Chapter 26: Vienna: Europe’s Windy City of BBQ

Like Chicago, Vienna is known as a windy city. Also like Chicago, Vienna  boasts a strong Weber presence. In this European and truly international metropolis, Vienna embraces countless history, natural science, and art museums and hosts a variety of music venues. Its history is rich within its cobblestone streets and walkways, spacious stone buildings, and extensive monuments. South of Old City and its encircling “ring”—the curving main street that originally was a wall—lies the Weber Original Store and Grill Academy, that no doubt keeps grilling hot throughout Austria and Europe.

The Store and Academy include a robust online store, all under the exclusive license of Grill & Co and managed by Matthias Fuchs in Vienna and Benedikt Mitterlehner from Upper Austria. Matthias’s wife, Sabrina, manages business sales at GA events.  Matthias—a marathon runner, father of two boys, and whom one employee described as a “boss among bosses”—has an infectious energy. He brings his passion to the activities and classes he designs for the Academy. Located next to a busy thoroughfare, the Grill Academy comprises two levels of classrooms and grilling spaces with a large retail store occupying half of the first floor.

Matthias is one of the four principals for the startup business known as The Weber BBQ Kitchen. His store features several model installations, the Kitchen composed of a variety of modular components with the quality of custom-built furniture—kitchen counters, oversized drawers for grilling equipment and tools, mini-fridge, wine refrigerator, cabinetry, and shelving. Crafted exclusively for the outdoors, the BBQ Kitchen incorporates both Weber charcoal or gas grills seamlessly into its design. Customers can even envision their kitchen online to accommodate their space. Their order is then manufactured in Germany, shipped to the customer’s local Weber Store, and installed by store personnel. Years ago when I was a guest at Weber’s US headquarters, an employee attending my presentation asked what one product I would like to see Weber develop next. “The BBQ Kitchen,” I immediately responded, “but it’s already been designed in Austria. Bring it to the States, please.” The BBQ Kitchen is currently available at Weber Stores throughout Europe and continues to make inroads into other markets, most recently Turkey. I was impressed with the integrity of the materials, all designed to weather the elements. The Kitchen also offers an impressive number of color and material choices. I was delighted to see samples of all of them.

With little time left to linger in the store before the class, Margie and I met Patrick Bayer, the resident grill master, who gave us a warm welcome and a quick tour of offices. He then guided us to the second floor classroom. In my previous correspondence, Matthias graciously gifted two grilling classes to Margie and me. The first, a Thursday night Mediterranean Cooking class with renowned live fire chef Yulia Haybëck, was unexpectedly cancelled just days before our trip. We also missed meeting the Harold Brothers because of a scheduling mixup; the brothers raise award-winning pigs and are frequent instructors at the Grill Academy. In retrospect, I wish we had planned a few more days in Vienna. Sometimes in arranging these Weber excursions, I find that circumstances change suddenly, and no amount of planning can anticipate them.

With our Thursday night now open, Matthias enrolled us for a course meeting at the same time with grill master Patrick. Even though this course had been closed because of full enrollment—a usual occurrence, as I understand—Matthias and Patrick made room for us in the “Plancha” course. This one showcased the new standalone Slate griddle as well as the full-length griddle insert on the Genesis and 22” kettle grills. Patrick met us in the store and gave us a quick tour of the kitchen and offices. The Grill Academy classroom on the ground floor had a corporate team-building activity booked for a local business, which had begun an hour earlier.

As soon as we entered the second floor of the Academy, I saw a layout similar to the other Academies scattered throughout Europe. Long kitchen islands with ample storage and presentation space accompanied heat lamps positioned over the middle of  the tabletop. Just beyond stood a series of long dining tables placed together, with place settings and metal chairs. Closest to us was a short bar, staffed by Lukas, one of Matthias’s boyhood chums. He introduced me to two excellent Austrian beers they had on tap. When patrons enroll in a course, they receive “Weber Dollars” to purchase drinks. With a refrigerator of wine, some liquors, and a draught tap, everyone seemed to revel in their choices.

Just behind the short bar and extending the length of the Academy were huge picture windows on an automatic sliding door and that open onto an immense wraparound porch that hold the working grills used in the course. That outdoor area offered an elevated view of the city, unfortunately blemished by a McDonald’s across the street.

Although the plancha course was four hours long, I never saw anyone checking their watch. I checked mine often because I wanted to judge Patrick’s pace in presentation as well as how he turns tasks over to the audience. He got people up and moving a lot, informally creating zones around islands, grilling areas, and the dining table. Even though he didn’t wear a microphone, his voice rang clear and distinct, his presentation lively and humorous.

Patrick’s infectious smile, accompanied by his long stream of German inflections, soon gave way to the audience laughing loudly. Although I have little command of German, I sensed what he was teaching in the broadest sense because he used body language—pointing and illustrating techniques—such as flipping rice quickly on the griddle. Once in a while he was jabbing us, his “American guests.”  When the participants looked at Margie and me, I returned his gaze disapprovingly, in jest of course. Everyone laughed.

Many of the participants were extraordinarily friendly. One family attending the class—Thomas, Andrea, Tim, and Jan—were fun to talk to. I envied that they grill as a family. The two sons manned the fire of the griddle-equipped kettles while Mom and Dad worked the standalone griddles. Another student in the course, Michael, is a writer, and since he was proficient in English, answered many of my questions and spoke openly with Margie and me about his own writing. One brother and sister, Kristina and Andreas, active participants in the class, were also friendly and helped me with some of the German in Patrick’s instructions and mini-lectures. I enjoyed taking photographs of them and other participants as they griddled steaks or turned vegetables, as I muttered the occasional “sehr gut.” That warmed the participants to us, just by the time we reached the “on fire” dessert course of pineapple and pancakes with a cream sauce.

Patrick had divided the course into sections like a traditional menu of appetizer, main course, sides, and dessert. After each section, we would join Patrick inside at the presentation island, where a few volunteer participants portioned the grilled food into plates that they could take to the dining table and eat. Gradually those sitting around us realized I was working on a book about my experiences with Weber and politely switched to English for us.

As mentioned elsewhere in this book, grills and accessories frequently differ in composition or design by country. The full-sized griddle for the standard 22” kettle features an open port for grease and another, larger section with a “wall” before the opening. However, in the European model, however, reinforced pieces support the wall with an unobstructed access to the opening. I couldn’t fathom a reason for the change; sometimes, I suspect design choices have more to do with particular regulatory requirements in the US or EU.

Technique also differs. For instance, Patrick grabbed a can of Coca-Cola Classic—he insisted on the brand—and carefully distributed its contents on an empty but hot griddle to clean it. He stressed it must be the “classic” variety; the cola acted very quickly in steam cleaning the hot grill and bubbling until evaporation. What little remained he squeegeed into the grease port. I never would have considered cola as an effective cleaning agent on a factory-seasoned, carbon steel cooktop.

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The next evening (Friday), Margie and I met Weber friends I had only known through social media. I got to meet Norbert or “Bertl,” a kettle collector and accomplished griller who graciously took time from work and his daughter’s soccer match to meet us. The European Grill On magazine featured his impressively rare collection of Weber kettles in a cover story a few years ago. I had corresponded with Bertl off and on for years. Also joining us for a few moments was Matthias, he having just returned from a business trip to Barcelona. He insisted on meeting us as soon as he arrived home.

I was really looking forward to meeting Andreas from Germany, known throughout Instagram and the web as Weber Grill Junkie. He and I corresponded for years about new Weber products and the differences between our respective country’s offerings. My messages consist of cobbling together simple sentence structures, my smattering of written German, and Google Translate. He does the same for my English. Since I couldn’t easily use those resources in person, Vienna Weber influencer Suad helped us talk to one another. All the while, I grew to love the Austro-German tradition of shopping with an adult beverage in hand. After a few beers together, I jokingly asked Andreas if I was all he hoped I would be. He looked at me quizzically and exclaimed in English, “Suad! I need a translator!” We both laughed. Finally all together, we formed a small semi-circle for photographs to show how, as Suad says, “Grilling connects!”

Next, we all joined the class forming that evening in the upstairs Weber Grilling Academy. Patrick was teaching a “Steak Tasting Course” in which he had us sample various steaks from local and international sources. He also explained how the animal was treated along with the various cuts and ways of grilling them. I noticed there was an Academy chef, holding a notebook, who was holding back during our discussions in a group, patiently waiting in the background. As soon as I could, I broke through the circle of friends to introduce myself to whom I came to know as David. Trained as a French chef and having interned there for four years, he just recently joined the Academy staff. As a native of Bosnia, he looked to bring its cuisine to the Academy soon. He explained the Balkans generally have a high concentration of meat in their diet. I also learned that David will be developing some English language courses for the Academy, since there is demand for them. From the few days I was in Vienna, I noticed a significant portion of the population from Bosnia and Croatia.

Two of my favorite people attending the Friday class were Diana and Dree, a couple who had considerable experience with Weber grilling. Diana understood several languages, and she graciously spent time to explain what Patrick was teaching at particular points. For instance, Patrick explored how regional differences account for slaughtering techniques. He explained that in Spain the cow is butchered while it is still warm. This procedure extends the freshness of the meat and the time when it can be eaten. In such a system, a cow slaughtered in September would still be good in April.

Patrick provided generous samples of steaks from the various regions he mentioned: Austria, the US, Spain, and Argentina. He stressed the importance of reading labels to know when the cow was slaughtered and where it lived. Austria tends to butcher cattle early, 18-24 months, whereas the US prefers 38 months, leading to greater depth of fat because the cow is older. We did sample a Wagyu steak with incredible marbling and exquisite taste.

When enough steaks were grilled, Nina, one of the students in the class, piled them on a platter to bring into the dining area.  It was time to eat.

At the conclusion of the class, Patrick awarded certificates to all. Fortunately, we all passed the course. (I naively concluded that my German could not have been that bad!)

The following day, Matthias offered to take us sightseeing, a walking tour through foodie places in the outside market. I was so glad that Sabrina could also come along. One memorable place we stopped was at a wine and cheese merchant that Matthias recommended. The cheese and wine pairings were phenomenal and educational. I think I was the only one to take notes in a wine shop. We stopped at so many butchers and food merchants, took so many pictures together, that it was hard to take it all in, and I snapped as many photographs as I could as we walked quickly. By the late afternoon, Matthias led us back to the hotel, revealing what he had been carrying all day in his backpack. He presented to us with two bottles—a red and a white wine—and a number of Weber t-shirts exclusive to Austria. These gifts were in addition to the rubs and sauces Patrick had given us in the Thursday course.

That evening I anxiously tried to uncork the red wine. I couldn’t pull the cork all the way out, however, so Margie suggested I ask one of the waiters in the hotel restaurant to see if a waiter could open it for me. When I approached one with my request, his face lit up: “Of course, but only if I may have a glass.”

“Of course!” I said, knowing I couldn’t finish it myself and Margie would just take a small glass.

“I’m just kidding,” he laughed. “But this is really good wine!”

He was right. Within a few brief moments that Saturday night in our hotel room, the wine vanished deliciously.

Our visit to Vienna seemed to pass just as quickly, delightful in every way. When I reflect on my experiences there, I am thankful for our gracious hosts and their generosity in making us part of the Weber family in Austria.