Dozens of Austria’ s top restaurants and bars are busy preparing for this year’s Vienna Restaurant Week (23 February – 1 March) and the 150^th anniversary of the city’s Ringstraße. This famous street, with its trams and tree-lined pavements, circles the imperial city’s central district with dozens of architectural masterpieces including government buildings, royal palaces, theatres and aristocratic houses.

Vienna hosts two such weeks each year, and this winter’s event will see such restaurants as Das Schick, dasTurm, Stadtgasthaus Eisvogel, Harry’s Time, Kristian’s Monastiri, Le Salzgries, Settimo Cielo, Kutschker44, Kornhäuslturm, and ef16 taking part. The restaurants offer menus at a reduced fixed price – an ideal opportunity to get to know the wide variety of high-end dining in the city.

One special event unique to 2015 is ‘Sparkling Vienna’ (19 February) in which 12 hotel bars on Vienna’s Ringstraße open up for a special night of delicious cocktails, live bands and inventive food.

To mark this year’s 150th anniversary of the Ringstraße, the city ran a ‘Sparkling Vienna’ cocktail competition to create a drink that encapsulated the history of the famous street in a glass. The winning blend was created by Chinese-born mixologist Kan Zuo of The Sign Lounge on Liechtensteinstrasse (www.thesignlounge.at) with his ‘Sound of the Ring’ concoction.

Twenty six mixologists entered the competition to create a memorable and tasty drink. The cocktail had to come with a great backstory and be relevant to the street and it’s history; a suitable name, and use Schlumberger Sparkling Brut as an ingredient.

Zuo took his inspiration from his impressions of the city on his arrival 16 years ago. “I wanted to create a golden drink that reflects the noble atmosphere of the Ring,” he said. Through his creation, he references Viennese coffee house culture, the refined bubbling of Viennese sparkling wine and the exotic freshness of the Calamansi citrus fruit recognising the city’s international outlook.

How to make your own ‘Sound of the Ring’ cocktail

Champagne glass
Cocktail shaker (not essential)

1.5 cl Broker’s Gin
1 cl Calamansi balsamic vinegar
1 cl lemon juice
1.5 cl sugar syrup
2 dashes of chocolate bitters
7 cl Schlumberger Sparkling Brut

Shake the ingredients together – except for the Sparkling Brut – and then top up with Schlumberger.

Decoration: Dip the rim of the glass in Galliano Ristretto and then in sugar. Pour the cocktail into your glass and enjoy come central European sophistication.

Sound of the Ring will be available in bars across the city throughout the year:

• The Sign Lounge: Liechtensteinstrasse 104-106, 1090 Vienna
• Planter’s Club: Zelinkagasse 4, 1010 Vienna
• Kruger’s American Bar: Krugerstrasse 5, 1010 Vienna
• Tür 7: Buchfeldgasse 7, 1080 Vienna
• Cascade Bar in the Vienna Marriott Hotel: Parkring 12a, 1010 Vienna
• Intermezzo Bar in the Hotel InterContinental Vienna: Johannesgasse 28, 1030 Vienna
• Mercado: Stubenring 1, 1010 Vienna
• Yohm Restaurant: Petersplatz 3, 1010 Vienna
• Frank’s: Laurenzerberg 2, 1010 Vienna
• Lobby Bar in the Hilton Vienna: Am Stadtpark 1, 1030 Vienna
• Émile Brasserie & Bar in the Hilton Vienna Plaza: Schottenring 11, 1010 Vienna
• Kavalierbar in the Grand Hotel | 1., Kärntner Ring 9

For more information see Vienna Restaurant Week.

Sparkling Vienna
19 February 2015
6.00 pm – 0.30 am
www.sparkling-vienna.at
www.facebook.com/sparklingvienna