Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Of Italian resto running out of spaghetti, Fusion resto, and Sturm

Ridiculous! It's like ordering noodles in a Chinese resto only to be told that they didn't have any. A friend and I went to check out this newly opened Italian resto at the famous wet market of Vienna - the Naschmarkt. That was last Saturday - Oct. 6. Beautiful autumn day, sunny and bright. Temperature was around 23-25 C, suprisingly warm for this time of the year. It was like October was making up for what August could not deliver last summer. It was 1:30 pm and my favorite sushi bar was crowded. We got seated Ok but the staff was definitely under stress, always on the run, screaming orders in Chinese! Yes, the bar is Japanese but no one speaks the language. Only Chinese and Tagalog. Chef is a Pinoy who can easily pass for a real Hapon. Much as I like the place, it was chaotic that day. Before we could place our order we decided it was best for us to go some other place where we could have our meal in a relaxed environment, thus we found this newly opened resto which is still within the market place.

The place was teeming with diners bragging about their newly acquired treasures from the flea market located just opposite the restaurant. We were lucky to find an empty table by the windows. The place has been a shop for tiles and ceramic wares until it was converted into another spacious dining place with high ceilings and large windows, letting in so much natural light. We ordered pasta: spaghetti with basil pesto and parmesan for me and spaghetti with garlic and olive oil for my company. Both dishes were a disaster. The pasta was overcooked and swimming in oil. We thought of giving them to the customers sitting next to our table. We overheard them ordering spaghetti but were told to order another dish as spaghetti was finito for the day. No, you're kidding! Talk of mediocre Italian dining places. At least their gruener veltliner (Austrian white wine) was excellent which helped us keep our spirits soaring high!

Yesterday, Monday, was another beautiful day that my colleagues at work and I got this blitz idea to have lunch at the Naschmarkt. Went to Li's Cooking - a fusion resto. Fusion restaurants are getting popular in town. People fancy them and I just wonder why Pinoys who have a penchant for running turo-turo - and they're good copy-cats mind you, the Pinoys- could not follow the trend. There used to have two eat-all-you-can Pinoy places, listen to this - in the heart of Vienna, in a building the Pinoys fondly refer to as the Philippine Plaza (the Philippines has its embassy there, a beauty parlor - a term I think should be open to interpretation-, video shop, two eateries, a branch of the PNB which has since moved to another place). One of the carinderias closed shop recently, leaving the other standing might but does not make an effort to improve what it can offer. It's sinigang na baka or pork every day, with matching pancit and chop suey. If that's not fusion enough then I don't know really. Here's to fusion!

Since that first bowl of rice and a few spring rolls I am now a bona fide Stammgast (regular guest) at Li's Cooking; the waiting staff already know what I want - fried noodles with crispy duck on hot Thai coco sauce, and a glass of g'spritz - white or red wine, mixed with sparkling mineral water - any time. My colleagues were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic welcome the waiting staff gave us, especially when a plate of appetizers composed of fried wontons on hot sauce was delivered to our table. "On the house", our waiter said with a big grin when he saw the confused expression on our faces. Hmm...big grin, big Trinkgeld (tip), one could not help but wonder.















A few steps from this fusion resto is a wine shop selling Sturm (storm in English). That was our next stop, you bet. Might as well have my first Sturm this season. Sturm is wine still in the process of fermentation. October is wine-harvest time - the time of the year when Sturm is consumed at its best. It tastes just like a regular fruit juice but unlike any other, a glass can be one too many. We had one glass each costing 6 Euro together. My colleague bought a bottle to go and paid 8 Euro. Cheaper by the bottle than when served in a wine glass I guess. Oh, well...

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