Hotels
Loup-Garou To an aperitif with dear acquaintances
Map
Opening Times
Tuesday to Saturday: 5:00pm - 11:00pm
Address
Loup-garou X Blue Lime Project
Zieglergasse 38
1070 Vienna-district 7
.How to get there
"The beer can taste bad - the main thing is that the atmosphere is right and you feel welcome as a guest." This statement from the mouth of a bar owner may come as a surprise at first. However, Gilles Reuter certainly attaches importance to good drinks. Nor does it mean that there are no good drinks in the bar he opened with his business partners in the 7th district at the beginning of the year.
It means that the Loup-Garou places great value on conviviality. Everyone should feel comfortable and welcome here. "You can also go there alone, order a bottle of wine and share it with new acquaintances."
Loup-Garou is a familiar, communicative place. If only because the bar has room for just four tables, and the kitchen is barely bigger than a broom closet. It's like meeting up with friends at the house bar.
It's also a family place because - as Gilles emphasises - it's a community project supported by a passionate team. He doesn't like the word boss. Instead, he talks about sommelière Sara, who, at 25, has a "brutal knowledge of wine", or chef Jakob, who comes up with innovative dishes like pork skin puttanesca in his tiny kitchen (more on that later).
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Pictures of the team, acquaintances and producer friends hang on the wood-panelled wall. The interior is still somewhat reminiscent of the Beisl that used to be here. The wooden wall panelling, and the dim round lights were allowed to stay. To ensure it doesn't get too rustic, a bright bar counter and large-format photographs have been added, which seem abstract at first glance.
On closer inspection, you realise what is depicted: sparkling wine, cured meat, and a sow shortly before slaughter. The pigskin pasta, among other things, was made from this. Yet, visually, they are hardly distinguishable from traditional tagliatelle. And in terms of taste, they also blend in well with the creamy, salty tomato sauce, except that it tastes a little more full-bodied and fatty, in keeping with the restaurant's credo: "Fat, salt and alcohol."
The pig was slaughtered especially for the restaurant before opening and is now processed "nose to tail" piece by piece. Recently, venison "picked up from the hunter in the morning" and seasonal vegetarian specials like Marchfeld asparagus with peanut miso, creamy hollandaise, and butter-soft cooked egg.
Unpretentious feel-good cuisine, or, as it says on the board at the entrance: "Fine Dine". Snacks ("Nasty Nibbles") such as olives, antipasti or bifana (a Portuguese sandwich filled with pork) are also on the menu. "Mediterranean, but thought around the corner", as Gilles says, who, like his business partner Gianni, grew up in Luxembourg as the son of Italian immigrants.
They ended up in the restaurant business rather by chance. After small catering jobs during their university days, they opened their café with Wolfgang and their cocktail bar with the perfumery. At Loup-Garou, the focus is now on aperitivo culture and wine. The selection ranges from Argentina, Italy and Spain to Slovakia. Only natural wines and naturally fermented Pét Nats, such as the sparkling wine from the Schödl siblings, are served.
The aperitivo evergreens Campari and Aperol are served not only as a classic Spritz or Negroni but also flavoured with thyme tea and strawberry or sage from the tap. A lightly herbal, wonderfully refreshing summer drink.
When the weather is nice, you can sit outside on the small forecourt with drinks and snacks - the neighbouring church gives the whole thing an almost village setting. Or you can stand inside at the bar, where - thanks to the friendly confines - you quickly make friends.
This brings us back to the opening quote: A feel-good atmosphere makes up for bad drinks. So it's good that you don't have to choose at Loup-Garou because here you get both: a feel-good atmosphere and good-tasting drinks.
