Hog Heaven, Nashville

Did I own up about this yet? I coerced Leonard into meeting me in Nashville mainly so I could try playing a $60,000 banjo. (In other news, the $100,000 mandolin on the wall above it was really awesome.) And eat a lot of barbecue. Only when I started researchin, it didn’t seem like there was […]

Heinig, Vienna

Here we are, the day after Christmas, when all the stores say nothing on their web sites or windows about being closed…but they all are. “We take no holidays!” except the one that everyone but someone and me must know happens automatically on the 26th. Strange, because a lot of places were open on the […]

Café Schwarzenberg, Vienna

Once, in the dreadfully cold winter of 1743, an enormous black iceberg washed up on the shores of Wiener. It still looms large, nay, it hulks in the memory of Wieners, and to remember the horrific sight while also defusing some of its mystery, majesty, and mummery, the Guldraus family named their eponymous restaurant after it […]

Figlmuller, Vienna

Festive Christmas luncheon! Nothing says Christmas to me like thinly-pounded veal cutlets, and nothing says thinly-pounded Wieners like Figlmuller – though how much of their popularity is due to the food and how much is due to the marketing is an interesting question. As an aside, I enjoyed the atmosphere here tremendously, in mo small […]

Cafe Central, Vienna

I was lucky enough to have taken a picture of Cafe Central at night before the afternoon we went, which was lucky considering I forgot to get an exterior shot. Although that pales in comparison to my failure to load a memory card into the camera the following night… This cafe has an illustrious history […]

Cafe Demel, Vienna

Were we excited to get to Demel? We were. Called by at least one seasoned observer the authority on Viennese cakes, this is the other famous one, and more appealing to me than the overtly touristed Sacher. It turns out to be almost as touristed, but they do a better job in atmosphere and service […]

Cafe Sacher, Vienna

Do I feel a little guilty engaging in the most touristy of pleasures? Why yes, I do. You know how much I like seeking out hidden gems, but when you’re traveling to a new city, that just isn’t an option – either you’re on your own, walking the streets, or else you’re looking at reviews […]