mjam is a great new web service for Vienna. You want to order food? Asian? But you don’t know who is delivering? And if the restaurants are good? Well. Try out mjam. It’s worth it.

Here goes a huge thanx to Mike from tupalo, whom I just met yesterday and who - being the impersonation of the vegan’s breaking news - briefed me on the latest hot vegan shit in Vienna; which again reminded me on a post I started weeks ago and simply forgot to upload here…

So here we go with a couple of spots that may fulfill your needs for vegan yumminess:

The Go Veg Diner, a place selling all vegan, healthy (they say) fast food - which totally reminds me of Yellow Sunshine in Berlin -, just opened its gates in 10th district, Favoritenstr. 156 (11am - 09pm, closed on Sundays).
Unfortunately, I haven’t made it there yet, but I believe it’s somewhat in the middle between Formosa, Rupps and Schillinger - and worth a visit for sure!

Now that we can finally have some summer feelings (can we? pleease? for more than three days in a row?), there IS a tremendous need for ice cream.
The Eissalon am Schwedenplatz, just a few steps ahead from U Schwedenplatz, has started a cooperation with VGT and now serves three different cups of vegan ice cream varieties, changing weekly.
Still, I’m possibly the biggest fan ever of Zanoni & Zanoni, Lugeck 7, who offer three kinds of delicious vegan ice cream (which they call lactose- and sugarfree, but in fact have been proven to be vegan by Charly Schillinger): jogurt - raspberry, vanilla jogurt - blueberry, and chocolate, if I recall right.

Also, WerkzeugH in 5th district, Schoenbrunnerstr. 61, is my new favorite place to hang out in the sun and have a delicious dirty soy chai latte - both way cheaper and way more luscious than Starbucks or the Coffeeshop Company, since they offer David Rio’s Chai selection there (unfortunately, the mouth-watering “Elephant Vanilla Chai” is not 100% vegan, but the still amazing “Tiger Spice Chai” is) -, and we therefore even moved our Sunday’s Team Dirty Chai over there! =)
Every Sunday, WerkzeugH offers a large breakfast buffet on a pay-as-you-wish basis, too (sort of like at Der Wiener Deewan - if you haven’t been there yet, go make sure to check out that place as well!); unfortunately, this is mostly non-vegan, but Manfred assured me they’re working on it.

And, last but not least: Mike showed me the most unbelievable and awesome thing ever: a pack of American Oreos he had just bought at the Coffeeshop Company at Thalia, Mariahilferstr. 99! I know they’ve been selling the european (as in: non-vegan…) Oreo cookies ever since, so seeing CC switching over to the vegan originals seems like heaven to me! Woohooo!

Vapiano is a nice piece of concept gastronomy in the 6th district. Something like the “Subway” of fancy italian cuisine. Good pasta, nice pizza… and RFID chip cards to pay. A bobo’s dream come true.

Above the self-service counter they have a giant chalkboard display with lots of recipies, poems, drawings and… oh. What’s that?

“Free Will Doesn’t Exist.”

How very honest.

Billa’s new truck design is not unfunny.

Bok is a tiny Asian restaurant… but they really serve delicious meals. You should definitely check it out.

And their self-promotional video is a truly heartwarming tale of gastro-homesickness…. *sigh!*

Link (to video)

Tupalo entry about Bok

In 1999 25 year old Nigerian, Marcus Omofuma, was killed during a forced deportation in Austria. He was handcuffed, chained and his mouth closed with adhesive tape by the three escorting policemen who claimed that the other passengers of the deporting Balkans Air flight should not be disturbed. Marcus Omofuma suffocated.

The Marcus Omofuma memorial, which was created and paid for by the sculptor Ulrike Truger, reminds of the violence against Omofuma. The stone was put up next to the opera building in Vienna without official approval and was therefore supposed to be taken down. However, in collaboration with the Green Party, a place for it was found between Mariahilferstra§e and Museumsquartier.

Currently the Weinviertel (a part of Lower Austria) is presenting its products and touristic services between Mariahilferstra§e and Museumsquartier — around the Omofuma memorial. A kinda surreal situation. The Gemütlichkeit and Fortress Austria. It’s like Weinseligkeit.

They also have a representation of Lower Austrian “Amethystwelt Maissau” (”the largest opencast amethyst vein in the world”).
Children can stir in dirt to find amethysts.
What a sad setting.

Austrian tourist industry. You rule.

There’s a new event in town, or rather, a new movement - and it’s called Team Dirty Chai!

Though most of you may have already heard of a chai latte, a spiced tea concentrate infused with hot milk, or even a soy chai latte, using soy milk instead of the dairy version; or already tried it at one of the countless coffee shops that spread all over town within the last years, not so many (not to say hardly anyone) will have any idea what exactly the term ‘dirty’ could stand for in that connection.

Well, kindest readership!
I have the honor to introduce to you what was brought to my ears - and lips - all the way from Los Angeles, CA (by Sean Bonner, to be accurate) last winter, and what changed my life by the means of my weekly habits and social interactions in the most joyful and enriching way possible - for a beverage, that is.

The dirty (soy) chai consists of the classic chai syrup (as to be found at your well-assorted coffee shop of trust), infused with hot (soy) milk (rumor has it, the soy makes it even more ‘muddy’; to me, it simply makes it more delicious: vegan, that is) and added with two shots of espresso - which makes it ‘dirty’.
And besides, being an addict, I should not forget to mention the excess of caffeine the dirtyness brings along with its super-awesome taste!

Now back to all the gibberish about the movement thingy:

The Team Dirty Chai, also known as TDC, was founded back in calender week 07 in the year 2008 by Dave aka DaddyD (whom you will certainly know by the trail of his posts) and my most humble self, when twittering about running out of coffee in the still of the night. Although Dave - as so far everyone we’ve met - was rather bemused about the general idea of pouring coffee in one’s tea, after trying a dirty chai latte was proselytized immediately and finds himself now co-leading Team Dirty Chai, evangelizing our friends (from thereon to be called the TDC army) towards a better taste in caffeinated, muddy-liquid treats.

We do so every Sunday, meeting at around 10.30 am CET at the Starbucks Mariahilfer Strasse/Theobaldgasse, aiming to improve our social skillz (yes, we do have some) by getting down to the *socially* dirty.

Our core team members include the following - as lovely as famous as down-to-the-dirty - folks: Kewagi, Angelol, Oneup, and Enkido, all of them admittedly geeks and/or nerds and/or ‘artists’ in some or the other way; but since the dirty chai meme spread rapidly amongst the Viennese Twitter league, the TDC army is still unstoppably growing, aiming to become the most notably alliance of 2008 a.d.

So there you have it.
Now screw up your courage, take heart, and join the TDC movement for more deliciousness and sociality in life!

Team Dirty Chai is legion.
And soon it’ll be on Wikipedia, fo sho ;)

Photograph no. 1 taken by Angelo Laub (licensed under CC by-nc-sa)

It’s time. It’s time indeed.
Vanillekipferl returns!

High in calories. Smallish. Tasty. Crescent-shaped. Nutty.
Usually made with ground almonds or Austria’s favorite nuts. Flavored with vanilla. Heavy dusting of powdered sugar.

Vanillekipferl were first made in Vienna. They are said to have been created in the shape of the Turkish crescent to celebrate the victory of the Austrian army over the… I guess you can imagine.

You know, home cooking kills the restaurant industry. You can buy them pretty much everywhere this time of the year.

But it is. It’s a mad asian restaurant deco world.

Location: Saigon, Vietnamese restaurant @ Getreidemarkt.
Pic source.

When I decided I was going to come to Vienna and spend a good chunk of time here the thing I heard over and over again from friends who live here (as well as those who don’t) was that it would be next to impossible to be vegan in Vienna. I’ve been vegan for almost 15 years so I’m not planning on changing my diet based on a trip, but I was little concerned that Vienna might be the first place I’ve been to that didn’t have plentiful vegan options.

Luckily this has turned out to not be the case at all. I was searching on Tupalo and found Rupps. After reading a few reviews I was hooked and rounded up the posse and headed there straight away. Here’s a few pics I took while there but the combo vegetarian/vegan restaurant & Irish whiskey bar is pretty mind blowing. I can see myself spending a lot of time there in the coming weeks. I had the Schnitzel and the Apfelstrudel. The latter of which was amazing. They had a ton of vegan options that I can’t wait to go back and try out. No english menu but the stall all seemed happy to speak to speak to me, of course I was giving them money but still. It’s located at Arbeitergasse 46, which is just a short tram ride from where I’m staying at the Museumsquartier so yeah, I’ll be there again soon. /swoon