Am Roan

Review

Mulholland fried chicken

The Häuserl am Roan was a prime example of the "excursion inn" category. Including a clinker terrace with green plastic armchairs, not too sparingly used rustic decor and of course a large parking lot. Yes, not the most attractive on the Höhenstraße, a little out of date, but a practical starting or finishing point for a short hike, and the food wasn't bad at all.
Sophie Baumgartner and Franz Mayer-Heinisch - she was born in Kritzendorf and trained in gastronomy in Klessheim, working at Do & Co and in the events sector; he is a trained chef with prestigious positions at Mraz & Sohn and Konstantin Filippou - had run the restaurant at the yacht club on Lake Attersee for three years, but then wanted to return home to the Vienna Woods.
They had actually been looking for an event location for five years, but when they saw the Häuserl am Roan, they were "shockingly in love", Baumgartner recalls. Especially when the long-time owner Erika Mayer showed them photos of the Häuserl as it had looked before it was renovated in the 1980s. At some point, they were able to come to an agreement and Baumgartner and Mayer-Heinisch set about renovating it: the terrace is now made of wood, the floor is poured, everything is light grey and natural wood, the windows were made by a carpenter, everything is very bright, open, sober and kitsch-free. When it comes to the menu, they try to strike a balance between excursion restaurant standards and modern, fresh, vegetarian cuisine, with a clear focus on the latter. The crispy brown breads are no longer overloaded with bacon and mushrooms and then topped with cheap cheese, but instead come with a quail bean hummus or melanzani puree topping (€5.50 to €6).
The choice of starters is difficult: beef tartare with whiskey, anchovies and ras el hanout sounds great, as does the caramelized fennel with lemon sour cream - great vegetables, it's a shame they're so rare (€ 11.50). There's clearly no way around the wild boar spring rolls with Viennese cucumber kimchi, which were also very good, although the pulled wild boar filling could perhaps do with a vegetable component (€ 12.80). What you shouldn't have here is a problem with dogs or a dog that has problems with dogs. And then you go outside, it's getting dark, Vienna is sparkling down there and almost reminds you a little of Los Angeles from Mulholland Drive. Almost. The takeover, renovation and redesign of an old restaurant can certainly be a success.

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