Pastamara – Bar con Cucina

Review

At the summit of Monte Negroni

Photo: Heribert Corn It all started a bit strangely with this hotel. At first, the Shangri-La luxury hotel didn't want to move in, Ritz-Carlton (85 hotels worldwide) stepped in and started operations in 2012, the restaurant with the irritating name Dstrikt was initially used for "new home cooking" and flopped. The second attempt as an elegant steakhouse then worked quite well, and there is also a rooftop bar on the roof in summer, which is not bad either. Now you would think that two successful restaurants are already a lot for a Viennese luxury hotel, as most of them don't even have one, but another one was recently designed: The lobby in the basement was to become a place "where everything is possible", i.e. having a drink, an espresso, breakfast, a snack, fine dining.
For Pastamara, Taruella Trenchs from Barcelona built a very large, very open bar with a central counter and sought advice from Sicilian two-star chef Ciccio Sultano, who designed everything from breakfast to the wine list to the (great) menu and kindly brought in his young chef Nicola Zamperetti. And lo and behold, the thing worked from the very first minute. But now for the highlight: Sultano also designed an aperitivo menu, which lists eleven delicious small dishes/tapas that you can get here from 5 pm. And: in collaboration with Campari, the Ritz-Carlton had a Negroni trolley built, which you can order to your table for 19 euros to watch a Negroni making show. And it's great: the Negroni MC first hands you three freshly sprayed scents - fruity, orangey, woody - which he then uses to make the cocktail. With Italian gin, Italian vermouth, French orange liqueur and a shot of Campari from a special barrel-aged edition that has only been available since last year and is very rare. Yes, it costs as much as two Negronis, but it's also twice as good. And what you get with it is also amazing. "Antipasto Ciccio Sultano", a selection of grilled and marinated artichokes and roasted and marinated olives, is definitely the perfect accompaniment to the Negroni (€12), while "Pane e Panelle", two small burgers filled with chickpea patties, is reminiscent of the fantastic Ligurian farinata, that Rätus Wetter once made at Expedit (€ 4.00), the raw Mazara prawn is of course absolutely great, but unfortunately only makes three bites (€ 10.78), and the two oysters with pistachio cream could definitely be eaten more often during the day, not just with a Negroni (€ 9.00). A great experience, the best reason in a long time to go out to eat at the hotel. Summary: Italian aperitif culture without compromise - with insanely good snacks and a great Negroni. Pastamara 1st, Schubertring 5-7, tel. 01/311 88-0, daily 8-23.30,

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