Monte Ofelio Bar Schottenbastei

Review

Granitissima!

It's not that difficult to see Italians in Vienna. But nowhere is the density of Italians greater than in Dario and Luca Formisano's delicatessen bar in Obere Augartenstraße. Since it opened five years ago, Monte Ofelio has not only hosted Italians, it's practically their home. The menu and quality are Italian, the staff and guests are Italian, and the atmosphere and colloquial language are Italian. At Monte Ofelio, you become a little Italian yourself. And because the small store with its good food, cocktails and espressos was buzzing from day one, the brothers had been thinking about a second restaurant for a long time. There was talk of a restaurant in the Karmeliterviertel, and two years ago they briefly had the Filmbar near the Albertina. But somehow they never found the right place. Maybe now they have, because they recently took over Maria Fuchs' wonderful Cin Cin, which the Pizza Mari' boss used to make the most authentic aperitivo bar in the city in 2016: architect Hermann Czech created a dense atmosphere in the tiny space, Fuchs even set up a bakery next to it, a lot of ambition in a very small space - it didn't work out last year. The Formisanos didn't change anything at all, because you can't make this place any more beautiful. But they brought their team with them, charming southern Italians who know what they're doing, such as mixing wonderfully refreshing summer drinks like the Cynar Spritz (€ 7.80) from bitter Italian liqueurs. And you won't find better tramezzini anywhere at the moment: few ingredients, but the best, such as salami from a small Piedmontese producer, artichoke cream, tomatoes, done. Delicious (€ 4.80). However, this small bar will probably become the talk of the town because of the insanely good pastries that are freshly made in the bakery next door, such as the crispy coda d'aragosta, a legendary puff pastry roll from Naples that is filled with pistachio cream. Oida! But there's more to it than that: Luckily, the Monte Ofelios don't do without granita, the stirred sorbet from the vending machine, without which an Italian summer just isn't an Italian summer. Two different ones are made, one from lemon juice, of course, and one from two different types of Sicilian almond. You can then have a - first-class - espresso poured over them. Bistdudeppert, I don't think I've ever had better iced coffee (€ 5.40). And if that's not enough to make you ecstatic, you can also have an Italian buffalo milk Bailey's poured over it, but a doctor should be present. Summary: Monte Ofelio got a sister that looks different, offers something different and espresso with almond granita.

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