Café Das Hegel

Review

Salmon Hegelian

Café Hegelhof was a strange case: not one of the classic Viennese coffee houses, more a mixture of pub and café, having emerged from the former Mery Bar in 1921; inconspicuous to uninviting on the outside, rather small and sparse on the inside, the ugly tiled floor was notorious. Of course, there are people who prefer ugly coffee houses to magnificent ones - a charming quirk. But that didn't help the Hegelhof, which closed after a renovation phase during the lockdown and was recently taken over by the Riz-Bohdal family. Eva Maria Riz-Bohdal is a general practitioner in Gersthof, medical director of two senior residences and mother of five children. Because some people apparently need little sleep, in 2017 Ms. Riz-Bohdal and her family also acquired the former Nierscher in Weidling, a huge Heurigenhof with its own vineyards, a huge children's playground, a beautiful natural garden and various animals. They spent a year renovating the place, replacing the kitsch with a beautiful, homely aesthetic, modernizing the Heurigen menu and adding Mediterranean accents. The sheep and goats stayed, but why now the former Hegelhof? Luis Riz-Bohdal explains that, on the one hand, it just came about, and on the other hand, they see an inner-city restaurant as an opportunity to keep the core team of the Sommerheurigen in Weidling busy all year round. "And it's a small restaurant, you can try things out here, realize yourself." Especially in terms of design. The Hegel is nothing like its predecessor, now elegantly dressed in gray and white, with olive branches in the table vases. The menu is still reminiscent of the Heurigen and refers to it with the Weidlinger salad and the Weidlinger Fleischlaberln. The wines come from the restaurant's own vineyards. In contrast to the Leberkässemmel, ham sandwiches and pulled pork burger served there, the Hegel focuses on ciabatta, bagels and crispy chicken - avocado and salmon are also a must. The Weidlinger Laibchen were quite interesting, by the way, because they are made from 100 percent minced beef and are therefore as dry as Fleischlaberln used to be before they were made from half bread rolls. They are almost a little reminiscent of dried meat biltong, can certainly be kept forever and are suitable as emergency rations (€ 18). Unfortunately, the coffee is just as badly made as in most Viennese coffee houses, so at least they remain faithful to this tradition. A coffee house that was never really a coffee house and is even less of one now. But nicer and with a modern menu.

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