1/22/2024 0 Comments Joseph vienna bakeryThe bakery is a short walk over the Danube canal into a neat multi-ethnic neighborhood that’s a conglomeration of older residents, young families, students, and budding professionals. In direct contrast to Meinl’s 19 th century classicism, is Eva Trimmel’s ultra-contemporary Fett und Zucker (Fat and Sugar, a mostly vegan neighborhood bakery and café in Vienna’s second district. Situated in the epicenter of Vienna’s first historic district and just a 3 minute walk from the Hofburg or Imperial palace, Meinl’s building anchors the Graben, a beautiful shopping street of luxury shops that unfortunately bears the graceless name of “The Ditch,” and the Meinl restaurant commands a perfect view of it.Īlthough the retail pastry offerings at Meinl cover a major part of one of the selling floors, it’s in the restaurant desserts that Josef Haslinger’s talents really shine.įor the future, Haslinger plans on expanding the pastry line even further, “When I came to Meinl in 1998 there were only 20 pastry items made in house now there are 110 and the numbers are going to continue to grow.” I just hope to get back and taste them all as they appear. Or on a given day there might be a special such as the strawberry tart whose recipe follows. In the restaurant you can expect to encounter such Viennese classics as Salzburger Nockerl (literally Salzburg dumplings), exquisitely light free-standing soufflés, usually served with a fruit or custard sauce. On the contemporary side are the desserts for Meinl’s first-floor-above-the-street restaurant, plus recent inventions such as the secret-recipe Millenniums Torte, pictured here. Because of Meinl’s long history in Vienna (it was founded in 1862), the selection prepared by Haslinger and his staff includes the great traditionals such as Linzertorte (a spiced and jam filled nut cake), Gugelhupf (a coffeecake available in both yeast- and baking powder-leavened versions), and Kipferl (croissants–after all they were invented in Vienna). Josef Haslinger’s style is a consistent blend of classic and contemporary styles in desserts and pastries. From there he spent 10 years in airline catering before coming to Julius Meinl am Graben 16 years ago. After that he did some seasonal work in ski resorts and then came to Vienna as pastry chef at theĪltwiener Hof. A pastry cook and then chef for his entire career, he started out at the age of 18 in Upper Austria at the Konditorei Kling. Haslinger reflects the epitome of Viennese charm and decorum, qualities that translate into his work as well. We first met during my 2003 visit to Vienna to research some cake recipes for a book. Whenever I visit Vienna I always make time to stop by for a visit with Meinl’s head pastry chef, Josef Haslinger. Today Julius Meinl am Graben ( stocks over 17,000 items from over 100 countries and has a pastry department and restaurant that both rival Vienna’s finest.
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