Anthea Gerrie Finds Sunshine In A Wintry Vienna In The Sicilian Cuisine Of Award-Winning Pastamara Bar Con Cucina.
Eating Sicilian food in Vienna may sound counter-intuitive, until you remember that barely more than a century ago Italy and Austria were part of the same empire. With all the recipe-swapping back and forth that went on between chefs, no wonder the Italians think they invented the schnitzel, renaming it a Cotoletta alla Milanese, while the Viennese have retained a fondness for Italian food that brings the colour and spirit of the Med to their landlocked country and has made Pastamara a hit in the Austrian capital.
The restaurant is the brainchild of Ciccio Sultano, the two Michelin-starred Sicilian chef who saw more potential in a space originally designated as a subterranean bar in the elegant Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Still officially titled Pastamara Bar con Cucina, this large room does have a large bar at its heart, but the real action is at the tables surrounding what could never have been considered an intimate enough space for a watering-hole alone.
Entrance is by descent direct from Vienna’s ritzy Schubertring into a large open space where a Campari cart instantly channels Italy, as does the wealth of marble both underpinning the bar and in large chocolate-coloured columns which give a clue to the restaurant name. Pastamara is Italian for cocoa-bean paste, and according to chef Sultan “in Sicily stands for chocolate”. Tables, rugs, wall-hangings, chairs and bar-stools with a mid-century vibe are thus all in harmoniously-toning shades of milk chocolate and caramel to support the theme.
Sultano having started his career in a spaghetteria before honing his skills in Germany to get the gist of meat cookery, not a big thing in Sicily, and later New York, pasta was always going to be a big part of the menu. However, there are many other choices given that the restaurant also welcomes guests for breakfast from 10am, and is a hot place to socialise in the aperitivo hour, when that Campari trolley travels between tables.
Campari-based negronis naturally loom large on the cocktail menu, Pastamara’s special house version distinguished by a particularly aromatic vermouth and chocolate bitters(€18). But the drinks list demonstrates the versatility of the bright red bitter aperitif – I enjoyed a combination of Campari with tequila which worked surprisingly well, and there is, of course, a Bellini with peach nectar and a posh Aperol spritz adding blood orange liqueur to the mix.
When it’s time to order dinner, seafood is the real glory of the Pastamara menu, tasted first by us in a pair of excellent oysters (a hefty €10 apiece) then in a signature dish of pacheri – large, ridged pasta tubes served with barely-cooked shrimp and lemon(€45). Staying with the fishy theme, a large cube of ventresco – tuna belly which is the most prized part of the beast – was dressed with pine-nut butter and onion cream – while another signature dish, pasta taratata, combined raw tuna with bottarga(roe), lemon and almonds, a flavour mix which reflects the multiple influences on Sicilian food left by multiple invaders over the centuries.
At €28 each, these two signature dishes were the most intriguing and perhaps the best value on the menu, less than half the price of meaty mains. It was exciting to see the potential schnitzel one always looks forward to in Vienna on the menu, but this particular breaded veal chop was the least successful dish tasted – not beaten out, and a little dry – to be fair, not listed as a cotoletta alla Milanese either.
When it comes to dessert, that original name for Pastamara finally makes its appearance in that quintessentially Sicilian pastry cannoli – here a single cannolo of great refinement with a taste of bitter chocolate running through the filling. And there are wines representing the best of Italy too, served by knowledgeable sommelier Georgios – we enjoyed a fine Barolo from Ceretto following an excellent Fuoripista pinot Grigio by Foradori.
Seasonality means summer diners can enjoy dining on the hotel’s beautiful outdoor terrace in the middle of Vienna, a treat we were just too late for. But there are compensations – in autumn Pastamara makes the most of truffle season, and chef Sultano’s idea of a white Christmas is to enhance festive dishes with white truffle shavings. No wonder the restaurant has been named one of the best Italian eateries beyond the country’s orders by the Italian Gambero Rosso guide in the fine dining category.
Tell Me More About Dining At Pastamara, Bar Con Cucina
Pastamara, Bar Con Cucina Ritz-Carlton Hotel Schubertring 5/7, 1010 Vienna, Austria
T:: +43 1 3118 8150
