In a recent post, I wrote about the history of the bakery chain Ströck, its 70 branches and 1,700 workers, which is currently celebrating 50 years in operation. I realise now I dropped the story some time around the year 2000 and wished to pick it up again in 2013/14, when the Ströck family opened up a new concept bakery-cum-restaurant on Landstrasse Hauptstrasse in Vienna's third district called Ströck-Feierabend. I suppose its approach to smart-casual dining is what is now called farm-to-table -- as if produce comes from anywhere else save a farm, but that's by the by. Their chic menu balances quality and flavour against sustainability, regionality, resource conservation, and environmental awareness. The vegetables served in the Ströck-Feierabend restaurant, for example, are grown on their own 2.500m² farm in Aspern on the other side of the Danube, while the majority of wines on the wine list are Austrian ones.
And what of the baked goods? Well, the selection at Ströck-Feierabend uses (when compared with those available at a regular Ströck) different sorts of flour, alternative doughs like sourdough, more organic ingredients, and features more products worked on and assembled by hand. This year, their product range expanded once more when a second Ströck-Feierabend, a smaller hole-in-the-wall bakery, opened on Rotenturmstrasse in the first district. One of those newer products is the Wiedermandelcroissant. The basis is another Ströck product, their signature Feierabend-Croissant, each one rolled and shaped by hand. Day-old Feierabend-Croissants are first sliced in half crossways and filled with a soft, somewhat fluid almond paste. They are then brought back to life by being soaked in rum and a simple syrup, garnished with flaked almonds, and baked anew before being finished with a dusting of icing sugar. The resulting Wiedermandelcroissant is buttery, sticky, messy, and decadent.
