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The Vienna Food Walk was started by Brigitte and Roland two years ago to show visitors to their city some of their favorite local eateries, away from the typical tourist establishments. We met the two tour guides at the exit of the Herrengasse subway station. They normally take up to eight people on the tour but tonight we had a smaller group of four. Two fellows from Tel Aviv (a doctor and travel agent) joined us on the tour which started at 5:30PM. Being foodies, we wanted to see how the locals eat.
The food tour took us on a walk around the center of Vienna visiting eateries along the way picked out by the guides. Brigitte and Roland also pointed out interesting sights along the way which might normally be missed. For example, they showed us the wall on St. Stephen’s Church where there was a circular indentation on the wall which was for measuring the size of the bread that vendors needed to adhere to when selling their baked goods in the middle ages. Bakers that tried to cheat were dipped in the Danube River inside cages for punishment … at least that is the legend. At the time, the square at St. Stephen’s was an open market where vendors could sell many types of goods. Another factoid that I did not know: the Catholic Church owns the buildings around the square at St. Stephen’s and leases it to store merchants for 99 years, eventually the buildings revert back to the church.
Our first stop on the tour was at the Vulcanothek (Herrengasse 14), a small specialty eatery where one can buy their in-house aged prosciutto ham. We went to a small side room to have the prosciutto as a appetizer served with cold cuts, a plate with parmesan cheese crumbles, a small dish with chutney, and crusty bread. Austrian white Riesling wine complemented the course. There were about 20 quarter pigs' hind legs aging in the cooler. Pork is the least expensive cut of meat in Austria … even cheaper than poultry. One could buy the entire hind quarter for about $300 Euros.
The second stop on the tour was at the Beisl zum Scherer (Judeanplatz 7) for a first course of a typical Austrian dish – cabbage soup with dried bacon bits. It was served with bread and dry white wine. The atmosphere at this eatery was local and the soup was tasty. This place is very un-touristy and it was named after a pre-world war one satirical newspaper that was published here.
For the main course, we meandered to the Brezl Gwolb (Lederrerhof 9) where we walked down a winding staircase to be seated in a small enclosure where the original oven used to be located for baking the pretzels. Before becoming a restaurant, the building was a pretzel bakery -- one of the first in Vienna. The place is ancient––with truly rustic furnishings and vaulted ceilings. Ornate wooden pillars of dark wood hold up the ceilings and the furniture is handsomely-fashioned from the same dark wood. The floors are made of rolling red tiles and aren't level anywhere. The décor is old-timey Austrian with crypt-like nooks and lit candles added to the atmosphere. We started with Brezl’s in-house pretzels (chewy and fluffy) and dark beer -- only served locally. The main course consisted of beef simmered in a delicious brown sauce, vegetables and a dumpling. The second plate was boiled beef slices served with special mashed potatoes mixed with onions and bits of bacon. Sour cream with chives and apple/horseradish condiments complemented the dish. We were getting pleasantly full but there were two more stops coming on the food tour.
Next, Brigitte and Roland took us to a street food joint called the Hoher Markt Wurstelstand (Hoher Markt Square) centrally located which is open 24x7 and serves sausages, snacks, and alcoholic beverages. Hoher Markt is the oldest square in Vienna. At its center stands a sculpted fountain but the biggest attraction is the Ankeruhr, a large gilded clock designed in 1914.
Wurstelstand is a favorite of Austrians, especially after the bars close at 4:00AM. In case you are wondering, the drinking age in Austria is 16, but no one is typically carded unless they look much younger. Anthony Bourdain of 'No Reservations’ stopped here. We had two types of sausages with mustard and brown bread, with a fizzy beer drink. The cheese sausage called Kraesekreine is great and you will see people from all walks of life eat there … always standing since here are no sit down tables.
The final stop on the tour was Café Korb (Brandstätte 9). It is a busy coffeehouse under the ownership of former actress Suzanne Widl who wanted a place for people to meet and stay awhile to kibitz. Roland warned us that if the coffee drinks do not come on a tray with water in Austria, then the coffee will probably not be good. The cappuccino coffee drinks were served on a silvery tray with water. Apple strudel with whipped cream (one of the specialties of the house) and scrambled thin crepe pancakes called Kaiserschmarren were served for dessert.
The legend behind the crepe dish is that a pancake, made by the court cook and indented for Kaiser Franz Joseph (1830-1916) did not turn out exactly the way it should have. To remedy this mishap, the cook added raisins and cherries and scrambled the pancake, served it with heaps of powdered sugar and made the emperor believe that it was a whole new culinary creation - which, of course, was total nonsense or 'Schmarren' as Austrians put it. Thereafter, the dish was called 'Kaiserschmarren' everywhere in the empire since it turned out that the Kaiser really liked the accidental dish.
Being foodies, we enjoyed the Vienna Food Walk since it is based more on local traditions and basic but good cuisine rather than eateries on the tourist trail. The three hour walk serves as a great introduction to the Austrian kitchen from appetizer to dessert with the added bonus of Brigitte and Roland's cultural insights about the area.
The food tour took us on a walk around the center of Vienna visiting eateries along the way picked out by the guides. Brigitte and Roland also pointed out interesting sights along the way which might normally be missed. For example, they showed us the wall on St. Stephen’s Church where there was a circular indentation on the wall which was for measuring the size of the bread that vendors needed to adhere to when selling their baked goods in the middle ages. Bakers that tried to cheat were dipped in the Danube River inside cages for punishment … at least that is the legend. At the time, the square at St. Stephen’s was an open market where vendors could sell many types of goods. Another factoid that I did not know: the Catholic Church owns the buildings around the square at St. Stephen’s and leases it to store merchants for 99 years, eventually the buildings revert back to the church.
Our first stop on the tour was at the Vulcanothek (Herrengasse 14), a small specialty eatery where one can buy their in-house aged prosciutto ham. We went to a small side room to have the prosciutto as a appetizer served with cold cuts, a plate with parmesan cheese crumbles, a small dish with chutney, and crusty bread. Austrian white Riesling wine complemented the course. There were about 20 quarter pigs' hind legs aging in the cooler. Pork is the least expensive cut of meat in Austria … even cheaper than poultry. One could buy the entire hind quarter for about $300 Euros.
The second stop on the tour was at the Beisl zum Scherer (Judeanplatz 7) for a first course of a typical Austrian dish – cabbage soup with dried bacon bits. It was served with bread and dry white wine. The atmosphere at this eatery was local and the soup was tasty. This place is very un-touristy and it was named after a pre-world war one satirical newspaper that was published here.
For the main course, we meandered to the Brezl Gwolb (Lederrerhof 9) where we walked down a winding staircase to be seated in a small enclosure where the original oven used to be located for baking the pretzels. Before becoming a restaurant, the building was a pretzel bakery -- one of the first in Vienna. The place is ancient––with truly rustic furnishings and vaulted ceilings. Ornate wooden pillars of dark wood hold up the ceilings and the furniture is handsomely-fashioned from the same dark wood. The floors are made of rolling red tiles and aren't level anywhere. The décor is old-timey Austrian with crypt-like nooks and lit candles added to the atmosphere. We started with Brezl’s in-house pretzels (chewy and fluffy) and dark beer -- only served locally. The main course consisted of beef simmered in a delicious brown sauce, vegetables and a dumpling. The second plate was boiled beef slices served with special mashed potatoes mixed with onions and bits of bacon. Sour cream with chives and apple/horseradish condiments complemented the dish. We were getting pleasantly full but there were two more stops coming on the food tour.
Next, Brigitte and Roland took us to a street food joint called the Hoher Markt Wurstelstand (Hoher Markt Square) centrally located which is open 24x7 and serves sausages, snacks, and alcoholic beverages. Hoher Markt is the oldest square in Vienna. At its center stands a sculpted fountain but the biggest attraction is the Ankeruhr, a large gilded clock designed in 1914.
Wurstelstand is a favorite of Austrians, especially after the bars close at 4:00AM. In case you are wondering, the drinking age in Austria is 16, but no one is typically carded unless they look much younger. Anthony Bourdain of 'No Reservations’ stopped here. We had two types of sausages with mustard and brown bread, with a fizzy beer drink. The cheese sausage called Kraesekreine is great and you will see people from all walks of life eat there … always standing since here are no sit down tables.
The final stop on the tour was Café Korb (Brandstätte 9). It is a busy coffeehouse under the ownership of former actress Suzanne Widl who wanted a place for people to meet and stay awhile to kibitz. Roland warned us that if the coffee drinks do not come on a tray with water in Austria, then the coffee will probably not be good. The cappuccino coffee drinks were served on a silvery tray with water. Apple strudel with whipped cream (one of the specialties of the house) and scrambled thin crepe pancakes called Kaiserschmarren were served for dessert.
The legend behind the crepe dish is that a pancake, made by the court cook and indented for Kaiser Franz Joseph (1830-1916) did not turn out exactly the way it should have. To remedy this mishap, the cook added raisins and cherries and scrambled the pancake, served it with heaps of powdered sugar and made the emperor believe that it was a whole new culinary creation - which, of course, was total nonsense or 'Schmarren' as Austrians put it. Thereafter, the dish was called 'Kaiserschmarren' everywhere in the empire since it turned out that the Kaiser really liked the accidental dish.
Being foodies, we enjoyed the Vienna Food Walk since it is based more on local traditions and basic but good cuisine rather than eateries on the tourist trail. The three hour walk serves as a great introduction to the Austrian kitchen from appetizer to dessert with the added bonus of Brigitte and Roland's cultural insights about the area.
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