Dining out: Vienna Bistro

In 1993, my husband and I were traveling through a few countries in Europe on an extreme austerity budget.

We slept in trains every other night, in youth hostels the rest of the time. We lived mainly on bread, cheese, fruit and McDonald's — the latter because, just as in this country, it's everywhere, and it's cheap.

One memorable night in Munich, however, we had a real dinner, thanks to my parents' credit card. We ate at a cozy neighborhood restaurant recommended by a local, and I wolfed down a wonderful wienerschnitzel.

But it wasn't any better than the one I had recently for lunch at Vienna Bistro, a new dining treasure in the Kearns Building in the heart of downtown.

Vienna Bistro offers traditional Austrian favorites, lovingly and faithfully prepared, plus some of the most delectable desserts in the valley, in a warm and cosmopolitan dining space in the Kearns Building. There's no "fusion," no roladen with wasabi or linguica bratwurst. The flavors are traditional Germanic cooking: pickles, earthy potatoes and cabbage, sweet jam. Excellent big band and swing music in the background adds to the elegant, traditional vibe.

I started with the soup of the day, carrot with white beans. It's a slightly chunky, peppery brew full of flavorful beans. The flavors are simple but highly aromatic.

We had our daughters with us, and though there's not a kids' menu, the staff accommodated them nicely, bringing lidded cups and discussing the large amount of onions in our chosen kids' lunch, the k�sesp�tzle. We agreed that the normally very oniony entree should be onion-free for the girls, but it was still tasty, with tangy-sharp gruyere topping tender little spatzle. It's the Austrian version of mac and cheese.

My husband had the baked stuffed chicken breast, a single large breast split in half and filled with gruyere and ham. The chicken was slightly dry but nicely seasoned, and the ham was smoky and moist. On the side were a cool skin-on potato salad with herbs and diced pickles and warm, tangy red cabbage.

And there was my wienerschnitzel, a stellar example of its kind. It's a pork loin pounded flat, breaded and carefully cooked to preserve its moist, meaty flavor. I liked it plain, with a little of the accompanying red cabbage or dipped in a bit of the berry-citrus jam that garnished the plate, along with potato salad.

Dessert was a bit of a conundrum in that everything in the bakery case looked delectable. I eventually chose the strawberry milk chocolate roulade, a sponge-textured chocolate cake spread with strawberry jam and a firm, silky milk chocolate mousse.

I liked it very much, but I adored my husband's sachertorte, a dark chocolate cake spread with apricot jam and covered with a deeply flavorful dark-chocolate ganache. The cakes are on the dry side, but the dryness strikes a good balance with the moist jams, fillings and frostings, not to mention the fluffy little dab of whipped cream on the side.

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