Furore – Bar Café

Review

A construction site causes a sensation

Neustiftgasse is generally not an easy location, with a road cutting and daily traffic jams out of town. With the construction site of the U2/U5 junction at Augustinplatz, the situation has not exactly improved, with construction equipment and dirt adding to the traffic noise. Aside from the fact that the square's previously delicate feel is now buried behind palisades and won't change in the next five years. But Yusuf Shaker already knows the situation. For five years, he ran the Café Sous Bois here together with his ex-wife Chloé Thomas, which to a certain extent translated the French lifestyle of the wonderful Papeterie Sous Bois right next door into gastronomic terms: with baguettes, salads, croissants, brioches and café au lait. Now they have split up, Chloé Thomas has taken over the larger café with her Papeterie and Yusuf Shaker has taken over the smaller store with his restaurant. And thought that he would take this as an opportunity to finally realize his dream of a casual aperitivo street food bar. And perhaps also to pursue the concept of cafés in his home country of Iraq a little more consistently than he had succeeded in doing in the café: "Here in Iraq, there are no boundaries, no barriers between visitors to a restaurant, everyone chats to everyone, plays backgammon together". He wanted to combine this atmosphere, the aperitivo culture of Milan, focaccia like in Genoa, a bit of southern French bar flair and Berlin shabby chic to create a bar called Furore, "combining the good things from everywhere". There is something inspiring about Yusuf Shaker's ambition. He has been living in Austria for ten years now and you really don't get the feeling that it is doubt, procrastination or lazing around that shapes his character. He designed the restaurant himself and he has succeeded quite well. The wines, a Prosecco and lots of other great things from southern Italy, which he serves at really reasonable prices, he got from his friends, the Formisano brothers from Monte Ofelio, "Family!", laughs Yusuf. And the focaccie are nothing but great: filled with bresaola or mortadella, topped with provolone or stracciatella, spinach, rocket, artichokes, Tropea onions, fried melanzani or zucchinis ... extremely good (€ 12.90-14.90). Doesn't he worry about clashing with the nearby restaurants Atlas, Espresso, Forno? No, that's something completely different, and "all family!". And the paralyzing and noisy construction site outside the door? "We'll survive that," says Yusuf Shaker, "and until then we'll make a splash!" A great little aperitivo bar with inexpensive Italian wines and great filled sandwiches. Which doesn't let the building site outside the door get it down.

More in Bar, Nightclub
Food & Drink in Vienna