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THE TEMPLES OF THE COCKTAIL MARTINI
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Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom, Wien
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If you decide to visit Vienna and want to get the best 5-stars hotel, you will probably prefer to avoid the weary, often abused 'old school' hotels near the Opera; you might get a better chance of finding real luxury and cleanliness and comfort in the futuristic approach in the Sofitel Stephansdom. Its striking silhouette and 18-storey profile allows its patrons to get a breathtaking view of the Old Vienna while enjoying the refined opulence of this stylish hotel. When you order a Martini in the 'Le Loft' bar at the 18th floor, the once-legendary Prater ferris wheel will seem incredibly small. The Martini cocktail that they will serve you is quite small as well, not particularly cold, and the overall sensation is that the bartender doesn't have a clue of what a real Martini is, but it's quite decent anyway and you will sip it having a breathtaking view of the Stephansdom and Vienna at you feet.
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This spectacular view will allow you a condiscendent attitude towards the resturant of the Sofitel, where you would probably prefer to have dinner if a) you are a patron of the hotel and b) you already drank a couple of Martinis there and don't want to walk out of the hotel. Well, any favourable attitude towards this restaurant will have to be abandoned soon. 'This is a French restaurant', the waiter intones despondently as you ask him about the possibility of ordering Austrian specialties, and you are left with a menu full of fish, lobsters and the like. As if one well-seasoned international traveller would have to travel to Vienna, of all places, to eat a (probably frozen) lobster! Cocking a snook at local specialties is silly: even the majestic, three-Michelin-stars 'Enoteca Pinchiorri' in Firenze keeps some local dishes in its menu to please tourists. This restaurant doesn't, so I encourage my readers to beat laziness and, having enjoyed a spectacular sunset over Vienna sipping your Martini, to get out and have dinner somewhere else, in Paschutta or Figlmuller or any other classic Austrian places offering you Wieneschnitzels, Tafelspitz's, Sachers or whatever you would like to eat in Vienna, not in Cherbourg, Honfleur or Caen....
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Praterstrasse
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