PIGEONS AND CAULIFLOWER – in VIENNA
PIGEONS
By CHANTAL COOKE
I really didn’t mean to concuss the pigeon, but just like Marcus in ‘About a Boy’ my generously thrown food offering did more harm than good.
The good news is that, unlike Marcus’s unlucky duck – my pigeon did get up again and managed to eat the offending item.
Personally I blame Centimeter II. A large restaurant-cum-bar in Vienna’s Spittelberg area, it’s a great place to sit on a hot afternoon. Their outside tables and chairs are gathered below large leafed maples allowing you to relax in peace just a few minutes walk from the bustling Museum Quarter and the city’s biggest shopping street – the Mariahilfer Strasse.
But that’s not why I blame them. I blame them because their food portions are huge (and, by the way, very reasonably priced). If I hadn’t been given such a big plate full of fried vegetables then I wouldn’t have had any to spare for the pigeon – and then the large junk of breaded cauliflower would not have ended up hitting the pigeon square on its tiny head (quite an achievement if I’d meant to do it – their heads are very small…)
So I blame Centimeter II. Next time I am there I may order the pancakes instead – they are softer and less likely to do any damage (and they are very good).

If your aim is better than mine or your appetite bigger than mine, then Centimeter II is a great place to hang out for a while. They offer a range of fresh cooked food, including an intriguing soup that’s served in a hollowed out loaf of bread! You can order many of their dishes by the centimetre – hence the name, and they cater for vegetarians. And because it’s Vienna expect some excellent beer to wash it all down.