By KRISTIE KELLAHAN
Old Shanghai in Vienna ... Ra'mien Bar.Credit: Picasa 2.7
THE inner-city centre of Vienna is where all the cool cats want to live. Stroll around the interwoven network of connecting pedestrian streets and you'll see why: design shops, galleries, fashion boutiques, restaurants with cuisine from around the world and dim-lit bars are nestled cheek by jowl on these cosy streets. Newly cool Gumpendorfer Strasse has a great vibe: entertainment, shopping and delicious nosh are all just steps apart.
ZUM ROTEN ELEFANTEN
AS A rule of thumb, Vienna is not a budget city. Which is why it's a pleasant surprise to discover Zum Roten Elefanten, a quirky restaurant housed in a lavishly renovated guesthouse (ornate chandeliers and mid-century furniture) serving delicious fare at really reasonable prices. With a focus on Austrian-French cuisine, expect to pay just €7.90 ($10.80) for a two-course lunch that might include seasoned asparagus soup or roasted beef fillet. You'd spend nearly as much at McDonald's.
Gumpendorfer Strasse 3; +43 1 966 8008; www.zumrotenelefanten.at.
NACHBARIN
STATEMENT: European women are style-savvy. Discuss. Walking the boulevards and pedestrian malls, it becomes obvious most locals will never need a Trinny and Susannah-style intervention. Their secret? Instead of stuffing their wardrobes with piles of cheap T-shirts and the like, they invest in maybe five great pieces each season and always look a million bucks. If you need help reinventing your wardrobe, look no further than the sleek and edgy Nachbarin boutique. It stocks many exclusive labels from Austria and Europe.
Gumpendorfer Strasse 17; +431 587 2169; www.nachbarin.co.at.
LICHTERLOH
CREATIVE inspiration abounds in the airy showrooms of Lichterloh. Here you'll find one of the best ranges in Europe of original art, antiques and interior-design objects. You may not have space in your suitcase to take home a prized piece of vintage furniture but you'll certainly take away ideas for your next refurb: a broad selection of original chairs and tables by the likes of Eames, van der Rohe, Wegner and Noguchi would make an interior designer weep.
Gumpendorfer Strasse 15-17; +431 586 0520; lichterloh.com.
RA'MIEN BAR
A TASTE of old Shanghai in the heart of Vienna. Decked out in the style of an old Chinese restaurant, complete with gaudy lanterns and a liberal use of the colour red, this bar (above) is one of the hippest places to party in the city. Electronic, house and top 40 tunes are mixed by resident DJs, while half-price cocktails on Tuesdays guarantee a big crowd. If dancing works up an appetite for noodles and curry, slip next door to sister restaurant Shanghai Tan, open well past midnight.
Gumpendorfer Strasse 9; +431 585 4798; ramien.at.
SAINT CHARLES PHARMACY
ALL hail the inspired souls behind Saint Charles Pharmacy (left), which has blossomed into a celebration of wellness across several shops. At No. 30, the pharmacy mixes up homeopathic or naturopathic cures for colds. Opposite, Saint Charles Cosmothecary is an Aladdin's cave of natural cosmetics. Saint Charles Alimentary is heralded as Austria's first pharmacy restaurant. At No. 22, the Saint Charles Centre of Wellbeing offers yoga, kinesiology, meditation and dance classes.
Gumpendorfer Strasse 30; +431 586 1363; saint.info.
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