Every city has one family trattoria it is proud of, and in Vienna, Il Mare is it—where the pizza is thinly crust and tasty, the pasta al dente, the classic pasta preparations straightforward and flavorful, the bread and the olive oil good, the bill at the end of the meal won’t cause too much of a dent on your wallet, and the service happy and twinkly all the way, full of Italian words and hand gestures thrown in.
Since it was the season of steinpilze (also known as cep mushrooms or porcini) we ordered a heapful of them with our wonderful spaghetti all aglio e olio for our first course. All of our mains were damn good too, in the way only homemade cooking can be: a very edible pizza ai funghi, demolished within minutes; top-notch scaloppine al limone (veal escalopes in lemon sauce) that balanced butter, lemon zest and white wine very nicely; a delightfully sprightly-looking grilled branzino, served plainly—the only way it should be—with boiled potatoes and arugula—and a fine filetto all’aceto balsamico (beef fillets with balsamic vinegar).
Cap your meal with a zabaglione that will keep you away the next morning from the hard-to-resist topfengolatsche at your nearest Aida.
