I’m really more of a Mediterranean or Northeast Asian cuisine diner. I love pizza and pasta, sushi and rice, noodles and offal. I may very well be a product of my environment, where all this food has been popular and trendy for years and years, and where cheap, nonstop flights make it easy for me to travel abroad to try the real stuff.
But then the Schnitzel & Things guys came along (with another trend in NYC, the food truck), and I found myself eating a pounded, breaded and fried piece of meat for lunch every Wednesday, often with a side of potato salad. Certainly this is because the food is fresh and tasty, the portions large enough to split between lunch AND dinner (and at $10 a bargain for two meals), and because I like the guys, who work hard, care about their craft and product and provide a great experience for their diners.
When a couple of weeks ago the guys had mechanical issues with their truck, I found myself without schnitzel on a Wednesday. Alas, I thought, I guess I can avoid eating a deep fried piece of meat for one week. But thankfully, I had a casual dinner planned with some old high school buddies, and Chris, who spent some of his childhood in Austria, suggested going to Blaue Gans in TriBeCa. I’d heard of this place but had never been. It’s in the old Le Zinc space, which was one of my favorite restaurant interiors in all of New York, its walls papered in museum exhibit posters (largely from the modern era, my favorite period).
It was a cold winter evening, and this Austrian food was the perfect meal for the weather. Chris and I were joined by Erik and Rob, as well as Ricky who was visiting from San Francisco. We ordered a Wurst plate to share, which came with 2 kinds of mustard, sauerkraut and freshly grated horseradish. And then for my entree I had the Weiner Schnitzel, this time made with pork. Here are the pics (Taken with iphone. Sorry):
The schnitzel was pounded VERY thinly and the breading was light and fluffy. It came with a potato salad (which I was sort of hoping would be served warm, but it wasn’t) and a lingonberry sauce. It hearty and satisfying, though I think the sausages really won the day for me. I can’t remember what they were (combinations of beef, pork and veal), but they had great flavor and the mustards were superb.
The very next day, I found myself at yet another Austrian restaurant, Seasonal. This place is located on 58th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues and has a hardly noticeable entry in the middle of the block. Who knew it had a Michelin star? I was just having drinks and a little cheese (which was quite good), so I didn’t try the real food. But the interior was modern and clean and the service friendly without being overbearing. It’s definitely worth a revisit while the weather is cold.
So it looks like Austrian food has become part of my regular rotation. I’m not sure how viable this will be after the season is over, though I do like a glass (or three) of chilled Gruner Veltliner when the weather gets warm.
Blaue Gans (map)
139 Duane Street between Church & West Broadway
Seasonal (map)
132 W. 58th Street between 6th & 7th Aves.
