Austria. Media News.

Dear friends of Austria and fellow travelers,

Temperatures might not indicate it yet, but fall is around the corner, and winter not far behind. While it promises to be an exciting season, we’ll hold off on winter news for one more newsletter, however, and focus instead on an intriguing culinary trend in Vienna that started before the pandemic and really took off over the last few years. As lovers of the traditional Viennese Gasthaus, this one has us very excited.

In other news, the Sacher Brand (including the Hotel Sacher Vienna and Hotel Sacher Salzburg) expands into the resort hotel industry: The (former) Astoria Resort Seefeld is now the Alpin Resort Sacher and meets all the superior standards associated with the name. At 3,600 feet on the sunny high plateau in Seefeld, it is the highest located Hotel Sacher in the company's history.

But for now, we’ll turn our attention to Vienna, where the Neo-Gasthaus trend is fueled by a flurry of new restaurant openings. Mahlzeit!

With warmest regards,
Sigrid Pichler

Manager of Public Relations
Austrian Tourist Office New York City
sigrid.pichler@austria.info
tel 212 575 7723 x 119

www.austria.info 

Hipsters love vintage. And this love now extends to one of the oldest Viennese institutions, the “Beisl” or “Gasthaus.” Beloved by old and young, these typically serve traditional Viennese fare, down-to-earth dishes that have been popular since… well, at least since the Kaiser discovered his love for Tafelspitz. Often, the interior of the typical Gasthaus is a reflection of the cuisine: simple, cozy and historic.

Now, instead of embracing the world of chefs toques and Michelin stars, more and more young and well-trained chefs dedicated themselves to updating this iconic gastronomy concept. They lovingly renovate restaurant interiors, making sure to preserve the original and historic character of a location while giving it a modern twist. And they serve Viennese cuisine that is true to its roots yet improved with the know-how of modern culinary training and product know-how.

Viennese cuisine per se has always been very sustainable, farm-to-table and seasonal. Now there is a new category of the “Gasthaus” - we like to call it the “Neo-Gasthaus,” which takes these promising concepts and updates them with international flair, sophisticated wine menus or entirely new culinary ideas.

The trend started already pre-pandemic, when more and more people realized that the Viennese “Gasthaus” or “Beisl” is an institution that needs to be preserved but could do with a makeover. The last few years probably favored this trend as people were eager for change and had plenty of time to reflect on how to bring it about. The latest examples are Brösl (which opened in 2021) and Reznicek (which reopened in 2022). Here is where to find them, as well as a few other excellent examples: