Truffles and Christmas punch in Vienna
If it is Wednesday, it must be Vienna. Actually I had not been to the Austrian capital in seven or eight years, but Wednesday afternoon I took the British Airways flight out of Heathrow. My colleague from Boston was with me, and it was an extortionate 65 pounds for a London taxi from St. Pauls to Heathrow airport. I usually take Heathrow Express, but with two people it was nearly the same price in a taxi.
In Vienna, we stayed at the Meridien, a swanky hotel that was also excellent value. This was the first time I have stayed in a hotel where the minibar and the broadband internet were both free!
The Vienna of 1997 was a very different place than the Vienna of 2005. I remember a city of late night cafes, cheap eateries, and people dressed up in Mozart costumes standing on street corners and handing our fliers. I also recall remarking that there were only pink-hued Europeans everywhere, and no ethnic minorities. This time it was different. Chinese and Arabs and people of many hues wandered the cold, wintry streets. We ate at an amazing little traditional Viennese restaurant serving only Austrian wines and spirits. I had never heard of Austrian red wine before, but it was excellent! We eschewed the late night cafes in favour of the Meridien bar, where Amir-bhai the Bangladeshi bartender served up an excellent Singapore sling. This one was topped up with soda, but was every bit as good as the one in London the night before.
Sometime during the second sling, I considered the possibility that perhaps Vienna was in fact much the same between 1997 and 2005, and it is I who have changed in the interim. The Ravi of old was a newly-employed wage slave with a 25000$ outstanding college loan, and the Ravi of 2005 was a thirty-something professional with a positive net worth.
Thursday after our client meeting, we had yet another traditional meal, this time lunching at the Offenlach in the old town. Desperately short on sleep, I hurried back to the hotel for a two-hour nap before the evening festivities. My firm had organized a Christmas party at the Freyung market, and we joined our local colleagues for some Christmas hot rum punch with clients. It was a delicious contrast between the freezing outside weather, and the wonderful hot punch. We found ourselves joining our Austrian colleagues for dinner, and after a long walk arrived at a modern looking restaurant, which turned out to be Frankie’s American Bar and Grill. At this point I rebelled. No way was I going all the way to Vienna and eating American food! I took my two companions and left the larger party behind, and we ended up around the corner at the Gleischeloss, the oldest restaurant in Austria, built in 1442. They actually had autographs of Beethoven and Mozart on the walls, in addition to a few other famous people! The atmosphere was great, the company excellent, and the food was traditional Viennese, exactly what I had in mind.
To top it off, on the way to the Freyung market, I had found a small shop selling whole white Alba truffles, which are the most delicious and aromatic mushrooms known to man. Back in Boston over the weekend, we had a small dinner at my epicurean friend Blade’s house on Sunday night, washing down the wonderful Truffle pasta with a Nebbiolo red wine also from Alba, the same town near where the truffles were dug up from. The wine and the pasta deliciously complemented each other like the siblings that they were.
In Vienna, we stayed at the Meridien, a swanky hotel that was also excellent value. This was the first time I have stayed in a hotel where the minibar and the broadband internet were both free!
The Vienna of 1997 was a very different place than the Vienna of 2005. I remember a city of late night cafes, cheap eateries, and people dressed up in Mozart costumes standing on street corners and handing our fliers. I also recall remarking that there were only pink-hued Europeans everywhere, and no ethnic minorities. This time it was different. Chinese and Arabs and people of many hues wandered the cold, wintry streets. We ate at an amazing little traditional Viennese restaurant serving only Austrian wines and spirits. I had never heard of Austrian red wine before, but it was excellent! We eschewed the late night cafes in favour of the Meridien bar, where Amir-bhai the Bangladeshi bartender served up an excellent Singapore sling. This one was topped up with soda, but was every bit as good as the one in London the night before.
Sometime during the second sling, I considered the possibility that perhaps Vienna was in fact much the same between 1997 and 2005, and it is I who have changed in the interim. The Ravi of old was a newly-employed wage slave with a 25000$ outstanding college loan, and the Ravi of 2005 was a thirty-something professional with a positive net worth.
Thursday after our client meeting, we had yet another traditional meal, this time lunching at the Offenlach in the old town. Desperately short on sleep, I hurried back to the hotel for a two-hour nap before the evening festivities. My firm had organized a Christmas party at the Freyung market, and we joined our local colleagues for some Christmas hot rum punch with clients. It was a delicious contrast between the freezing outside weather, and the wonderful hot punch. We found ourselves joining our Austrian colleagues for dinner, and after a long walk arrived at a modern looking restaurant, which turned out to be Frankie’s American Bar and Grill. At this point I rebelled. No way was I going all the way to Vienna and eating American food! I took my two companions and left the larger party behind, and we ended up around the corner at the Gleischeloss, the oldest restaurant in Austria, built in 1442. They actually had autographs of Beethoven and Mozart on the walls, in addition to a few other famous people! The atmosphere was great, the company excellent, and the food was traditional Viennese, exactly what I had in mind.
To top it off, on the way to the Freyung market, I had found a small shop selling whole white Alba truffles, which are the most delicious and aromatic mushrooms known to man. Back in Boston over the weekend, we had a small dinner at my epicurean friend Blade’s house on Sunday night, washing down the wonderful Truffle pasta with a Nebbiolo red wine also from Alba, the same town near where the truffles were dug up from. The wine and the pasta deliciously complemented each other like the siblings that they were.
posted by Ravi Mantha at 3:57 AM
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