Sunday, March 7, 2010

Seasonal

Yes, all cooking should be. In this instance, it is the name of a restaurant
where I ate last night (132 West 58th Street; 212 957 5550) with my good friend the food writer, Irene Sax. We were seated in the less chic back room which I preferred as it was possible to hear each other talk.
An added benefit was that it was just off the kitchen and we got to meet the very charming partner and chef in the restaurant, Eduard Frauneder. He looks nothing like an old-time Austrian chef; but instead, is slim, lively and amiable. When it was revealed that one of our party was also Viennese, he laapsed happily into German and his first question was what bizirk do you come from? i.e. what zip code, what arrondisement? practically the opening gambit among all Viennese.
The restaurant is quite new and exceptionally has a star in the Michelin of New York and twenty-five points for food in the current Zagat which lists it as a new restaurant'
We settled into a good bottle of Gruner Veltliner that made me think of another "foodie" friend, Paul Levy who always drank it when we were together in Salzburg.
The food is as new as the restaurant. Which means that it is just in the trend of the food by the Obauer brothers in Austria and the very talented, Kurt Gutenbrunner of New York's Wallse.
There are small and large transformations. The tefelspitz, boiled beef, arrived in a beef broth so intense one could live on it. The foie gras was the best I have had in years and the desserts are sublime which is fitting a Eduard's father is a pastry chef with several shops in Vienna.
I can only give a hint of what is really an excellent menu; but I do recommend it.
I also look forward to what will evidently continue to be a Viennese restaurant innovation and explosion.
Incidentally the very slightly sweet wine went well the beef dish, the pork dish (with exemplary spaetzle) and the dish of sea scallops.

4 comments:

Paul Levy said...

Ah, Gruener Veltliner, how I love it! We are beginning to get several different winemakers' versions of it here in Britain, and it's increasingly available on restaurant wine lists, where it is usually good value. Isn't it odd that London, though so much nearer to Vienna than NY is, has so few Austrian restaurants of any kind. Time to make Griessknoedel in soup for supper.

Barbara said...

Please forward recipe. Some of my best eating and drinking experiences have been done with you...Love

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