drake. He creates all of our sausages.

What’s the last thing you cooked at home? We barbecued steak. I love barbecue. We had it with corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw.

If you had to eat or drink only five things for the rest of your life, what would they be? Drink would be easy — a good glass of wine. I would have to say sparkling water, any kind of fish, Brussels sprouts and asparagus.