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The biggest misperception about Viennese cuisine," Peter Grunauer says, "is that it's German. Viennese food is lighter, less greasy."
A glance at the menu that Grunauer has created for his namesake restaurant in the Crossroads might add to the confusion, though. Much of the fare on the menu is as traditional to Deutschland as beer, Beethoven and bratwurst. Grunauer's best-selling dishes right now are Wiener schnitzel and Schweinebraten. If the serving staff were made up of busty Aryan babes in dirndls — a staple of cinema scenes set in Berlin beer gardens — instead of swarthy men, you might suspect Grunauer, the restaurant, of being more of a cultural novelty than a culinary innovation for the Freight House District.
The 1974 edition of The Cooking of Vienna's Empire explains that during the apex of the once-sprawling Austro-Hungarian Empire, the most important culinary contributors were "those encompassed by present-day Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia." A similar dish made in Budapest might taste completely different in Vienna, the cookbook writers note, because the Hungarians use more spices.
But no one will say that Grunauer, who learned to cook while watching his mother at work in the family restaurant, keeps a heavy hand in the spice cabinet. His restaurant's house-made sausages are mild (though one of the wursts is served with a sultry curry sauce), and even his Hungarian beef goulash, which bears absolutely no resemblance to the American bastardization of the dish, is prepared with a discreet hand on the paprika jar.
A charming host and raconteur, Grunauer learned early the ways of the American palate. His journey has taken him from Vienna to a cruise ship — he celebrated his 21st birthday at sea, surrounded by bottles of expensive champagne from his crewmates — to the legendary Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn, where he earned more money in one night than in a week as a server on the cruise ship. In the early 1970s, he worked as a mâitre d' for that era's best-known disco restaurateur, Regine, and saved enough money to open his first restaurant, Vienna 79. It was a high-end venue and very snobby, according to The Restaurants of New York, 1981-82, which calls the staff unctuous and reports that "some of the dishes on the menu are actually Viennese, at least vaguely." Most of the critical reviews of Vienna 79, including Mimi Sheraton's, were positive, but the economics of Manhattan were changing, and Grunauer closed that restaurant in 1989, turning his focus to his less-expensive bistro, Fledermaus (which closed in 1996).
Grunauer married a pretty TWA flight attendant and had two children, Elizabeth and Nicholas, who were raised — during their teen years, anyway — in Kansas City. Now adults, Nicholas and Elizabeth, are running the day-to-day operations at Grunauer, which has slipped into the former City Tavern space with very little redecoration. In fact, the space that owner Dan Clothier originally created for his steakhouse — brick walls, antique mirrors, distressed wood floors, soaring ceilings — turns out to be an even better setting for a culinary concept that evokes 19th-century Europe. Peter Grunauer serves only Julius Meinl coffee (a Vienna roasterie dating back to 1862) and imports his Sacher torte and apple strudel from the New York City outpost of the historic Demel patisserie, which was the official bakery of Emperor Franz Joseph.
Even though Kansas City was settled by a large German-American community, the cuisine of Deutschland and the Austro-Hungarian empire has never been fully embraced here. The only remaining German restaurant in the metro, for example, is the Rheinland in Independence. "Who wants to eat sausages and potatoes?" grouses one friend of mine. "And bread and butter!"
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I had the Hungarian Beef. It had two pieces of beef about the size of silver dollars, and 1/2 cup of spatzle. That's it. I had to go home and get something to eat, after a $120 tab for 3 of us.
I went to Grünauer and it was delicious! I had the Hungarian Goulash, which was easily the best goulash I have ever had. My friends had the Wiener Schnitzel and the sausage sampler. Both excellent as well. Dessert for me was the warm cheese strudel. I shouldn't have had the dessert, but it was so worth it. I am looking forward to coming back on a Saturday when they have Eisbein as the special.
I went to Grünauer and it was delicious! I had the Hungarian Goulash, which was easily the best goulash I have ever had. My friends had the Wiener Schnitzel and the sausage sampler. Both excellent as well. Dessert for me was the warm cheese strudel. I shouldn't have had the dessert, but it was so worth it. I am looking forward to coming back on a Saturday when they have Eisbein as the special.
Seems to me that a Viennese "Chef" with a Viennese restaurant would want to serve his own fresh Sacher Torte. It is not that difficult, or expensive.
But what do I know??
Seems to me that a Viennese "Chef" with a Viennese restaurant would want to serve his own fresh Sacher Torte. It is not that difficult, or expensive. But what do I know??
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