Crumbs in my 'Stache: Remembrance of things past

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

By Ben Cannon

Since I got back from Vienna a little more than a week ago, I haven’t had the money – or invitations – to eat anywhere worth chronicling. And in the whirlwind of decompressing from two months away and resettling into life here, I’m barely able to recall where I’ve dined, though I remember a trip to Chinatown whilst suffering a nasty sinus infection that took me out for several days after I got back.

I will happily report to you, however, that a lion’s share of my fellowship stipend was pumped right back into the Austrian economy through the dining industry.
Vienna is a wonderful food town. The city in general seemed changed even from six years ago, when I spent a few weeks there as a college student – albeit a less savvy and less adventurous traveler than I am today. But friends there confirmed to me that Vienna has in fact come a long way in recent years, from a provincial city with strong traditions to a European capital that has become a kind of melting pot for cultural influences from across the continent. But those old traditions are still alive.

Even while the Euro is strong against the weak dollar, you can eat quite well in Vienna for less than what you spend at many of this valley’s better eateries. Even upscale cafes offer main courses for around the equivalent of $14,usually with a delicious salad included.

I arrived just at the beginning of white asparagus season, which runs early May through June. Many cafes and restaurants offer daily specials of white asparagus in risottos and creme soups. Slightly bitter, but overall milder than green asparagus, white asparagus, which are pulled from the ground before they see sunlight, are a seasonal highlight of Austrian cuisine.

Vienna is still rich in the culinary traditions of the old empire, with Hungarian food – hearty, paprika-heavy dishes like goulash with bread dumplings – as good as that found in Budapest, and probably better than any made in some restaurant kitchen in the U.S.

 But as I scan for delicious meals in my memory, a taste rolodex competing for grey matter with more modest fare like Turkish street foods and good pizza, it is some of the devoutly Austrian dishes that keep returning to mind.

One of the best meals I had – maybe the best – was a veal schnitzel at an old Viennese favorite. Wiener schnitzel is found all over that city, though most places cut costs by substituting pork for veal, and the result is never quite as delicate and tender. So this one veal schnitzel I had – what succulent perfection! If I am ever to come back to life as an animal set for the butcher’s block, I can only hope to be rendered so honorably.

What I’m really going to miss is the European custom of tipping: just a wee bit on top. I’ll miss so much wonderful food at good prices, and servers who don’t expect you to over-tip on sub-par service. So give me a few weeks to let my cynicism toward dining in these parts wane. 

Meanwhile, I really should start eating in more. JHW

Photo by Ben Cannon
Typically Viennese: grilled sausages wrapped in bacon, fries and a cold lager.

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Crumbs in my 'Stache: Remembrance of things past | Planet JH News Article: Restaurants And Dining

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