The wine list has a number of pricey options, with some more reasonable choices sprinkled throughout, and an impressive showing of Austrian wines. Karen and I like to go with the “when in Rome, drink as” mindset, so we chose a reasonable bottle of 2008 Roter Veltliner by Leth, Hofweingarten, Wagram. We both loved this nice, medium bodied white that went very well with everything we ate.
Seasonal offers a 3-course Taste of Austria, a 5-course tasting, or an ala carte menu. We went with the Taste of Austria menu, which is a relatively reasonable $52. Our Taste of Austria began with an amuse bouche that was a really flavorful bite of smoked mackerel and tomato topped with a leek emulsion sauce. I really liked the light smokiness combined with the leek, a nice start.
When our amuse plates were removed, the bread basket arrived. The bread basket had a choice of a brown bread and then a lighter rye/pumpernickel type bread and was accompanied by two different spreads, paprika and pumpkin seed. Strike one was that the bread was cold. But then I slathered a piece with the paprika spread and forgave this minor misstep. The paprika spread was slightly smoky and just absolutely delicious on the brown bread. The pumpkin seed spread was also very good but couldn’t come close to how wonderful the paprika was. Although, since both were completely gone when they came to clear the bread basket and bring the appetizers, no one would believe we had a favorite!
There are three choices for each course on the Taste of Austria menu. For her appetizer, Karen ordered the Pocherietes Ei, which is a soft poached egg, lobster, hen of the woods mushrooms, and pumpernickel bread crumbs. The mushrooms and bread crumbs were lightly fried and crispy, which added so much depth and paired perfectly with the velvety poached egg and delicate lobster meat. It was such a gorgeous dish, with a nice salty and earthy mushroom flavor. For my appetizer, I ordered the schweinebauch, pork belly with romaine, anchovy, and potato. The pork belly was of the melt in your mouth without a crisp skin variety, and was perhaps the best version of this type of pork belly I’ve ever had. It was served over a meat jus along with a sweet green puree of romaine, some herbs and spinach and mini little potatoes with crispy salty anchovies on top. I LOVED this fabulous pork dish and the rich meat jus.
For my entrée I ordered the weiner schnitzel. When it arrived, I was in awe of the puffy batter on the thin veal. It was the ideal dish of salty, crispy batter surrounding gorgeously moist veal with some sweet lingonberries to spread on top. Oh and the Austrian potato salad was AMAZING...served warm with a vinegary-mustard undertone. The only complaint I have about this potato salad was that there wasn’t enough on my plate! The presentation of the accompanying shredded cucumber salad in a little oval was beautiful but it was difficult to take a bite of. The flavor was good but not worth the hassle! I would’ve taken double the potato salad in its place. Karen chose the Tafelspitz, which was flatiron steak, oxtail consommé with a trio of sauces (apple, horseradish, and spinach) and a side of rosti (potato pancake). The waiter explained that the steak actually comes in a soup type dish covered in the consommé. He said they feel the need to explain this, as some people order it and are not expecting the outcome. Despite the fact that it was a soup-type presentation, Karen opted to stick with her order. I’m glad she did because the steak was excellent. The steak had a good deal of fat on it, in a good way, and the broth and sauces were perfect pairings. I liked the sweetish apple and the spicy horseradish sauces the most. The potato pancake was delicious, as all fried potatoes should be. I also ordered a side of the spaetzle, because I just love the stuff. Seasonal’s version did not disappoint. It had a buttery herb flavor and soft texture that brought back childhood memories of my favorite pasta roni noodles!
For dessert, Karen ordered the blaubeeren-topfentorte, which is blueberry, topfen (a soft cheese), and chocolate crumbs. It was sort of a trifle of blueberry cheesecake and was extremely good. I had the Kaiserschmarrn, which is crumbled caramelized pancakes with apple compote. These were so amazing. I loved the crispy sweet pancakes and have already looked up a recipe to recreate these at home!
With our check, a mini jelly sour and a raspberry square arrived. Neither of us were wowed by either of these.
Seasonal was a delightful meal that is worthy of a Michelin star. I think the fact that I would like to go back to Seasonal and also try out its sister restaurant Edi and the Wolf says it all.
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