Hofkeller

Description:

• The best of Graz's new crop of hip and trend-conscious restaurants contains only 40 seats, each laid out under the ochre-painted 400-year-old vaults of a historic building in the town center. Your host, and the resident chef, is Norbert Kabelka, a 40-something wunderkind who has managed to attract whatever Austrian celebrities happen to be visiting Graz at the time, along with a regular crowd of food-loving locals. Menu items vary with the seasons, but are usually devoted to a local reinterpretation of the classics of the Mediterranean world. The finest examples include a succulent version of octopus salad, a salad of orange and fennel in an herb-laced vinaigrette; grilled lamb chops with rosemary sauce and potatoes; grilled sea bass with lemon sauce and fresh spinach; and a tempting array of pastas -- one of the best of which is a deceptively simple version prepared with fresh tomatoes, olive oil, herbs, and capers.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010