Meatless enjoyment then and now

When you think of Viennese cuisine, Wiener Schnitzel, Tafelspitz (prime boiled beef), Zwiebelrostbraten (onion roast) and Backhendl (fried breaded chicken) probably come to mind. Yet the international trend and desire of Austria’s population for vegetarian or vegan restaurants has been gaining ground in Vienna as well. There is hardly a restaurant that can get away from the constantly increasing demand for meatless dishes or ones that are entirely plant-based. Several local guidebooks are now dedicated exclusively to vegetarians or vegans and their quest for quality and classy restaurants in this category. Here too, Vienna has several hotspots to offer.

Vegetarian cuisine in Vienna – it’s old hat

Pumpkin-Krautfleckerl at restaurant Stefanie

Anyone who thinks vegetarian cuisine is an invention of the last two or three decades is dead wrong. In recent years, it simply became more and more popular to avoid eating meat every once in a while or all the time for the sake of healthier, sustainable and conscious eating. Healthy and hip “greens” became a focal point of modern society in the 20th and 21st centuries. Yet there have always been meat-free delicacies especially in Viennese cuisine – they simply didn’t play the starring role.

In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the focal point was by contrast what was ON TOP OF the vegetables or salad, such as mutton, lamb or pork on white turnips, sausages and smoked meat on pickled turnips or radish or meat pie on spinach or romaine lettuce. The Baroque color concept, such as golden yellow French toast on green spinach, was often reflected in creating these dishes. Moreover, meat dishes testified to the host’s higher class and wealth.

During the period of fasting prescribed by the church, people largely avoid eating meat in any case. Instead, they ate fasting soups, fish, mussels and snails, and to expand the menu a bit they also ate otter, beaver or heron – unthinkable for today’s palates. Innumerable Viennese desserts, which continue to be enjoyed as a main course today, complemented the time of (not really) privation.

Turbot & crayfish at restaurant Das Schick

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, numerous vegetarian dishes that we continue – after some reconsideration – to associate with Viennese cuisine came about in Viennese restaurants as well as in middle-class households, from potato or mushroom goulash to fried celery or cauliflower and roasted dumplings with egg, all the way to egg dumplings or the indispensable Viennese Krautfleckerl (cabbage and noodle casserole).

From Lenten food and supporting actors to vegetarian superlative

Today, vegetarian and vegan cuisine are refined with lots of sophistication, creativity and dedication, in keeping with the trend of the times and the increasing demand. New technological achievements and adventurous molecular cuisine have opened up chefs to new methods of preparing food. Globalization has opened the doors to other cultures and their cuisines and the use of new ingredients has now become possible. The revitalization of old, nearly forgotten cultivated plants inspires chefs to new (or old) creations. Vegetarian GaultMillau-rated restaurants – still unthinkable only a few years ago – are no longer rarities.

The density of vegetarian restaurants is also increasing in Vienna. Here are a few tips:

Tian Restaurant, Himmelpfortgasse 23, 1010 Vienna

The “noble” vegetarian restaurant reveals the variety of meatless cuisine at a high level. Chef Paul Ivic is Austria’s first three GaultMillau bonnet chef in a vegetarian restaurant, which was awarded 17 points by GaultMillau. The finest ingredients fuse into artistically served delicacies on your plate.

yamm!, Universitätsring 10, 1010 Vienna

With yamm!, a great new restaurant concept made its way to Vienna. Here, vegetarian cuisine is served at such a scope that it is without equal. The dishes at the buffet come from all over the world, from Mediterranean to Asian, in high quality.

Lebenbauer Vollwertrestaurant, Teinfaltstr. 3, 1010 Vienna

Lebenbauer has served whole foods and vegetarian dishes for over 20 years. They reveal just how creative and diversified healthy cuisine can taste. In their cozy and elegant ambiance there is also a great variety of wines.

“Mixed” tables (with vegetarians and meat eaters) are also in good hands in many other restaurants in Vienna. The threeSchick restaurants, Stefanie, Das Schick and Wiener Wirtschaft, all offer vegetarian dishes, and vegan dishes or those that cater to any allergies can also be prepared upon request.

“Die-hard” vegetarians are also in good hands in the Tafelspitz capital Vienna!