Ciccio Sultano needs no introduction: a leading figure in the new Italian cuisine, consistently ranked in the top ten in Italy by 50 Top Italy. His Pastamara, a bar and Italian-style kitchen on the ground floor of the Ritz Carlton, has been in the heart of Vienna for five years with a renewed contract for the next six. The kitchen is led by head chef Francesco Milicia, who after various experiences abroad, had landed at the Duomo in Ragusa Ibla. The success of Pastamara in Vienna is certainly due to the great reputation that Italian cuisine has in this country as almost everywhere in the world, but also to Ciccio Sultano’s ability to perfectly balance Sicilian Mediterranean tradition with local tastes and the necessary replicability that recipes must have in these situations. The restaurant is open almost all day, closing at 11 pm, the only true restaurant in the hotel besides a grill that becomes a breakfast room early in the morning. Some historical recipes to try include the Taratatà spaghetti, dishes like the extraordinary snapper in caper sauce, with the fish cooked as it is only found in Italy, retaining the sea and using sauces to enhance the flavor rather than rehydrate a meat that is usually overcooked and mistreated by violent cooking methods. Exceptional, lively, and motivated service.