Vienna dining

Vienna's Restaurant Scene (or, Schniztel, Schniztel Everywhere)

With influences culled from neighboring Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, as well as the eastern-tinged cuisines of Turkey, Hungary, and the Balkans, Viennese cooking is varied and palate-pleasing.

Far and away, Vienna's most famous contribution to the world's table is wiener schnitzel, a simple and steam-roller-flat cutlet of pork or veal breaded and fried (most traditionally in lard), served either overwhelming a plate or tucked into a roll as a sandwich.

Tafelspitz, boiled beef served with applesauce topped with horseradish shavings, is another delicious dyed-in-the-wool Viennese specialty—Emperor Franz Joseph ate it every day.

Hungary, that other half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has likewise left its influence on the local pantry, and paprika seeps into many dishes and is best in the spicy beef or pork stew called gulasch.

Viennese cafes

When the Ottoman Turks repeatedly besieged the city in the 16th and 17th centuries, they left behind what was to become one of Vienna's passions, a taste for the exotic drink called kaffee (coffee).

With your kaffee, you'll want to order one—make that several—of Vienna's world-renowned pastries. Strudel comes with many more fillings other than that of the redoubtable master, the apple (apfelstrudel).

Other must-try sweets include the cream-filled gugelhupf horn and the cakes rehrucken (chocolate cake set with almonds) and especially Sachertorte.

Sachertorte

Sachertorte is the original death by chocolate with a twist of apricot jam.

The Hotel Sacher (Philharmonikerstrasse 4; tel. 01/51-456) invented this dense dessert in 1832, but had to engage in a lengthy legal battle with Café Demel in the 1960s over the right to call their confection "Original Sachertorte."

The Hotel Sacher won, but my taste buds are hard-pressed to tell the difference. Either place can overload a chocolate lover's palate to ecstasy.

Vienesese drinks: From beer to wine to schnapps

Austria's top beers are the lighter Gold Fassl, Kaiser, and Weizengold (a wheat beer); richer brews include Gösser Spezial and Eggenberger Urbock, the latter dating back to the 17th century and considered one of the world's most powerful beers.

The best Austrian wines are white, tops being the fruity Grüner Veltiner. Many of the dry Rieslings are also renowned, and the Austrians make good Chardonnays and Pinot Blanc as well.

One specialty is the dessert wine Eiswein, so called because the grapes are left on the vine to ripen and sweeten until frost hits, freezing the water in the grapes and concentrating their taste and alcohol level.

Austrians also distill juniper, rowan berries, apricots, or quinces, and call the product schnapps.

Recommended restaurants

Augustinerkeller
$. Near the Staatsoper. AUSTRIAN.
Since 1954, this vaulted brick cellar filled with long communal tables under the Hofburg palace has been serving simple fare such as schnitzel, spit-roasted chicken, and tafelspitz, accompanied by Viennese beer and wine. The location and wandering accordion players (starting at 6:30pm) have driven away many a local, but it's still fun, and the food is ample and quite good.
Augustinerstrasse 1 (a little ways off Albertinaplatz, across from Augustinia church). tel. 01/533-1026. Reservations not necessary. U-Bahn: Stephansplatz. Open: Lunch and dinner daily.

Drei Husaren
$$$$. Near Stephansdom. VIENNESE/INTERNATIONAL.
Vienna's top restaurant since World War I, Drei Husaren is decorated with Gobelin tapestries and antiques. The chef decorates your table with the finest of both traditional and inventive Viennese cuisine, including an hors d'oeuvres table laden with over 35 goodies, kalbsbrücken Metternich (the chef's specialty veal dish), and cheese-filled crêpes topped with chocolate sauce.
Weihburggasse 4 (off Kärtnerstrasse, 2 blocks south of Stephansplatz). tel. 01/5121-0920. Reservations required. U-Bahn: Stephansplatz. Open: Lunch and dinner daily. Closed mid-July to mid-Aug.

Figimüller
$$. Near Stephansdom. VIENNESE.
This archetypal Viennese beisel (tavern) is always crowded and famous for its enormous wiener schnitzel, larger than the plate it comes on. The dining room is over 500 years old (though the current restaurant dates to 1905), aged by the patina of the thousands who've enjoyed their sausages, tafelspitz, salads, and glass after glass of excellent wines.
Wollzelle 5 (go 1 block north on Rotenturmstrasse from Stephansplatz and turn right; it's up an alley half a block down on the left). tel. 01/512-6177. wwwfiglmueller.at. Reservations recommended. U-Bahn: Stephansplatz. Open: Lunch and dinner daily. Closed Aug.

Firenze Enoteca
$$$. Near Stephansdom. TUSCAN/ITALIAN.
Vienna's premier Italian restaurant can be a welcome break from an overdose of schnitzel. The Renaissance decor includes reproduction frescoes, and the food includes such central Italian delicacies as penne with salmon, spaghetti with seafood, and veal cutlets. Forget the beer for a while and order a bottle of Chianti with your meal.
Singerstrasse 3 (1 short block south of Stephansplatz, Singerstrasse branches off to the left/east; the restaurant is 2[1/2] blocks down). tel. 01/513-4374. Reservations recommended. U-Bahn: Stephansplatz. Main courses: 98–360AS ($7.85–$28.80). Lunch menu: 200–250AS ($16–$20). AE, DC, MC, V. Open: Lunch and dinner daily.

Griechenbeisl
$$$$$. North of Stephansdom. AUSTRIAN.
This 550-year-old restaurant of low vaulted ceilings and iron chandeliers has been pleasing taste buds long enough to count Beethoven and Mark Twain among its patrons. The hearty cookery includes such mouth-watering foods as Hungarian goulash, venison steak, and an excellent preparation of that Viennese specialty tafelspitz. Accordion and zither music liven things up at dinner.
Fleischmarkt 11 (From Swedenplatz, take Laurenzerberg away from the Canalto Fleischmarkt and turn right). tel. 01/533-1977 or 01/533-1941. Reservations suggested. U-Bahn: Swedenplatz. Tram: N, Z. Open: Lunch and dinner daily.

Kardos
$$$. East of Stephansdom. HUNGARIAN/BALKAN.
A restaurant of Gypsy-rustic accents and deep wooden booths, Kardos serves dishes that stem from the days when Austria's empire extended much farther eastward. Tasty morsels include grammel rolls stuffed with minced pork and spices, Balkan fish soup, and grilled meats. Portions are huge. Start with the Hungarian apricot aperitif barack.
Dominikaner Bastei 8 (Take Wollzeile several long blocks east of Stephansdom and turn left up Stuben Bastei, which becomes Dominikaner Bastei). tel. 01/512-6949. Reservations recommended. U-Bahn: Schwedenplatz. Open: Lunch and dinner Mon–Sat.

Quick Bites
You'll never want for food on the run in Vienna, which offers everything from sidewalk schnitzel to pastry objets d'art in 19th-century konditoreien (pastry bakeries, often doubling as cafes).

Generally, you'll get excellent light meals at any of Vienna's numerous and often grand cafes, but to get the quickest bite, just saunter up to a sidewalk würstel stand and order the most appetizing-looking sausage mit senf (with mustard; usually served with a roll) and a beer or soda.

Less mobile meals can be had at Buffet Trzesniewski (tel. 01/512-3291), Dorotheergasse 1, which was neighbor Franz Kafka's favorite spot for a wide selection of scrumptious finger sandwiches and beer.

Picnic pickings are best at the Naschmarkt, an open-air produce and food market stretching south (away from the Ring) from Karlsplatz. (On Saturdays, the operation expands to add flea market stalls; the market is closed Saturday afternoon and Sunday.)