Dining Like Mozart
The Hotel Goldener Hirschs Wining and Dining in the Age of Mozart menu, which reinterprets dishes described in the New Salzburg Cookery Book from 1719, is designed to help guests experience vicariously what life was like -- at least during a dinner celebration -- for the wealthy in 18th century Austria.
Herbert Pocklhofer, the hotel manager at the Goldener Hirsch, notes that Mozarts favorite foods were reputed to have been trout, liver dumplings and sauerkraut, none of which made the cut for the propertys special repast.
So, whats on the menu? Savor the following: Coupe of sheatfish; Vienna roll with crabs; quail in basil puff paste with tarragon sauce, morels and red cabbage; and dessert in old Salzburg style. -- J.R.
SALZBURG, Austria
-- Just do the math. While this city, like all of Austria, is
making a big deal of the 250th anniversary of Mozarts birth, the
classy Hotel Goldener Hirsch -- just a few doors down from a museum
commemorating the composers childhood home on bustling main drag
Getreidegasse -- had already been welcoming wayfarers for nearly
350 years when the musical prodigy-to-be first made the scene. And
so it is that the hotel, today a five-star boutique property, lays
claim to an Old World birthright that makes other wanna-be
historical hostelries seem like new kids on the block.
With its thick,
stone exterior walls, cloistered guest rooms, sedate public spaces
and bulky, old front door -- through which arriving guests enter a
realm of medieval luxury, gentility and refinement -- the Goldener
Hirsch is a welcome throwback in a throwaway world of sad
implosions and characterless new-builds.
The hotel, which
has the ambience of an inn, with 64 individually appointed rooms
and five suites, is characterized by antique, handmade, Austrian,
wooden furniture and regional artwork and sculpture.
Every guest room,
for example, is furnished with an antique, wooden trunk that serves
as a table for a telephone -- the quaint and secluded hotel bar
also is made from such a trunk -- as well as hand-crafted
furnishings, sofa and coffee table and in some premium units, a
sitting area and a marble bathroom with soaking tub.
Of course, an esteemed pedigree alone will
not quite cut it these days at a luxury hotel determined to offer
the ultimate in creature comforts to well-heeled guests used to
nothing but the best.
So, upscale
amenities such as ample closet space, broadband Web access -- both
wired and in wireless hot spots -- cordless telephones and cable TV
are standard.
In addition, a
welcoming staff mans a 24-hour front desk, while a baby-sitting
service, business center, car-rental service and concierge are
available when the need arises.
Mindful of the
Mozart mania sweeping the composers hometown, the Goldener Hirsch,
which is a member of the Luxury Collection of Starwood Hotels &
Resorts, is offering a Mozart package that includes two nights in a
Classic double room, buffet breakfast in the Herzl dining room, a
welcome gift, entrance to the Viva Mozart exhibition nearby and a
remarkable four-course Wining and Dining in the Age of Mozart menu
based on dishes described in the New Salzburg Cookery Book
published in 1719 (see accompanying box, at
right).
The dinner is
served in the hotels award-winning Goldener Hirsch dining room,
where the wine cellars extensive collection includes an abundance
of Austrian vintages.
The package is
priced at about $385 per person, with an upgrade to the next
highest grade room for an extra $48.
For more
information on the Goldener Hirsch, go to www.luxurycollection.com.
To contact
reporter Joe Rosen, send e-mail to [email protected].