propeller

Review

The good sides of the 80s

Photo: Heribert Corn When you sit in the new Propeller on Margaretenstraße now, you wonder what used to be in there. You may vaguely remember having been here before, at some birthday party in the basement, of which you hope that all the photos have been destroyed or at least are incredibly blurred. But names, offers, appearance - darkness. Only after much research do the names come back: Engels, for example, or aQuadrat, and there used to be an antique store in there. And the square is actually right in the middle of Viennese urbanism, everyone lives here, everyone has their studios here, everyone goes to the movies here. But there wasn't really a casual neighborhood pub. Not even the bohemian pub that lawyer Stefan Winkler and bar owner Clemens Winkler (no relation) looked at in Margaretenstraße when they were looking for a place for their new project. But when they stood there after the inspection, having a smoke and seeing the bar on the other side of the street, they thought it could be just that. When they rebuilt, they didn't cover the windows, says Stefan Winkler, so people could watch something being created here. One possible reason why the Propeller was full from day one. Perhaps also because it has such a cool 80s name and the 80s are currently experiencing a strong comeback. Perhaps also because the two of them avoided any kind of attitude when designing the Propeller. The Propeller is not particularly stylish, it lives more from the beauty of the large room with the large windows, no designer lamps, no works of art, white walls, industrial parquet flooring, minimalist bar, done. No, not quite, because the Propeller also has a kitchen, which is run by Lorenz Wallmann, who used to work at Skopik&Lohn, and who cooks far better here than they did in the 80s in restaurants that looked a lot like the Propeller. At lunchtime, for example, a great soup, a meaty stew and a worthy vegetarian dish. In the evening, a selection of toasts and sandwiches, all with a certain gourmet appeal, with home-roasted roast beef or home-marinated salmon, Öfferl bread. The vegan sandwich with tomatoes, red cabbage, parsley, garlic, artichokes and great fried oyster mushrooms from Donnerskirchen is really good (€ 7.50), the club sandwich with porchetta, tomatoes, rocket and a sweet root cream is first class (€ 8.00), the cream of leek soup fresh and green and delicious (€ 3.00/5.50). There is no craft beer, no natural wines and no burgers, "a conscious decision", says Stefan Winkler, "if we had burgers, they would be top. But everyone else has burgers anyway." Summary A restaurant that dispenses with almost everything that is considered indispensable today - design, DJs, craft beer, burgers. Propeller 4, Margaretenstraße 55, Tue-Thu 9-24, Fri 9-2, Sat 10-2, Sun 10-16, tel. 01/992 21 27,

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