Continuous Improvement

I truly believe that consistency and tradition are good things, and that is why I respect the restaurants that year after year serve me a Martinigansl that looks so similar to the one I had the year before, I start suspecting it came out of a 3D printer rather than an oven. And then, there are restaurants that do not rest on their laurels and every year make adjustments. Mind you, these adjustments do not have to be radical and may involve merely moving chestnuts from the red cabbage plate to the plate holding the goose. Nevertheless, such changes indicate that the restaurant is trying to improve – or at least still has sufficient energy not to follow decades-old recipes blindly. That is why I respect such restaurants much more.

Klein Steiermark is special not only in adhering to the idea of continuous improvement but also, astonishingly, responding to the stuff I write on this awesome, but, let’s face it, not overly popular site. Take, for example, the questionable, from the usability point of view, decision to serve a goose with plenty of sauce on a flat wooden board last year. It resulted in a perfectly good sauce wasted on the tablecloth and me leaving slightly embarrassed. Today, the goose came in a casserole, ensuring no damage was made to the tablecloth or, more importantly, my trousers.

Of course, usability issues can have different solutions, and it is important not to follow a single user’s complaints blindly. In this connection, I must admit that although the casserole eliminated the spilling sauce issue, it unfortunately made the cutting of the goose more challenging, as the knife’s blade and handle were constantly encumbered by the casserole’s rim.

However, I am simply being picky – and partly self-critical – here, for this “issue” was really minor and faded in comparison with the quality of the dish, which remains outstanding. Klein Steiremark’s Gansl is not your typical goose. The closest analogy I can think of is a freshly cooked steak in comparison to traditional Zwiebelrostbraten. I love Zwiebelrostbraten when they are competently prepared (which requires a good gravy, crispy onions and special potatoes), but a steak is something else altogether, requiring a different set of skills.

Klein Steiremark’s Gansl is cooked on some high-tech grill (I have no idea of grills, so don’t ask me for details) and tastes grilled rather that roasted. It has some deliciously burned parts, and smells very different from a “normal” goose. The sauce is also not your usual “goose jus” but a tasty, well spiced creation that serves to enhance the already delicious meat. Most of the goose skin was paper-thin and crunchy (the way I like it), and although I found some fat underneath, it was in limited quantity and actually improved the dish rather than made it less appealing. I must also commend the white cabbage with bacon, which was crunchy and had an extremely pleasant tangy flavor.

I am pleased to confirm that Klein Steiermark remains one of the top locations in Vienna to enjoy a Martinigansl, as my friends and colleagues to whom I recommended it seem to agree. Nonetheless, listening to customers comes with a catch, and that catch is that customers may come up with more wishes, so here are mine: 1) The sauce is amazing, but there should be more of it. My goose portion was so big, that at the end hardly any sauce remained in the casserole. 2) While the red cabbage was great, the red one was quite plain. I fished out a bay leaf out of it, but did not feel its flavor. More spices would be fantastic. 3) The potato dumpling needs improvement. With the goose already being unconventional, there is no reason for the dumpling to follow classic recipes. I would suggest adding some rosemary to it, since there is a sprig of it anyway on the goose, or replacing it with a bread dumpling, which allows for more spices.

Nevertheless, whether my wishes are addressed or not, I will certainly be back next year. And I encourage all of you reading this to follow my lead.