Luring la Vida Loca
From the outside it didn’t look like much – I desperately searched the door for some indication of Latin America. Nothing. Not knowing what to expect, I ventured through the door: Colour! Motion! A delicious sense of raucous enjoyment so seldom sensed in this city swept over me. The event was held at the OKAZ [...]
Restaurant Review: Particularly Persian
For insiders, Pars is old news. It’s long been the go-to place for Persian expats. When he began working at his parents’ small establishment in the upper Lerchenfelderstraße in 1998, owner Shahram Marandi says it was already established as the spot where Iranian students went to hang out. What started as a Persian snack joint [...]
Ride the Pony
You’re at a club. Over the din you hear the first riff of that tune from way back when, that cheesy, heavy-rotation song from your teens. But hearing it now makes your heart beat faster. You just can’t keep your feet still… Sound familiar? The DJs at Pony Club understand. Meet Katarina Cherabon, a freelance [...]
Dances with Wolf Whistles
It’s Sunday night at Vienna’s Café Leopold and something’s askew. It’s not the premises: It’s the same stark black and white interior and distinctive clear plastic chandeliers, lights dimmed so low they bathe the entire establishment in a pleasantly murky amber, to make anyone look good, even without multiple weiße Spritzer. And it’s not the [...]
Gate Crasher: Im Kinsky a rear window on art
Entering the grand carriage way of the Palais Kinsky, into the Stiegenhaus past the gauntlet of magnificent Baroque statuary up the grand stairway, I was stunned, as is often the case in Vienna, by the surrounding opulence. These palaces have that effect – the kind of red carpeted, marbled luxury that makes you conscious of [...]
Geeky Gourmet: A Tasting Menu by Tablet
Perching on a white-upholstered bench in a low ceilinged and cosily lit modern eatery, I was tucking hungrily into a dish of crocodile wrapped in bacon. Yet the exotic dishes on offer are not the oddest aspect of eating at Viereck on Johannesgasse in Vienna’s 1st District. More unusual was the fact that, bravely resisting [...]
Brothel Turned Bar
As the world’s oldest profession moves steadily towards Vienna’s city limits, a few of the older downtown establishments have been converted to bars or venues, like Morrison Club off the Naschmarkt, or the Arena Bar on Margaretenstraße. Another former house of (not so) ill repute in Vienna’s 6th has followed suit and now caters to [...]
Die Burgermacher: Gourmet Enough for a Knife and Fork
One problem facing newcomers to any city is finding a set of restaurants you enjoy. You may have to try four or more Chinese places before you settle on one that merits your becoming a regular. The same goes for pizza, sushi and the local Beisl. In the case of hamburgers, the search is a [...]
Wiener Wäschermädelball 2013
As in years past, I have been one of many Wienerinnen who dolls herself up to take part in the fairy tale of Ball season, dancing and frolicking until the early morning hours. Vienna’s ball season always opens with a waltz on New Year’s and ends with the search for lost shoes at Easter. But [...]
