Fotoeins Fotografie

Above/featured: “Beethovenhaus” Heuriger Mayer am Pfarrplatz. Pfarrplatz square in Vienna’s Heiligenstadt, Döbling distrct (19.)

It’s a nation-wide holiday on the 26th of May (2022): Ascension of Christ (Christi Himmelfahrt). On a bright and warm late-spring day, people are out and about, and very few shops are open.

I’m halfway through my month-long stay in Vienna, and today, I’m in the city’s 19th district, Döbling, where in his time Beethoven spent many summers resting, composing, and contemplating life with total hearing loss. I’ve spent the morning wandering through the Heiligenstadt neighbourhood, including a visit to one of his summer residences that’s now a museum dedicated to Beethoven. Not far down the street is another Beethoven summer house that’s now a wine tavern or “Heuriger“. A hanging bunch of pine branches at the front door means this tavern is open for service, with food and their own wine on offer.

The Austrian capital city is home to the world’s largest “urban vineyard” and is the world’s only capital city producing wine within its city limits. There are some 600 wine producers; 400 individual vineyards; over 7 million square metres (75 million square feet) of cultivation space producing both white and red wines in a 80/20 split, respectively; and an average annual yield of 2 million litres or over 2.5 million bottles of wine. Most of the wine is sold for immediate consumption at wine shops and grocery stores, and at the city’s many wine taverns. The Mayer family has been making wine here in Heiligenstadt since the late 17th-century after the combined European forces successfully repelled the (second) Ottoman siege of Vienna.

Inside the Mayer wine tavern: a look, sip, & nosh

Inside the front entrance to Mayer’s Heuriger at Pfarrplatz is an open courtyard decorated by braids of green vine leaves. 1pm on a holiday is going to be busy, and most tables in shade in the outdoor patio are occupied. I don’t intend to linger; so, I take an open spot under sun. A waiter comes by and asks if there’s something I’d like to drink. I request an “Achtel” (“eighth”, 125mL) of Mayer’s own 2021 Grüner Veltliner, and ask whether’s a buffet today. The food counters are around the corner, he replies, handing me a slip of paper with my assigned-table number. I can pay for the food upon ordering at the counter, or I can pay when I’m done. Inside, there’s the unmistakable glow and refrigerated chill of the food counters. There are salads of the German/Austrian kind (no much of the green leafy kind, though); pickles and Sauerkraut; fatty, meaty, cheesy spreads for bread; the “usual suspects” including pan-fried potatoes, roast-pork and -chicken, sausage, blood sausage; cold cuts and cheeses; and naturally, a dessert display.

I’m not gonna eat too much or fill up on carbs on this very warm afternoon. Keeping it simple, I’ve a tomato and onion salad, to go with a pork Bratwurst, a meat patty (Faschierte Laibchen/Frikadellen), and a big juicy slice of caraway-roasted pork (Kummelbraten). Staff behind the counter ask if I want “Saft” (gravy/juices) with the meat choices. “Ja, bitte!”

The tomato and onion mix is a little sweet and sour. This along with the smooth yet sharpness of the wine provide a lighter taste balance to the “heavier” meat portions. The Bratwurst and meat patty are very good, but the Kummelbraten. Oh, the Kummelbraten. The outside is crunchy-chewy (knackig), and the pork is juicy (saftig) and delicious (gewürzt). It’s a style of old-fashioned cooking my parents would have recognized and enjoyed.

The tavern provides a cozy setting. People are shuttling between their tables and the food counters, and there’s a happy murmur to the conversations around me. The young and old fill up tables in both front- and back-garden seating areas. In my view, it’s a pricey meal for one person; yet, I was tempted by the Cremeschnitte on display. However, I also think sharing a variety of food and splitting a bottle of their white vine among a group of people would be a fun spread for an afternoon or evening.

Ausg’steckt! Buschenschank or Heuriger, with a big food buffet of hot and cold options and covered seating out back.

“For centuries, Viennese winegrowers have had the right to serve their own wine. This privilege was renewed by Emperor Josef II in 1784. With the label ‘Wiener Eigenbau’, Viennese winegrowers vouch for the fact that only home-produced wine is served in this building. This plaque and the (hanging) pine bush distinguish this genuine Viennese Heuriger from other commercial inns.”

Was du heute kannst entkorken, das verschiebe nicht auf morgen! // What you can uncork today, don’t put off `til tomorrow!

Outdoor seating, inner courtyard.

Buffet counter: sliced meats and cheeses, sold in units of 100 grams (about 0.25 pound).

Salads, bread rolls, and bread spreads.

Roasted meats, sausage, potato dishes, grilled vegetables.

Desserts.

A modest spread on a warm afternoon: tomato and onion salad; an “Achtel” glass (“eighth” or 125 mL) of Mayer’s own 2021 Grüner Veltliner white wine; grilled pork Bratwurst, meat patty (Faschierte Laibchen / Frikadellen), thick slice of caraway-roasted pork (Kummelbraten).

Back-patio outdoor seating.

Indoor seating.

One last look inside. Perhaps I should’ve had Strudel (top shelf: Topfen, Apfel), or Punschkrapferl (pink squares).

One last look outside. A bunch of pine branches hangs over the main entrance.

Directions

Public transport with Wiener Linien: U-Bahn U4 train to station “Heiligenstadt”, followed by bus 38A to stop “Fernsprechamt Heiligenstadt”.

( View map location at OpenStreetMap )

My visit to Mayer am Pfarrplatz was neither requested nor sponsored. I made all images above with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime on 26 May 2022. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-nq0.