Austrian Cuisine
Austrian cuisine, or Viennese cuisine, as it’s known throughout the country, is a mixture of all the culinary traditions of the many “Crown Lands” of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. While Bohemian and Hungarian traditions have taken precedence over the years, influences from across the Alps in northern Italy have joined the stream as well. The Austrians were quick to try the new ingredients, smoothing out contradictory tastes and assimilating the recipes to their own regional traditions. Overrefined dishes became a little more homely; dishes deemed too rustic were refined. The 19th century saw a vast increase in the variety of household cookbooks, with Austrians adapting original recipes from the Crown Lands and creating new dishes of their own. This was the beginning of today’s “traditional” Austrian cuisine. It led to a renaissance in the culinary arts in Vienna, and also in Austria’s regions. Today’s top chefs are taking the lead in creating new first class dishes, enhancing their appeal with fine Austrian wines.
Our Approach
Our approach in Kansas City should be considered a micro-version of the same story. We use classic Austrian techniques and family recipes to mold quality, local ingredients to achieve a refined product that satisfies both our commitment to tradition and the regional palette. Our Bavarian-born Chef de Cusiine, Matthias Seyfrid, is the embodiment of this approach. He applies the tradition he was steeped in to the place he has come to know and love- Kansas City. All of our pastries, breads, dressings, soups and sauces are made in house from scratch. The only items we don’t make from scratch in our kitchen are those which skilled artisans with decades of experience can make better and in larger quantities than we can. One example is the master German butcher at Schaller & Weber in NYC who has been making authentic, old world style sausages in the same shop since the 1930s. This allows us to offer a product of unparalleled quality at a price that our valued patrons can afford.
