Shopping and dining in Vienna

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VIENNA, Austria -- For more than a century at Freisingergasse 1, A. Frimmel was the Old Button King. Now the shop, Schokoladekonig, sells the creations of Wolfgang Leschanz, as the shop says, the Chocolate King.

Mr. Leschanz, 54, makes his chocolates by hand, mixing the powders, preserves, pralines and whatever is needed. In homage to the button business, he kept the shop as it was, even with a few shelves still holding boxes of buttons. The counter also displays buttons, but those created by Mr. Leschanz in dark and milk chocolates and packaged as "Knopfe," buttons.

From a background that included working at the famous Sacher Hotel in Vienna and 12 years as head confectioner at the city's No. 1 confectionery, Hofzuckerbackerei (court sugar bakery) Demel, Mr. Leschanz worked in Tokyo; Syria; Beverly Hills, Calif.; and Phoenix before returning to Vienna and becoming the chocolate king. Visit www.schokoladekoenig.at.

A joy of the Viennese winter is to walk into Mr. Leschanz's shop and order a cup of hot chocolate. This is no cocoa with milk; this is hot chocolate, so thick that it must be ladled from a pot and poured into a teacup. Think melted chocolate that is hot, and you've got it. This may be the most decadent state of chocolate in Vienna.

Zinnfiguren aus Wien, at Liechtensteinstrasse 66, is a business that sells hand-painted poured-tin items its artisans create. The subjects range from St. Nicholas as a bishop to Santa Claus on skis to reindeer and Christmas trees to tin soldiers. E-mail may be sent to urbanke@zinnfiguren-aus-wien.at; hours are 2 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Visitors returning to Vienna will be reassured that Demel is still operating at Kohlmarkt 14 -- and first-timers will seek it out again and again. Meinl still sells the best in foods at the end of the Graben, while a few blocks away at Kaertnerstrasse 26, the venerable Lobmeyr, creator of the baroque-inspired starburst crystal chandeliers in the Kennedy Center Opera House, is stocked with its own fine products, china from Hungary and glass from Venini in Venice.

A newcomer across the street from Cafe Central, Herrengasse 14, probably the city's most famous coffeehouse, is Style Hotel Vienna, Herrengasse 12. The small hotel -- the 78 rooms include 17 suites -- is in a former bank building and is modern, quite comfortable and less expensive than the city's famous luxury hotels.

The bathrooms have heated brown marble floors and spacious walk-in showers (few bathtubs). The white towels are thick, and warmth for the night is provided by a lightweight comforter in a white linen duvet cover. Beside the desk is a flat-screen TV concealed as part of a mirrored element, and in the minibar, the water, beer, sodas and candy bar are free.

The breakfast is delicious -- this is Vienna -- and the hotel restaurant, Sapori, otherwise serves Italian-inspired dishes. The long bar is obviously a popular place for guests and people in the neighborhood (visit www.stylehotel.at or call 43/1-22-780-70).

Style Hotel is new, so not all of the city's taxi drivers know where it is; guests can ask for Cafe Central and walk across the street to the hotel.

The basement of the Vienna Stock Exchange, Wipplingerstrasse 34, has become home to a stylish restaurant, Hansen, named for the building's 19th-century architect, Theophil von Hansen. The basement also is home for a florist who also sells decorative and stylish gardening items. Hansen: www.hansen.co.at, or e-mail, restaurant@hansen.co.at.

The Reichenberger Griechenbeisl, Fleischmarkt 11, serves traditional Viennese fare in its medieval building with many small rooms. Famous guests have included composers Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner and Brahms and Count Zeppelin (43/1-533-19-77).

Opera fans frequent Peter's Operncafe Hartauer, Riemergasse 9, for Viennese favorites such as goulaschsuppe and long, narrow wieners served with hot mustard and freshly grated horseradish -- and the owner's collection of recordings. The Operncafe is particularly smoky, which is not unusual in Vienna, the capital of a country where the number of smokers is increasing, particularly among people in their early teens.

For many Americans, the cigarette smoke can be a problem, but given the choice of Vienna and smoke or no Vienna, I will suffer the smoke.

Austrian Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance, flies daily between Washington Dulles International Airport and Vienna. The attendants' uniforms are seriously red -- for the women: red shoes, stockings, skirts, slacks, jackets, etc. I didn't notice the men's socks.

The airline's Grand Class -- or business class -- is comfortable, and soup is still served from a tureen as a dinner course. The coach cabins are brighter than most others -- green seats with yellow or red cloths where the head rests. Otherwise, coach is coach, and the coach food is coach food. Avoid the lunch with spinach strudel as the main course. Heated in an airplane galley, it becomes a dish of goo surrounded by a pinkish sauce that looks very Mitteleuropa. The simple snack before landing was much better, with rolls and a good, coarse pumpernickel, cream cheese, sliced ham and egg salad.

Austrian Airlines (800/843-0002 for reservations or visit www.austrianair.com) has many convenient connections for travel on to other cities in Europe and Asia -- it flies to 130 destinations in 66 countries. Because United Airlines sells tickets on the flights, Austrian Airlines is popular with many Americans traveling on U.S. government business and on their own as tourists headed for the city of music.

For information on Vienna Mozart Year, visit www.wienmozart2006.at. Another Web site for travel information on Vienna is www.vienna.info.