Wallse
White and Wheat Bread with Butter
Beet Terrine with Horseradish Mousse
Hudson Valley Foie Gras Terrine with Gewurztraminer Gelee
Quark Spatzle with Braised Rabbit, Peas, Chanterelles
Chestnut Soup with Viennese Melange
Snail Ravioli with Butternut Squash
Wiener Schnitzel with Potato-Cucumber Salad and Lingonberries
Squab, Celery Root Puree, Concord Grape
Venison Goulash with Mushrooms, Croutons, Bacon
Quark Spatzle
Apple Strudel with Cinnamon Ice Cream
Salzburger Nockerl with Huckleberries
Familiar only with the name of Kurt Gutenbrunner and his critically lauded modern Austrian cuisine it was largely a fault of New York’s ever changing culinary landscape that I’d never visited any of his restaurants but with a relatively new Sunday lunch program proving a veritable bargain plus family and friends happy to share in the indulgence there seemed no better opportunity to visit his flagship Wallse than on the second day of our most recent trip to New York. Located in a rather small footprint bordering the Hudson and brightly lit with the mid-day sun on our arrival it was with good fortune that we were the first to arrive for lunch and as such were given our choice of seats, a four-top large enough for six our reward in the main dining room where a young woman named Sasha guided us through two hours of bright colors, bold flavors, and plates proving approximately as large as one would anticipate for a $39 prix fixe, though not without some flaws – particularly the seemingly stale bread and flavorless still-frozen butter. Certainly a restaurant focused on quality ingredients with plates far more complex and nuanced than one would expect from a region known for such hearty fare it was not entirely surprising that the dishes seemingly most traditional would prove the best and with the tender schnitzel and goulash both excellent while desserts also shined the one true stunner of the meal was delivered in the form of a half-dozen tender and briny snail ravioli finding balance in sweet squash and plenty of butter, a truly beautiful mélange of flavors amongst the best pastas I’ve had this year.
