Dittmer's Los Altos Opening Oh, So Close

You can practically smell it in the air.

The eponymous Dittmer is on the cusp of re-opening his meat and wursthaus for the first time since a catastrophic fire closed the Mountain View institution on Jan. 23, 2011. 

Mark, Margaret and Dittmer Bubert made an appearance at the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce's mixer at the Village Court Friday evening. So did two trays of smoked salmon, German salami, ham and paprika sausage, to delight of guests who were already enjoying the catered offerings of the Village Court business . 

"It's very close," Dittmer Bubert said with a little smile. As in, any-day-now close.

He doesn't know when, precisely, because required inspections are still pending, but it's close enough that they are preparing meat products in their brand-new smoke house.

Next door, Mark Bubert was checking chicken that was cooking. Now ensconced on the Los Altos side of the busy San Antonio-El Camino Real crossroads, the family has spent the 18 months renovating  and outfitting the building at 4540 El Camino Real to properly house the new Dittmer's.

Dittmer's daughter, Petra, whom he calls "the soul of the business," has been documenting the long road to re-opening on Dittmer's Facebook fan page, from interior demolition and hard-hat construction, to tantalizing smokehouse sausage shots.

The business' 4,283 Facebook fans have been eating up posts like Thursday from Petra Bubert:

"Paprika Sausage, Louisiana Hots, Creole Andouille, German Salami came out smoke house today. We have 2,000 lb of products smoked and only 5,431 lb left to go until we open. Sooooooooon!!!"