#3 Yummie Check: Cafe Menta
Have you ever tasted something, that you could ever never forget?
I´m hearing some "Yeeahs!!" over there, so I´m sure you do!
Ok, the next question is, have you ever travelled the whole world to get to that unique, one of a kind meal, which you couldn´t get out of your mind for a few years or maybe even more?! If you do, then gosh you´re a real foodie! And if you haven´t, then read on because you´re on the right track to be one :)
Well, in this regard my challenge wasn´t about travelling the whole world to get to that one dish (..not yet, but hopefully one day lol) All I had to do was to move around the city to go to Cafe Menta!
Although Cafe Menta was built only less than one year ago, it attracted a lot of attention in a short period of time. Let´s hear from Selda Gürsesli; the owner of Cafe Menta, how she came up with the idea:
"I always had a keen interest in gastronomy first of all because of the lifestyle that is represented in these places; the atmosphere, the living area it provides and secondly because of the culinary art, the pleasure of food, the joy of eating and its emerging emotions as a consequence. It´s not just about getting satiated. As a business graduate from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, I´ve spent many years working at the human resources department of big austrian companies. After one more year as a consulter, I decided to go my own way. In the meantime, I talked to a very good friend of mine about my future plans in gastronomy who is a very famous and a successful gastronome in Vienna; Ilhan Dogan, who was also searching for a new project so we decided to make it happen. He is the investor in the background, I´m both investor and restaurateur. I live just around the corner so I noticed that there weren´t any interesting cafes or restaurants nearby which was especially thought for young people and everytime when I had an appointment with someone, I always had to go somewhere far away. One day I told myself why not here!"
For Gürsesli who describes the 5 golden rules leading to success as being original, working more than the personnel in order to earn their respect, observing what people really need, actualizing the concept in mind as much as possible and taking responsibility, it wasn´t a big challenge anymore to create a nice place:
"What I´ve experienced at human resources, helped me a lot in gastronomy, which is actually very human-oriented. In gastronomy if you neglect this fact, I think you can´t stay any longer in this business. There is a saying "For us the focus is on people." It may sound cliche but I really believe that it is extremely important to see what people need. It is not just about taste and appearance but also what kind of ambience you want to set up and to what type of customer you want to appeal with this ambience in your restaurant. The experience which I´ve gained as I was working at human resources department, encouraged me a lot so I can´t describe myself as a classic gastronome."
What makes this place different then the others except its great cuisine is definitely its look. Gürsesli told me how she created this industrial look;
"For me the architecture plays a big role in creating a good image so I got in touch with the person who designed the bar area of my most favourite place in Vienna; Cafe Espresso. Before the construction of the place started, I also traveled to Cuba and Mexico. As in Turkey, most of the buildings have their own character also the inner decoration; old and untouched which remained from 40s, 50s, 60s; there is an interieur and architectural wealth in such countries as a cause of financial drought. You can´t find that in Europe.
For example I find Budapest much more original than Vienna although they´re very similar. Because in Vienna nearly everything is renovated, rebuilt, very clean. Of course there is a life quality which comes within.
However in Budapest you can find the traces of the past not only by the architectural characteristics but also by the shabbiness of a wall. In Vienna for example you can guess which century a building belongs to and it´s still very clean, but in Cuba a building from 50s still has the same exact original colour.
This really amazed me and that was the main reason why I especially chose those countries to make my research. Me and my interior designer made a deal; he told me to make photos of everything I liked the most which can be anything; an ambience, a colour, an ashtray... So I tried to express my wishes with pictures; wall colour, decoration, street lightnings and I told him I want chaos and order at the same time, I gave him contrasts which are hard to combine. I think only tidiness would be completely boring, and just chaos would be complicated and would make people feel tired. Secondly I want him to combine vintage and contemporary and lastly style and cosiness."
Being cosy and stylish Cafe Menta doesn´t only charm with its image but also with its great cuisine!
My most favourite one was the Branzino-Risotto: Broiled sea bass and green asparagus served with wild garlic pesto (vegetarian option available)
Here is another main meal; Broiled swordfish steak with chick peas and tomato mint pesto.
Gürsesli thinks that central european people rather know the northern italian cuisine than the south so she was very excited when she heard that the italian chef de cuisine; Roberto is from Sardinia; "On the one hand he brings out italian recipes which are unknown here because growing up in an island always has a complete different impact on a person which is a big plus I think. On the other hand he is very simple always using local and seasonal ingridients in food."
Curried leek soup with some chilli & coriander as lunch starter
Born and grown up in Istanbul, Gürsesli continues: "Normally Roberto; our chef de cuisine was more into italian cuisine. However opening an italian restaurant wasn´t my aim, I also wanted to present my own culture. That´s why we agreed on cross-over cuisine. Moreover living several years in Barcelona gave me the opportunity to become an expert in spanish specialities especially from Catalunia. Except the fact that we have an italian chef de cuisine who lived in France and Belgium, our kitchen personnel is also very international; from Turkey, Bangladesh, Hungary, Czech Republic, Iran. All in all I´m convinced that we are a great team and our cuisine will get better and better with their ideas and of our customers."
First lunch option for vegetarians; Crêpes with radicchio, dolcelatte cheese and walnuts
Second lunch option; Bio Burger with BBQ Sauce
Last but not least; Pinky brown! Strawberry chocolate mousse with fresh strawberries and of course some mint!
Speaking of mint, Gürsesli also explained me why she chose this name for her place: "Menta comes from spanish which means mint in english. I just love mint, it plays a big role in our cuisine and it makes me very sad too see that it ís not so popular in Central Europe. Because I think it has a rich, pleasant flavour which can be added almost to every kind of meal or drink. Furthermore it has great effects like being curative and relaxing as well as beautiful phonetics."
And.. Get ready I´m revealing the big secret!! That great dish, which I yearned for at the beginning was... LINGUINE AL LIMONE with zucchini and porcini mushrooms!! Because of the reason that they´re always using seasonal ingridients, they don´t serve it yet but I´ll give it a try later on by coming here again!!
Sippin´ some lillet spritz y´all!
Cafe Menta is definitely worth a visit!
Lunch and main meals: approx. 12 mins
The price for lunch is just great; € 7,50
Main meals are definitely worth the price.
Cafe Menta in yummie words:
Salad caprino: Garden lettuce served with grilled goat cheese, nuts and seeds, fresh figs and honey
- Don´t miss the yummie lunch!! Go there a little bit later, if you don´t like the crowd.
- Better sit inside if you are willing to go there at afternoon, guest garden is nice but it can get a little bit loud outside.
- Last but not least, don´t forget to make your reservation for a live gig which is only organized once in a month!
- Opening hours are from 8:30 to midnight.
- The kitchen is open till 22:30 pm.
Thanks to lovely Ms. Gürsesli for the great interview!
And of course to Andreas and Georg for the great photos!
Here are some backstage ones :)
Stay tuned to get yummier!! :D
Photo Credits: Andreas Schödl & Georg Hörmann
*The interview is translated from turkish into english.
