A typical Saturday at Naschmarkt. The whole city (at least those residing in adjacent districts IV to VI) meets at around eleven o’clock. Everyone knows that the stalls on the left and right of Wienzeile are a tourist magnet. This is presumably the reason why hardly anyone from Vienna would do their entire week’s shopping at Naschmarkt. You go to Naschmarkt because of the good products, which admittedly cost more here than elsewhere. Though many things for fine cuisine are only available at this place.

Gegenbauer, for instance, sells his fine vinegars and oils at stalls 111 to 114 daily, except Sundays. For the manager of the vinegar brewery, Erwin M. Gegenbauer, it’s about nothing less than a revolution of taste. His products, according to his philosophy, must be absolutely pure. Every fruit vinegar is made only from absolutely natural fruit juice. Every wine vinegar retains its natural acidity and is not diluted with water. No additives or food colourings are used to change the colour. A Gegenbauer raspberry vinegar is pure, concentrated fruit, his wine vinegars are as perfect as the Riesling, Zweigelt or selected harvest used for it. Erwin M. Gegenbauer has even invented drinking vinegar, digestifs as fine and creamy as noble sweet wines (online shop: www.gegenbauer.at).

If after so much to choose from you feel like a little brunch, it’s best to let yourself drift further past the stalls. The lane on the left of Wienzeile features restaurants, food stalls and pubs. Time for a short stop at Palatschinkenkuchl (stall no. 131, Monday to Friday 6 – 9 a.m.; Saturdays 6 a.m. – 5 p.m.), where over fifty different types of filled, sweet or savoury pancakes are served.

The Naschmarkt, you’ll hear again and again in the city, is the “stomach of Vienna”. The green pavilions have seemingly been here for ages. The first stalls were opened back in 1916. The name “Naschmarkt” comes from “Aschenmarkt”, originally a milk market to which the milk was transported in special bottles made out of wood from the ash tree.

In Vienna a stroll “through the city” means visiting the 1^st district. Within the ringed streets – elegant boulevards with multi-lane streets and wide pedestrian promenades – representative Vienna appears in its full splendour. In the centre of the city are the Imperial Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, State Opera, Spanish Court Riding School, museums, theatres, in short, all tourist destinations in the space of a square kilometre. The Viennese shopping streets hark back to earlier times with names like Graben (trench) and Kohlmarkt (cabbage market).

Actually, the magnificent palaces from imperial and royal times today accommodate shops similar to those normally found in all large European cities. Only in the area of fine dining does Vienna retain its own unique style.

First, this would be the cafés (see addresses below). Almost written off about 20 years ago, they are again communicative places at which guests may retreat undisturbed for hours for a melange (white coffee) behind a newspaper. Every establishment has its own delicacies to satisfy the small appetite. These are wonderful pastry confections such as strudel, buchteln (sweet pastries filled with vanilla sauce or fruit), knödel (dumplings) and palatschinken (pancakes). Tarts and cakes are also in this category (because they too are pastries).

Take-away food goes against the Viennese tradition of pleasure. If you only want to have a snack, stop by Buffet Trzesniewski for a good bread roll or a sandwich, arrange to meet in a beisl (bar) like Gustl Bauer or Reinthaler or have an appetiser with a good wine at Zum Schwarzen Kameel.

By the evening when discussing business over a glass of red wine at Esterházykeller you’ll find that the Viennese are friendly and sociable people that find no humour in one thing only – criticism of Viennese cuisine.

Cafés
Hawelka, artists’ coffeehouse, Dorotheergasse 6 (closed Tuesdays, Sundays 10 a.m. –2 p.m., weekdays 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.), www.hawelka.at.
Griensteidl, Michaelerplatz 2 (open daily 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.)
Demel, Imperial and Royal bakery, Kohlmarkt 14, ( open daily 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.), www.demel.at
Café Central, Herrengasse 14 (Mondays – Saturdays 7:30 a.m. –10 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m. –6 p.m., holidays 10 a.m. –10 p.m.)

Beisl (bars):
Gustl Bauer, Drahtgasse 2 (in the courtyard), (Mondays – Saturdays 10 a.m. – 11 p.m., closed Sundays)
Reinthaler, Dorotheergasse 4/Graben (open daily 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.)
Krah Krah, Bierbeisl, Rabensteig 8, (open daily 11 a.m. – 2 a.m.), www.krah-krah.at



Food & Beverages:
Trzesniewski (sandwich bar), Dorotheergasse 1 (Mondays – Fridays 8:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.), www.speckmitei.at
Zum Schwarzen Kameel, Art Nouveau restaurant, bar and delicatessen, Bognergasse 5 (Mondays – Saturdays 8:30 a.m. – midnight; restaurant: noon –3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. – midnight), www.kameel.at
Esterházykeller, wine pub, Haarhof 1 (Mondays – Fridays 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., weekends 4 p.m. – 11 p.m.), www.esterhazykeller.at