Fotoeins Fotografie

What appears to be a plate of slow simmered beef is anything but “simple”.

“Tafelspitz is a dish with a lot going on,” said Austrian chef Kurt Gutenbrunner to the New York Times in 2002. “It’s hot, cold, spicy, creamy, crunchy and soft.”

Eaten daily by Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph I (1830-1916), the dish is well-known among Vienna favourites. Among members of the Jewish community of the time, the Tafelspitz was a beloved symbol of assimilation in late 19th-century/early 20th-century Vienna.

Reading about the description for Tafelspitz brings about a sharp childhood memory of a soup made by Mum. Tender chunks of chuck roast, accompanied by carrots, potatoes, celery, shards of ginger root, and often with apple to provide extra sweet; cooked slow and simmering in a huge pot on the stovetop for hours. The resulting soup was a meal on its own, or served as a final course at dinner.

Plachutta is well-known among the Viennese for making some of the best Tafelspitz in the city. A big Plachutta is located centrally in the inner city, but I head west to the city’s 13th district for their original Stammhaus location in Hietzing. It’s fitting somehow that the Hietzing location is close to the Habsburg summer palace at Schönbrunn.

The images show a wonderful spread with the Tafelspitz dish with my choice of the Tafelspitz or rump steak cut. I started with the long slow simmered soup broth, ladled out into a bowl with big chunks of egg frittata. And provided within a bowl of soup are the specific details of family: nourishing, caring, satisfying.

After a section of slow-cooked bone is presented, I spread the soft gelatinous marrow onto slices of toasted dark bread, topped with salt and pepper. Next, slices of moist tender slow-cooked beef are laid onto a plate, along with crunchy fried potatoes, creamed spinach, apple-horseradish sauce, and chive sauce.

Certainly, I paid a little more for the meal, but the Plachutta Tafelspitz was a great dining experience, providing a new memory of Viennese cuisine, combined with a family memory of Cantonese-style home-cooked food.

Plachutta Stammhaus Hietzing is at Auhofstrasse 1, about 5 minutes on foot from Schönbrunner Schlosspark’s northwest gate, Hietzinger Tor.

Restaurant seating.

My table near the front door.

Tafelspitz dish, the complete spread. The soup and marrow are starters; the “main event” is still in the big soup pot.

Beef marrow, scooped and spread on toasted dark bread, and topped with salt and pepper.

Tafelspitz dish, with the Tafelspitz cut. “It’s hot, cold, spicy, creamy, crunchy and soft.”

Rindfleischschnitte / beef cuts. The Tafelspitz cut is also known as the “rump (roast).”

Directions

•   Public transport with Wiener Linien: U4 to station Hietzing; then 0.5 km walk, or tram 10 or 60 to stop Dommayergasse.

My visit to Plachutta Stammhaus Hietzing was neither requested nor sponsored. I made all photos above on 3 Jun 2022 with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-mSS.