One great thing about staying wired while traveling is that you’re not stuck with only the info you were able to dig up before hitting the road. You can keep researching while on the ground—and continue to get tips from friends as well. And it’s a good thing, too, because that meant a friend was able to let me know via Facebook that if I was in Vienna, I’d better get myself over to Cafe Landtmann. And I’m glad I did—because it resulted in the best bowl of goulash of our trip to Vienna.

Two weeks ago Monday, on New Year’s Eve, we spent the day wandering the tram system to explore Viennese neighborhoods we’d yet to see. We’d planned for a late lunch, because I wanted to be able last long enough to cobble together dinner from the food stalls I knew we’d find later that night after we stumbled from Die Fledermaus (which was what had brought us to Vienna in the first place) out into the celebration-filled streets.

Which meant we arrived at Cafe Landtmann mid-afternoon, so we didn’t have that long a wait to get seated for a late lunch. My wife ordered the fried chicken, and while I was tempted to order Wiener Schnitzel, I went for the goulash. How better to learn the difference between competent and great goulash than to order it often? (more…)

If you’re in Vienna, you’ve got to try the Sacher-Torte. And if you are going to try the Sacher-Torte in Vienna, then it had better be at the Hotel Sacher, right? (Though now that we’re home, I see we should have also tried a slice from the Demel bakery. Who knew there’d been such an intense legal battle around cake?)

We walked by the Hotel Sacher many times during daytime hours, as it’s across the street from the Vienna State Opera and we were hopping on and off of trams nearby often. There was always a long line out the door, making us realize that if we wanted to eat at Cafe Sacher, we were going to have to do it way off-peak—such as after one of the many evening Mozart and Strauss holiday concerts with which we filled our evenings.

And so, two weeks ago, on New Year’s Eve eve, we took a tram and ended up back at Hotel Sacher around 10:30 on a Sunday night, when as it turned out there was still a line out the door, but at least a much shorter one, so we got a table after half an hour’s wait rather than it taking an hour or two.

Our wait was cold (hey, Vienna was always cold while we were there) so though the Sacher-Torte was what brought us there, I figured I should have a cup of goulash to warm myself up. The goulash was good, second only to what I’d have the following day at Café Landtmann … but that’s not what you’re here for, I know. What you want to know is … how was the Sacher-Torte? (more…)

After Irene I ate at Lima’s famed restaurant Astrid y Gaston, I jokingly speculated I’d have a hard time deciding which I’d rave about more on my return home—our meal there or the wonders of Machu Picchu. Yes, the food was that good.

And our recent meal at Vienna’s Steirereck im Stadtpark—currently the #11 restaurant on a list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants—had me thinking the same way. Would I rave more about our meal there—or about the New Year’s Eve performance of Die Fledermaus which had brought us to Vienna in the first place.?

The fact I’m writing up this account of our Steirereck meal before posting anything about our night at the opera answers that question!

As we walked through the Stadtpark toward Steirereck for our Saturday lunch, I was a little nervous about how we’d be treated, though. That was because, while one Yelp reviewer called their “fantastic 5 hour lunch here – one of the best afternoons I’ve ever experienced,” and most other Yelpers seemed to agree with raves of their own, another reviewer felt so “angry and frustrated” that she was “about to walk out of the door but stopped by my husband” because “if you are cannot speak German, be prepared to be treated as such.”

And since that latter visit took place only a few weeks before our own, I was worried—were we non-German speakers going to be up for the same sort of treatment? (more…)

Yesterday, I shared with you Next restaurant’s menu for The Hunt, which was served for the first time Wednesday night.

Today, Next released a video which gives a more visceral (and I mean that both metaphorically and literally) idea of what the chefs have planned for you should you make it there before the cuisine’s final seating on April 28.

And before anyone clicks … consider this a possible trigger warning for the vegetarians out there … or for anyone who might be bothered by scenes of a guy with a shotgun walking across a snowy landscape.

As for me, the only things triggered were my salivary glands!

BTW—here’s how Next promoted its Kyoto menu, which I was privileged to experience back in November.

Last night, the ever-changing Next restaurant launched its latest cuisine, The Hunt, which will run through April 28, and Monika Cascone was one of the diners lucky enough to snag a table. Today, she shared a mouth-watering series of photos from her meal, including this one of the menu itself.

Yum!

I’ll be heading to Chicago in March to check out the real thing. How about you?

Well, 2012 is over, so it’s time to gather together my final dreams from 2012 and see what can be discovered by throwing them together in one place. Here are not only my dream tweets from December, but November’s as well, since I was apparently too busy to harvest them a month ago.

Let’s see whether any accidental poetry can be achieved in this way, shall we?

DECEMBER 2012

I dreamt I was in a storage unit where wife and sister-in-law kept collectibles, holding door shut as intruders tried to force their way in. 29 Dec

I dream I bought Irene many pastries to eat during an opera intermission. Which seems like an appropriate first dream to remember in Vienna. 28 Dec

I dreamt we checked into a hotel and were somehow given a multi-level suite. My first thought — who do we know in this town for a party? 26 Dec

I dreamt Irene was playing a casino’s slot machine, when all of a sudden she won, and a mountain of gold coins spilled out around her feet. 26 Dec

I dreamt Paul Kupperberg and I were doing a Comic-Con panel when it was shut down and we were sent home due to the death of Ogden Whitney. 26 Dec

I dreamt I ate all the frosting from a Sara Lee orange cake while an old woman looked on disapprovingly. Yet I felt no remorse. 25 Dec

I dreamt a sad old Alzheimer’s guy bought a box of candy, and by the time he paid, forgot he’d done so and almost leave the shop without it. 25 Dec

I dreamt I worked for United in a dizzying skyscraper, and got to my office by climbing a ladder on the outside and leaping in my window. 25 Dec

I dreamt a friend of mine said he was too depressed to leave his hotel room and see me, so I strummed “Cabaret” on the uke until he would. 25 Dec

I dreamt I was in a NYC office when @kwnewton shouted bombs were going off, and we all ran to watch it on TV. I wondered how I’d get home. 24 Dec

(more…)

I’m still not sure how we were lucky enough to end up dining at Huth Gastwirtschaft, which was recommended to us as one of the best places in Vienna for traditional Austrian food. And the fact that I don’t speak German means it will forever be a mystery.

The first issue we had to overcome last Friday night was to figure out which Huth was the Huth we wanted. When we got to Schellinggasse, we found two Huths on opposite sides of the street, and we weren’t sure which of the two was the one that had been so highly recommended. So we studied both the menus hanging outside and what we could make out of the diners through the windows, and were able to determine that the Huth on the north side of the street had no tablecloths and served more casual food such as burgers, while the Huth on the south side of the street—the one with Gastwirtschaft in its name—appeared more upscale both in the table settings and what was being served on them.

So we went in and asked whether we could have dinner. Unfortunately, we were told … no. Which is understandable—it was a Friday night between Christmas and New Year’s, so it made sense restaurants would be busy. But it was our first night in Vienna, and we were hungry, so we thought we’d give it a shot.

I then asked whether there were any openings for two later in the evening, because we had no problem coming back. Again, we were told … no.

As we buttoned up our coats and started heading back out to the street, a grey-haired woman seated at the bar said a few sentences—in German—to the server who’d turned us away. Irene and I then stood in front of the restaurant wondering where we should try next, when the server rushed outside and waved us in. “Come, come!”

Puzzled, we went back inside and were given a table. I have no idea what the woman said to get us seated—was she the owner, taking pity on two bedraggled tourists?—and due to the language barrier, we’ll never know. I’m just extremely grateful, and happy that we got a chance to order from this menu, which proved to be second in quality only to Steirereck of the meals we had in Vienna. (more…)

If you’re a fan of Next restaurant and aren’t already following chef David Beran on Twitter, you’re missing out—because his updates will help assuage your gnawing anticipation for the latest incarnation of his ever-changing menu, The Hunt, set to launch on January 9.

Last night, Beran tweeted a pic of the charcuterie that’ll be part of the restaurant’s upcoming cuisine, showing off both what we’ll put in our mouths and what we’ll be looking at when we do.

I don’t know about you, but as for me, I can’t wait!

Our week-long trip to Vienna was magical, particularly New Year’s Eve, when we saw Die Fledermaus at the Staatsoper and then threw ourselves out into the celebratory crowds to wander the streets past midnight. Wish you could have been there.

And thanks to my Flip camcorder, you can be!

I took three videos on December 31, which will give you a small idea of what Vienna was like on New Year’s Eve.

First, a midmorning marathon. When we stepped out of our Marriott Hotel at around 10:30 a.m. (because we were both staying up and waking late), we found that the #2 tram wasn’t running on the Ringstrasse due what was billed as the “traditional New Year’s Eve race.” Check out some of the runners, and watch for Spider-Man, Wonder Woman … and a lot of Smurfs.

(more…)

I’ve been quiet here lately, but I’ve had a good reason—Irene and I were off in Vienna to celebrate the new year by (among other things) seeing Die Fledermaus at the Wiener Staatsoper. I’ll share about the trip later, but now that a new year’s begun, I thought I should start off my 2013 posts with a list of the 10 posts from 2012 that you clicked on the most.

And they are …

1917 aviation infographic: “Incidentally, there may be a revival of smuggling”

First look at Next restaurant’s Kyoto menu

Oh, Kodak! “What fun we had,” indeed!

What I’m doing to stay alive a little longer

9 reasons you should visit Artomatic this year

Can you identify this comic book?

Marie Severin’s ’70s Marvel Bullpen map

Did Stan and Steve deliberately soften Spider-Man’s origin?

Next, Alinea, The Aviary … and the greatest amuse bouche the universe ever gave a foodie

The essay I thought would get me fired from Marvel Comics

Honorable mention goes to—

Happy birthday, Dad. I still miss you.

—which though posted in 2011, produced the third number of 2012 hits of any post. Guess a lot of you are missing your Dads and wrestling with how to express those feelings.

And for comparison’s sake, here are the 10 posts you clicked on the most in 2011.

Happy New Year, everybody!