The Great Schnitzel Chase

6-8 veal cutlets, ca. 3 lbs. (preferably from leg of veal)
¾ cup plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup unflavored breadcrumbs
1 cup peanut oil
1 lemon, sliced
salt to taste

Cut five to six 1/4-inch long incisions into the edge of the cutlets (this will prevent them from curling up during frying). Arrange the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in three soup plates or shallow bowls, preferably close to the stove where the oil is being heated in a skillet. First place the slices in the flour bowl and slightly pat them on each slice until they are thinly but evenly covered with flour when lifted out. Next dip them in the bowl with the beaten eggs, and finally roll them in the bread crumbs. The egg batter will cause the breadcrumbs to adhere evenly on the entire surface of the slices. Now they are ready to be fried in the hot oil, until golden brown. Turn if necessary. When the meat is done, drain the slices on paper towels. Salt to taste, and decorate each with a slice of lemon.

Sounds easy enough to make on your own. You may just have to – there is no Hungarian restaurant left in New York City as of this writing, in 2007. Once upon a time, Manhattan was dotted with Hungarian eateries; in the Yorkville neighborhood alone, on the Upper East Side, at least a dozen restaurants competed with one another for the coveted honor of being known for the best bécsi szelet (Hungarian for Wiener schnitzel).
Today, in New York, the Wiener schnitzel, which had acted as the secret adhesive that held the two halves of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy together, has returned to its original habitat, the Viennese restaurant. Austrian cuisine, unlike Hungarian, is enjoying unprecedented vogue in Manhattan. The Zagat Survey lists no fewer than five restaurants that explicitly feature Austrian cooking in the city, the latest newcomer, Klee Brasserie having slipped below the radar with a general “American & European” self-description. (They serve Wiener schnitzel on Saturdays.)
Kurt Gutenbrunner’s small empire of Manhattan restaurants – numbering three or four, depending on whether you count Fledermaus, the basement annex of Café Sabarsky, as a freestanding institution – seems to have cornered the schnitzel market in New York, though Café Sabarsky (whose food is shipped over from the Wallsé kitchen), does not offer the specialty.
Another fashionable New York restaurateur, David Bouley, has staked out his corner of Austro-Hungarian chic with Danube, an upscale eatery in the Tribeca neighborhood. At $30 a plate, Danube’s Wiener schnitzel comes with all the trimmings including tart lingonberries, which set off the savory succulence of the veal cutlet. Those with smaller budgets – and a taste for the hip, casual ambience of Manhattan’s East Village – might opt for Sylvester Schneider’s “indoor beer garden,” Zum Schneider, which opened its doors for downtown revelers with a taste for wholesome fare in 2000.
Just as Mother Austria maintained outposts in the farthest regions of Central Europe, Manhattan’s “Little Mitteleuropa” is not without annexes in the surrounding boroughs. Koliba, Astoria’s “Czechoslovak” restaurant, harkens back to the time before the Czech Republic and Slovakia dissolved their 20th-century union, if not to the olden days when Bohemia, too, was a part of the Habsburg Empire. Koliba’s schnitzel, in authentic Prague fashion, is prepared from pork or chicken.
In the end, you may decide to make your own Wiener schnitzel, after all. There are few dishes this delicious and luxuriously impressive to one’s guests that are easier to prepare. In Vienna, schnitzel is traditionally served with sour pickles, green vegetables or stewed fruit. In Hungary, the local version of home fries and a tart cucumber salad play the supporting roles to this perennial star.

André Balog

Blaue Gans
139 Duane St.
(bet. Church St. & W. B'way)
Manhattan, NY
212-571-8880

Café Sabarsky
1048 Fifth Ave.
(86th St.)
Manhattan, NY
212-288-0665

Danube
30 Hudson St.
(bet. Duane & Reade Sts.)
Manhattan, NY
212-791-3771

Klee Brasserie
200 Ninth Ave.
(bet. 22^nd & 23^rd Sts.)
212-633-8033

Wallsé
344 W. 11th St.
(Washington St.)
Manhattan, NY
212-352-2300

Zum Schneider
Restaurant and Biergarten
107 Ave. C
(at 7^th St.)
Manhattan, NY
212-598-1098

Koliba
Czechoslovak Restaurant
31-11 23^rd Ave.
Astoria, NY
718-626-0430