Restaurants
Alma Gastrotheque She spoils us with the best food and fine wines
Map
Opening Times
Tuesday to Thursday 18-23 h
Friday + Saturday 18-0 h
Address
Alma Gastrotheque
Große Neugasse 31
1040 Vienna-district 4
.How to get there
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price level
She is young and fresh, has charm and humour - my good friend Alma. A gifted cook and passionate hostess who always makes me feel at home, who always fills my belly with delicious food and caresses my soul with fine wines.
Alma stands for Alpine and Maritime because that is how - inspired by southern and local flavours - it is cooked in the restaurant's kitchen. In all the times I've dined there, the restaurant and team have grown close to my heart. Like a good friend, that is.
I've been there for dates, with girlfriends, parents, and babies - everyone feels at home at Alma. The room is hardly bigger than a Viennese living room in an old building, which emphasizes the homey atmosphere. Add to that the cosy velvet benches and the soft lighting. On the walls, only ornate mirrors and a few wine bottles emptied in convivial company. Discreet and cosy.
The great art is on the plate. Each time, I have the impulse to reach for my cell phone to photograph the food: Flowers of curled beet, clouds of fermented créme fraîche, nests of herbs studded with blossoms. Also a feast for the eyes: the natural wines served at Alma (from classic to funky), which shimmer in the glass in a choice of pale yellow, amber, or dark red.
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My evening usually begins with homemade labneh and (often oven-warm) focaccia. Then, when the round is large enough, all four appetizers are ordered (because everything always sounds good) and placed in the centre to share. Last time, it was a crisp salad of white cabbage and celery with oranges, pears and sardines, and - an all-times-favourite - deep-fried greens in tempura batter. Now in the fall version with kale and herbs.
Since almost everything is homemade and cooked only fresh, the main course selection is also small. Once fish or meat, once vegetarian, once surprise. Vegetables are treated with the same seriousness as meat at the Alma (still not a matter, of course). Cabbage is braised like roast pork until it's caramelized and creamy, mini pumpkins stuffed with chestnut lentil ragout, and seasonal vegetables deep-fried into vegetarian nuggets.
The products come mainly from farms in the region, which is why the menu changes weekly, and I'm always curious to see what names the cooks (there's female power in the Almaküche) have come up with for the dishes. They all came to cooking in a roundabout way - through passion, creativity and fun. And so their creations have humorous names like "Corn, Corn, Baby," "Skinny Dipping", or "Circle of Life."
Behind the latter are sourdough pancakes, which the team makes from leftover bread and old sourdough. The whey that drips off when the labneh is prepared is boiled down or used for risotto, and old focaccia is turned into dumplings and breadcrumbs. These are then used, for example, in the finely acidic bergamot cream that my good friend Alma serves me for dessert.
