SIV Reviews BierBeisl; Gold on Wang Xing Ji

This week SIV sings words of praise for young ex-Patina chef Bernhard Mairinger and his "modern Austrian restaurant," the first in SoCal, BierBeisl:

While the menu does have excellent sausages and a classic weinerschnitzel, he's intent on bringing contemporary Austrian cooking to Los Angeles. The cuisine is under-appreciated in this country, probably because it's so little known. And that's a shame. Breads and pastries are outstanding, not to mention the wines, and you eat well at every level from heurigen (wine pub) to traditional and sophisticated modern restaurants.

...BierBeisl looks simple enough. The food is anything but. It's a credit to Mairinger's skills that it all comes out of a galley kitchen the size of many home kitchens. The best seat in the house is at the counter in front of that kitchen, where you can watch the 6-foot-7 chef seemingly effortlessly turn out polished dishes with the help of a single assistant.

And the compliments keep coming. Sher states, "Mairinger's schnitzel is as good as it gets in L.A.," the white fish is "genius!" and pork belly "grabs your attention." She ends with this: "Here's a young chef cooking his heart out every night to show Los Angeles what real Austrian cooking is all about." [LAT]

Jonathan Gold attempts to eat oversized soup dumplings at Wang Xing Ji, the "first American branch of a popular dumpling house in Wuxi, a lakeside city about 45 minutes out of Shanghai." Sweet and savory dumplings grace the menu, and while "[t]he idea of sweet pork may be vaguely repellent...the traditional XLB wins every time." [LAT]

The Elsewhere: CoC drinks at Drago Centro, e*star LA also visits BierBeisl, Eat: LA talks about The Golden State, kevinEats at Marcona, LAW too dishes on BierBeisl, Midtown Lunch picks Oo Kook, and Refined Palate hits Milo & Olive.

Foursquare

BierBeisl Imbiss

541 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013 310 271 7274