If you haven't read my post from November 22, you might have missed my introduction to our 4-days Food Vacation (click here: Day 1 Dinner).

After having eaten some of the best sushi and maki I ever had (including the wonderful chocolate mousse) we decided to end our first vacation day at Le Loft, a bar at the Sofitel hotel. Le Loft is located at the 18th floor and I think you have one of the best overview of Vienna that a bar has to offer (please correct me if I am wrong! I am open to suggestions :)

One of our first dates (before we became a couple) took place at this bar, which was also one of the reasons we decided to go there again. The last time I have been there was on Valentines Day, which is quite a while ago. Once in a while we like to go back there, not only to enjoy the view, but to reminisce about the "good old times". I remember being obsessed about the lighting in the elevator and him making fun of me about being fascinated about the lettering on the walls next to the elevator (In my defence - the letters are silver AND shiny and I am easily distracted by shiny objects.). Aaaw, how romantic. :P

Food Vacation? What is that?? Please let me explain. I L-O-V-E going on vacations. (Who doesn't, right??) City trips, island hopping, exploring other cultures(and - of course! - their food), getting away from home & just enjoy the excitment of not being at home. Wonderful. 

Unfortunately sometimes even if you really, really, really want to go away, even if it's just for a couple of days, it is not so easy. For exmpale, we planned to have a 4 days trip between October 31st and November 3rd. First we just couldn't decide where to go - city trips in Novembers in Europe tend to be cold and windy, and going farther away does require a bit more time (and money, who am I kidding.)

Disappointed we finally came to the perfect solution: why spending money going somewhere else when we couldn't even decide where to go and instead just stay in Vienna for four days and have a Food Vacation? HÄH?? I am still wondering why I didn't come up sooner with this brilliant idea?

So I made a plan. For this 4 days we are going to have a real Food adventure. I searched for restaurants, looked through Viennas event calenders, browsed websites for themed brunches, etc. And finally came up with a list. 

So here we are, Food Vacation Day 1. We started with Sushi. Oh yes. :)

Cafe Halle is located at the Museumsquarter and just next to Mumok (and the Cupcakes Wien Café). Besides desserts and cakes they also offer a great variety of breakfast possibilities.

But come on - I mean - hello? How can one order anything else if they have Topfenknödel with COOKIECRUMBS (C-O-O-K-I-E-C-R-U-M-B-S! AAAH.) on their menu?? Seriously?

One of my favourite desserts are Topfenknödel - I don't really know what the proper translation for this would be; maybe sweet cheese dumplings? 

They are dumplings made of Topfen and breadcrumbs and boiled in a pot of hot water. After that you can roll them around on a plate filled with cookiecrumbs and powdered sugar and enjoy them while they are still hot. Oh, delicious! My boyfriend often makes them at home spontaneously, he got a very easy and failproof recipe from his mother. (Hmm. I think I just got an idea for another Blogpost :) And often with a chestnut or chocolate filling. I know, they don't only sound delicious, they are delicious! :3

From time to time I like to order those dumplings somewhere else, to compare... or maybe just because I don't want to miss an opportunity to have Topfenknödel.

Sometimes we have left-over Nutella at home. I have to admit that this doesn't happen very often, because everytime we DO have a newly opened glass of the chocolate cream, it magically vanishes within 2 or 3 days. I just don't know how that happens! :D 

So anytime we have some Nutella AND a storebought flaky pastry in our kitchen, I am exited to make something that gives me the perfect excuse NOT to eat Nutella out of the jar. 

I am using storebought flaky pastry because:

1) it is time-saving

2) in my opinion making flaky pastry at home requires too much work and time (and skills that I don't have (yet) and I dont know if there is a difference in the taste, and

3) I hate knowing how much butter something contains that I am eating! It is so much easier to eat something if you don't know it, right?

First you roll out the dough and roll it a bit further so it's even thinner than it was before.

If Sunday is the perfect day for Brunch then Saturday is the perfect day for visiting a Farmer's Market. To be honest, maybe it is not exactly the perfect day because of the hectic and mass of people who also decide that Saturday is the perfect day for a visit, but once you step into the world of colorful fruits and fresh vegetables, you tend to forget everything around you.