Restaurant Guth, Lauterach, Bregenz, Austria

“Lets go  and have a nice meal, this is no weather for being outdoors”, said Manolis, when the snow started accumulating on the ground and the visibility was reduced to less than 50 meters. You have seen the pictures in the “white” post, now its time to get down to the eating and drinking business.

Restaurant Guth was around the corner, at the outskirts of Bregenz by lake Constance in the Austrian – German borders. In the map below, you can see Bregenz in the lowest right side of the lake.

Chef Thomas Scheucher is one of the most creative Austrian chefs and has created a modern environment to serve his creations.

The building is new, and the outside is austere in style. The inside is warm and with a beautiful garden view.

The chef’s menu was our choice, but Manolis asked for a swap. Instead of the soup, he asked for the tripe. Such a request would not be honoured in France, where you would be asked to order it as extra. Not in friendly, hospitable Austria, where the request was accepted with a smile.

The amuse bouche was a slice of foie with brioche and quince and pear marmalade, accompanied by scallop’s and musel’s hot beverage. Exquisite and multilayered in taste and flavours, this was one of the best amuse I have ever tasted! The philosppher of Atelier will offer his own views while he comments on the post, so I will not try to interpet him, which would in any case be sacrilegious!

Marinated tuna with horseradish mousse, accompanied by a pike croquette served on cubes of beetroot. The tuna was soft and sweet, the horseradish perfectly accompanied the oily flesh, while the croquette was like solid foam (a contradiction of terms and senses).

Sauteed tripe with herbs of the nearby forest. Never had this dish before, and it was worth the wait of so many years! A complete game with the senses this one, thin threads of tripe enveloped in the aromas of the forest, melt in the mouth and bless it with eternal memories of gastronomic pleasures.

Zander fillet with octopus, on a bed of fresh green beans. The dish of extreme lightness, attempted to supplement the memory of the mighty tripe with a presence of indelible subtlety and kindness to the palate.

Free-range beef fillet with mushrooms, celery and semolina crack dumplings (knoedel). The ultimate in meaty texture and taste, medium to rare, the knife was practically not needed to cut through this velvety flesh!

Hot chocolate desert, with fried bananas and bitter sweet foam. The perfect conclusion to a perfect meal. It took the chef almost 20 minutes to prepare the cylinders of delight, and was well worth it!

In the basement, you can find another source of pleasures, the wine cellar. We were served excellent austrian wines to accompany the dishes. More on austrian wines will come in a future post, they are the big discovery of the year for me!

Conclusion: When you get a chance, visit Guth, you will thank me for that!

P.S. For the culturally oriented, there is fantastic Opera Festival during the summer in Bregenz. Just imagine the immense combination of a beautiful opera performance accompanied by a meal in Restaurant Guth…..

P.S.2 Thank you Manoli for opening guth’s door for me!

P.S.3 Thank you Nature, for creating the unique Christmas images on the last day of November in the year of 2009.

P.S4 Thank you Romania, for having your National Day on the 1st December, which gave me the opportunity to visit Manolis and Guth and…

P.S5 At the time of the visit, the restaurant was recommended by the Michelin Red Guide as “one star”.