Le Ciel Lunch: Lucky Thirteen

April 12th, 2012

For centuries, thirteen has been considered a cursed, unlucky number.

• Thirteen is one of the least likely numbers to be drawn in a lottery.
• The thirteenth day of the month is considered unlucky in Western tradition, especially when it falls on a Friday.
• In Tarot, thirteen is attributed to Death (La Mort).
• "The Thirteenth" is a synonym for the Devil, and thirteen is also referred to as a "devil's dozen." In the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, the thirteenth wise woman in the country, who was not invited to Sleeping Beauty's birthday party, pronounced a curse on the young princess. In that story, the thirteenth is the evil fairy who didn't fit in with the twelve good ones. (Source: Wikipedia)

All that superstition is a thing of the past. From now on, thirteen stands for the ultimate culinary experience. From Monday to Saturday lunch, the award-winning restaurant Le Ciel on the 7^th floor of the Grand Hotel Wien has a special offer revolving around the number thirteen:

13 euros for an appetizer, 13 euros for a soup, 13 euros for a fish dish, 13 euros for a meat dish, 13 euros for a dessert. Plus, there is no cover charge!

So each course at lunch costs only 13 euros, and you can choose to suit your appetite and fancy. Maybe you just want a main course, or maybe you prefer two appetizers, or - like the author of this article - three sweet desserts.

Gone are the days when you had to take a full lunch menu. Now you can mix and match courses entirely to your liking. The possible combinations are virtually endless. Whether you order one dish or thirteen, let yourself be inspired by your cravings, your appetite, and the amount of time you have for lunch.

One thing you can be sure about, our cooking, or to be more precise, the cooking of chef de cuisine Jacqueline Pfeiffer, will be superb. After all, the renowned S.Pellegrino Culinary Selection just nominated Pfeiffer as Austria's Cook of the Year 2012. A look at the current thirteen-themed lunch menu will give you a good idea why: "carpaccio of beef with Barilotto bufala cheese and avocado" (13 euros); "wild herb risotto with oven-baked tomatoes" (13 euros); "veal émincé with morels and petit potato pancakes" (13 euros); and "crème de Bresse with raspberries, meringue, and artisan vanilla ice cream" (13 euros) are just a few examples.

The unique Le Ciel at the Grand Hotel Wien looks forward to your visit - thirteen times and more.

www.leciel.at