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On October 29Aldo Sohm answered the question:
What are Aldo Sohm's favorite restaurants in New York?
Lately, I’ve been going to a place in my neighborhood called Chuko — it’s a ramen place. Also in Brooklyn is a little Italian place called Franny’s. They have a very clean cuisine. They offer pasta, pizzas, but also some very clean appetizers. They also have a very smart wine list — not the biggest one, but it’s so creative. If you have a big wine list, making it creative isn’t very difficult. But making a small wine list creative is difficult.
In New York, I love to go to Daniel. For me, a great place is Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Everything is seasonal. I just came from there and had a really phenomenal meal. I don’t mind traveling for food.
And even though it’s not a brunch place, I go to SriPraPhai in Queens, a Thai place. It’s not a fancy restaurant at all, but they deliver such authentic flavors onto the plate. The presentation is very simple, but it’s a restaurant that is spotless clean. They even have a little garden outside and they allow you to bring your own wine. -
On October 29Aldo Sohm answered the question:
What are Aldo Sohm’s favorite cities to visit?
I love to go to Buenos Aires. I think it’s a fascinating city, and it’s also has fascinating people. There’s so much old structure there — it has kind of a 1930s feel. Time stops there. I always have a hard time leaving Buenos Aires.
Vienna is another favorite. It’s not just because Austria is my home country, but I think Vienna has a charming component to it, and it’s really clean. There’s so much culture — music, cafes, little restaurants. -
On October 29Aldo Sohm answered the question:
What are Aldo Sohm’s favorite restaurants in Vienna?
Steirereck is the absolute best. I would say it has Austrian cuisine and it’s also the best restaurant in Austria, no question. Lately they specialize in a vegetarian-based menu. I brought some friends with me there, and they were blown away. First of all, the presentation was fantastic. They loved how refined the food was and how seamless the service was. -
On October 29Aldo Sohm answered the question:
What are Aldo Sohm’s favorite restaurants?
I like to go to local places — it doesn’t necessarily have to be fancy. I love to sit with the people from that area. When I go to Vienna, one main destination for me is an amusement park called Prater; there’s a beer garden called Schweizerhaus meaning ‘Swiss House’. They are known for their pork knuckle because it’s so crunchy. You get a very special Czech beer, called Budvar. It’s so crisp and so fresh. It might sound odd that a wine person names a beer garden, but I like to look after many tastes for refreshment, and many wine people actually drink a lot of beer.
In Vienna, I also like Plachutta, which is focused on boiled beef. It doesn’t really sound that exciting, but it’s very tasty.
Aldo Sohm
Tastemaker
Sommelier
New York
Aldo Sohm, chef sommelier at New York’s Le Bernardin, is well known for his food and wine pairings — his classic duo is Le Bernardin’s scallops with morels teamed with Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon, Defaix 2000. Sohm oversees the celebrated restaurant’s wine collection of 15,000 bottles. The Austrian-born Sohm landed in New York in 2004 after a couple stints at Austria’s finest restaurants. In 2008, a year after he joined Le Bernardin, Sohm was named Best Sommelier in the World by the Worldwide Sommelier Association. In 2009, the Austrian-born Sohm launched his own label Sohm & Kracher, which focuses on the wines of Austria. He also created a bespoke corkscrew by Laguiole, and has a stemware line produced by Austrian glassware company Zalto.
