Restaurant “Das Drittl”: You are no longer in Café Florianihof!
Some trends I'll never understand: Back when I was young, it was simply forbidden to combine red, orange, and—heaven forbid—pink. "That clashes," my mother always said. Nowadays, that exact combination is considered fashionable. It's called color blocking and could potentially cause eye strain.
In the brand-new "Das Drittl," housed in the former "Café Florianihof," this very look has been put into practice. Red walls, pink and colorful paintings by the artist Boicut. Architects Julia Vaziri and Lucia de la Dueña Sotelo have gone to great lengths to recapture the old Florianihof coffeehouse flair and resurrect the establishment as a trendy hotspot.
That fits, because that's exactly what "Das Drittl" was all along. The project became known through its evening events at the "Ährlich" bakery in Vienna's 9th district. There, it presented itself as a local concept that, while targeting food hipsters, also aimed to appeal to their stylish mothers. "Das Drittl" was run by an incredibly talented and super-friendly group of young, up-and-coming restaurateurs.
This team consists of Luca and Christoph Presser, Felix Mandl, Moritz Knoll, and Kourosh Vaziri, and they opened their first proper restaurant last week. Vaziri, who is in charge of operations, is euphoric: "We are incredibly happy to be able to operate in such a historic location. It was important to us to bring a breath of fresh air. People should understand that it's no longer the Florianihof. It's now the 'Third'." He also explains a bit of the courage the restaurateurs are showing here. The "Café Florianihof" location is considered cursed: everything that has opened here recently has had to close again soon after. "We believe that our evening concept is a good fit for the area and the clientele," says Vaziri. He might just be right.
As a guest, you currently have to choose: à la carte or a seven-course chef's choice menu (for a not-so-bad 67 euros)? We opted for the latter. Here are the highlights:
The incredibly crispy croquettes, filled with pumpkin and Gorgonzola (pictured above), are a spectacular start. Together with the gochujang-spiced aioli, the dish is savory, sweet, and spicy all at once.
One of the best appetizers you'll eat this year is the apricot carpaccio (pictured at the very top). The topping is what makes it special: dried grass-fed beef and a pistachio crumble meld together with the subtly used lamb fat vinaigrette to create a truly exceptional dish that simply must be experienced.
Even the seemingly unremarkable cucumber soup (pictured above) is spectacular. You can eat it with your fingers if you pour the soup into hollow dough balls. For the adventurous, you can spice things up with a jalapeño chutney – those things really pack a punch!
The beef cheek (pictured below) is incredibly tender, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with coriander. Wrapped in a leaf of the accompanying romaine lettuce, it's simply divine.
For dessert, there was a scoop of popcorn ice cream (pictured below), which didn't taste like corn but actually like popcorn, and a superb chocolate cake, which I personally wouldn't have topped with labneh. But that's probably a matter of taste.
The only thing that's really a matter of taste at the new "Drittl" is the occasional color combination – otherwise, everything fits together perfectly. Currently, it's only open in the evenings during the week, with brunch on weekends. They plan to start serving all day in October. If this doesn't work at this location, then nothing will. I have to admit: sometimes new things are better. Atmosphere: Was this a coffee house before? Recommendation: Try a good selection – there's more to it! Price range: Chef's Choice menu €67, appetizers €7–16, main courses €19–29, desserts €6–12. Das Drittl, Florianigasse 45, 1080 Vienna, dasdrittl.at, Mon–Fri 5 pm–midnight, Sat–Sun 9 am–4 pm.