Karen Krizanovich on Fischer’s

Like a corgi reluctant for a walk, I was dragged, almost literally, into Fischer’s, the new Marylebone Austrian eatery (I will use that phrase only once) opened by Corbin & King of Delauney fame. Austrian food, as far as I can remember, had all the chic of a cream donut thrown into Mozart’s face. This is a restaurant that describes itself as “an informal neighbourhood café and konditorei.” Konditorei: I don’t know what that means. It’s a word so magical I don’t even want to Google it lest I destroy it. It’s a word that reminds me of Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood, where rube Enoch Emery looks upon the Latin letters of a museum: “Muvseevum…the strange word made him shiver. It was the first time he’d said it aloud.” Konditorei.

The day after I’ve eaten my body weight in lunch at Fischer’s, some man and I are sitting at their chic, tidy bar, drinking dessert wine and eating kirsch-soaked cherry strudel, calvados-soaked apple and walnut strudel, and one nutty three-scoop ice-cream coupe between us. We’re hashing things out. “What does konditorei mean?” I ask, my feet accidentally pedaling his.

“Well, break the word up,” he says. “You have kon.”

“With.”

“Then you have di…”

“Uh-huh.”

“And…”

We never figured it out.

Despite its location on Marylebone High Street, up by Cath Kidston (and if you know where that is, you’ve been gift-giving), the wondrous Fischer’s is not really of London, or England. It is Vienna. I feel terribly American when I learn, after two glasses of champagne, that “Wiener” is not just a hot dog, but also Vienna. (Dammit, spell it properly for the cheap seats next time.) And it’s wondrous because the food, the ambience and the service are all exceptional. My perception of Austrian food has been completely transformed.

What’s so special about it? Everything tastes amazing. From the beetroot salmon with horseradish cream starter through to the bratwurst to the strudels, here are intense flavours of “Mitteleurope” – only one that don’t clobber your palate with tones of cow and pig. The wine list showcases grapes from Austria, Germany, Alsace and Hungary, most available by the glass. So that means you can taste and taste and taste until the big hand on the Fischer’s clock at the back tells you to GO HOME.

As for what other food you can expect, they say: “The menu includes an extensive choice of cured fish, salads, schnitzels, sausages, brötchen and sandwiches, strudels, biscuits, ice-cream coupes, hot chocolates and coffees with traditional tortes mit schlag.” I’m taking that personally. C

Fischer’s, 50 Marylebone High Street, London, W1U 5HN, United Kingdom
020-7466 5501; fischers.co.uk