Fuhrmann

Review

Drinking for advanced drinkers

Photo: Julia Fuchs Hermann Botolen is a household name in the culinary scene, as he is one of the best sommeliers in the country. As a young man, he was lucky enough to be introduced to the art of Burgundy at the legendary Altwienerhof in Herklotzgasse by the equally legendary chef Rudi Kellner. Later, Botolen was manager of the first Wein&Co branch in Habsburgergasse, then restaurant manager and sommelier at Meinl am Graben under Christian Petz and Joachim Gradwohl. Quite a few people, for whom enjoyment is very important, rave about this time as the culinary golden age in Vienna. In recent years, Botolen then appeared briefly at Artner on Franziskanerplatz, but above all in the newly renovated Dom-Beisl, which he turned into one of the best addresses in the city for sophisticated wine consumption in just a few weeks in 2012. It closed its doors last year and Botolen looked for his first own restaurant, finding Hohensinn in Fuhrmannsgasse. Even before that, the restaurant was not exactly the epitome of experimental interior design, which Hermann Botolen and his wife Barbara Koth did not change - you could certainly describe the Fuhrmann restaurant as a bit staid. But firstly, that doesn't matter at all here and secondly, you can be glad that Botolen didn't reserve any budget items for eccentric design, but invested all the more in his wine list, because he knows his way around here and Hermann Botolen can turn an evening into a special evening with wine: 500 different positions, emphasis on Burgundy, Germany and Austria, never the mainstreamers, priced so that they also move and you can afford a bottle of Burgundy, even if you haven't just inherited rich, also the open wines special, rare and delicious. "I don't keep the wines on the menu forever, I want people to drink them." The food is also good, home-style, a little conservative. A very mild, very green wild garlic cream soup with a somewhat peculiar garnish in the form of slices of a buckwheat block (€ 8.40), very good potted dumplings, fried in nut butter with braised and deep-fried beetroot and chickweed (€ 11.70) or really very crispy fried oven potatoes with sour cream, wild herbs and beef marrow - a very great combination (€ 7.20). And the poached char with a delicately sweet ox heart carrot puree and safflower oil was really great, even alongside the vibrantly delicious 2010 Burgundy from Confuron (€ 23.40). You'll probably never come here just to eat, the kitchen will always have to compete a little with the wine cellar. To sum up: one of the best sommeliers in the country now has his own restaurant. Fuhrmann 8th, Fuhrmannsgasse 9 Tel. 944 43 24 11.30-14.30, 18-23.30 www.restaurantfuhrmann.com

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