MEINKLANG HOFLADEN
Years back, my visit to Meinklang in Austria’s Burgenland ended with a gorgeous lunch of the Familie Michlits’s produce and product and of course wines. Now, if you’re in Vienna, the experience is yours without having to travel. The winery/family has just opened their bistro/grocery in Vienna’s design and vintage store district, the 5th. The place is packed with tempting goods to take home, for a picnic, or to eat right there.
After drooling over the cookies and the breads, figuring out which cheeses I should take home with me and wondering if I could manage a couple of kilos of their ancient grains, I sat down and surveyed chef Thomas Piplitz’s (previously of Studio in Copenhagen) menu and ordered a little half head of cabbage (crunch, crunch).
The food was deliciously virtuous, but I confess my greatest thrill was sipping coffee and water out of sensually thin-lipped cups made by potter Ivana Petan. Wish they had them for sale.
This is a neighborly spot for a quiet breakfast or lunch, to pick up some goods for the pantry and definitely for a congenial afternoon drink with some cheese and that luscious bread.
DIE RUND BAR When I got there one early evening I was in a classic awful mood but I sat down at the terrazzo bar and it all changed. The good Miami-esque vibes were infectious.
They have food down for grazers like me; perfectly pillowy gigante beans (7.00€) and tender spargle (7.50€). For the others, there’s even fancy stuff like Demeter-certified Wagyu (18.50€). The inspiration was to bring Brutal Barcelona-like informality and quality to tightly wound Vienna. The owner wine importer Moritz Herzog has put together a fantastic international wine list, with surprises and discoveries. It won my heart immediately by having a “fermented fruits” section.
When I reflected that there were only two local rieslings on the beautifully curated and well-priced list someone (honestly I can’t remember who) cited climate change as the reason riesling had become difficult in Austria. That made me chuckle—so true—and I made a note to myself to tell that to someone on the Austrian wine marketing board. Wines by the glass ping between 5.00€ and 11.00€ and that includes Burgundy’s Valette by the glass as well as Péron, Gut Oggau and Strohmeier, serious wines and worthy ones. It was here I made the discovery of Caveau du Val d’Amour, the 2016 savagnin at 75.00€ would have been spectacular at double the price. There were good reasons I went back every night in Vienna—and you should too.
Meinklang Hofladen
Margareten Strasse 58, Vienna, Austria
7am-9pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
Die Rund Bar (R&Bar, Rund Bar—whatever you call it, go!)
Lindengasse 1, 1070 Vienna, Austria
Closed Saturday and Sunday
And a little tip list.
What about Konstantin Filippou’s wine bistro O Boufés? I wasn’t as charmed as others. High priced list with good stuff but the food was just too fancy and precious.
Avoid Zum Schwarzen Kameel. Go and look at the woodwork and have a beer at the bar, but avoid anything else. I went there years back and it was delightful. Today it’s a deadly tourist trap.
Go to Glacis Beisl: Not a secret, but one of the best places to drink is a few minutes of a twist and a knot of a trot from Rund. Get a schnitzel, a proper dinner and comb over this deep list with plenty of surprising older vintages.
Cheese: Oh my, Jumi Käse.
Gelato? Oh my, Eiskarussell!!!
Cortado and others? Coffee Junkie.
And outside of Vienna, if you are near the Gut Oggau Heuriger, go. You won’t regret it. Best food of the trip.