With the start of this month, we are also starting into the second half of the year. These monthly favorites always make me realize how crazily quick time flies. And these monthly top 6 are for sure going to bring you through July in the best possible way. Honestly, everything you need for summer. As usual, nothing here is sponsored, everything is based on personal experience and recommendations. I hope you‘ll enjoy everything and have the best summer ever!
Restaurant of the Month – Himmelblau
It really is a surprise that this restaurant has not been on the blog before, except for the brunch guide. This café, which is located in the 18th district of Vienna, is one of my favorites, if not my favorite café in town. Right in the middle of the Kutschkermarkt you can get heavenly coffee, breakfast, and cakes. And a weekly changing lunch menu.
Why is it so special and so good? Well, first up the location. Himmelblau probably is the café with the best location in Vienna. When you‘re sitting outside, you find yourself in the middle of colorful fruit and vegetable vendors, fishers and butchers and a lot of smiling and chatting people. The atmosphere is just incredibly relaxed and happy.
Then the food: it may not be that instragrammable, fancy brunch but that is what makes it so loveable. It is hard to oversee how much love goes into every single dish prepared. The breakfast combos are versatile, delicious, and there for sure is something for everyone. You could get an avocado or also just a Semmel with Jam. The range is from traditional Austrian to international cuisine, but always with this grounded touch and lots of love.
What is more, everyone there is super friendly and super happy. If you have 5 extra wishes that also works perfectly fine. And waiting times are minimal. The food and drinks don‘t take long until they are on your table. The only disadvantage: Himmelblau does not take reservations on the weekend, so you probably have to wait for a table (which is no big deal to be honest, since you can have your first coffee while waiting )
Food of the Month – Tomatoes
In summer there is no other way but to choose tomatoes as the food of the month. Plus, tomatoes are my favorite fruit of them all (yes, I like them even more than avocados). When I was a kid I would ALWAYS snack on tomatoes. Yes, I would choose tomatoes over chocolate or gummy bears – that is how big my love for them is. Nowadays I still snack on tomatoes all the time, which definitely contributes to the fact that summer is my favorite season of them all.
Anyway, besides their incredibly delicious flavor and my addiction, why are tomatoes the food of the month. Tomatoes, being part of the nightshade family, have a super high water content. They are made up of 95% water. This on the one hand is very beneficial for us, because they are very hydrating, yet it is harmful for the environment because they need a lot of water to grow.
In terms of nutritional value, tomatoes are a super star. They contain a decent amount of fiber and are very low in carbohydrates. One regular sized tomato provides more than 25% of the recommend amount of vitamin C for a day. This makes it a great fruit for your immune system. Besides, it also contains potassium, Vitamin K1 and Folate. In addition, tomatoes have also been linked to several healthy benefits.
What is more, tomatoes are super easy to prepare and super tasty in any way. They are very delicious in any way of preparation. As a warm or cold soup, dried or pickled or as tomato sauce. Also in dishes like the Honey Roasted Tomato Caprese or the Eggplant Tomato Stew, or the Tomato White Wine Pasta.
Tomatoes are just unbeatable. Their flavor, their versatility and their nutritional value all together make it a well-deserved food of the month!
Recipe of the month – Crispy Smashed Potatoes, Asparagus & Pesto
Potatoes always are a good choice. But crispy potatoes are not just a good choice, they are an excellent choice. Crispy, salty and golden brown on the outside, soft and warm on the inside. Paired with tangy pesto and fresh asparagus and the combination is perfect. And it really is not difficult to make.
This recipe is one I personally really love. Making it is actually easy. All you need to do is boil the potatoes, dry them, smash, and bake them. In the meantime, you can prepare the herb dip if you want to. What also is great about this recipe is that you can easily prepare it beforehand and the just bake it whenever you want. This also makes it very suitable for when you have guests over!
Plus, the recipe is pretty nutrient dense. Both, potatoes, and herbs are very nutritious, making this a very balanced meal. You could just enjoy them as they are or have them as a side or with a salad and some avocado. Regardless of the way you‘ll eat them, I am sure you will love them.
Product of the month – Charity Special Feel Good Bowl
This product of the month is, contrary to the ones before, one, which I have a personal connection too. If you have read my previous Monthly Top 6 you know Elena‘s Buddha Bowls. It is a restaurant/ Buddha Bowl Bar in Vienna that focuses on creating high quality, delicious and healthy buddha bowls. Most ingredients are organic and everything is prepared in a healthy way, either steamed or pan-fried.
Together with Elena form Elena‘s Buddha Bowls, I have created this Feel Good Buddha Bowl. Why feel good? It is designed to make you feel good and make you do good. Feel good because all ingredients are very nutritious and amazing for your body, and feel good because it simply tastes reallyyyy good! And do good because this bowl also has a charity impact. 5% of every single sold bold is donated to the NGO Oxfam Germany to help fight world hunger.
The Feel Good Bowl is available for 1 Month, from June 28th until July 28th and costs 10€. It is prepared like a typical buddha bowl, so made up of a base, a dressing, a protein, add-ons, a sauce, and toppings. As a base we‘re using half spinach and half spelt rice. I know that spelt rice sounds very interesting and very healthy, but trust me – it is really, good. I promise you; it tastes good. I was really surprised myself. The add-ons are cherry tomatoes and broccolini as specials (those usually are not available), hummus, avocado, and edamame. All those taste really delicious!! Then as a sauce we have a tomato-peanut sauce and on top of this are some pomegranate seeds and crunchy onions. All together it tastes like summer in a bowl – just delicious.
This project really is one that means SO much to me, because it shows that we can make an impact together.
Workout of the month – ShapedbyIB Scorch
You need to know that I am currently writing this in my chair and I haven‘t quite walked for a few hours because my legs are so sore. Sore from yesterday‘s Shaped by IB Scorch. Maybe you know the Shaped by IB online workouts from previous monthly Top 6 and already felt like dying doing those. But scorch in real life is another level of intensity.
What is Shaped by IB and what is Scorch? Shaped by IB is a fitness studio in the heart of Vienna at the Danube canal and soon in Taborstraße. It was founded by three friends and claims to be the hardest workout in town. All workouts are a mix of cardio and strength parts and you will definitely sweat in every single class. You train in a dark room with super loud music and colorful disco lights. May sound a bit odd at first but the atmosphere is so energizing and motivating.
Scorch is one of their three trainings. It is a mix of boxing, strength training and cardio. After a warm-up, you start with 6 minutes of one of those aspects. During the last 30 seconds of each 6 minute interval, the read light is turned on. That means you now must go all in and give everything that is left.
So, let‘s say you start with the treadmill. For 6 minutes you will now do intervals on the treadmill and switch between sprinting and rather relaxing phases. Then you move on to the strength part, which is made up of several different exercises which you repeat as often as possible within those 6 minutes. After, you go to the boxing station and will box different combinations for 6 minutes straight. The last 30 seconds are freestyle boxing, which honestly is the best way to release any tension or stress that has been carried around for a while within you. When you are done, and everything already feels like gummy, then you repeat everything one more time.
I am not exaggerating when I say you‘ll be drenching in sweat afterwards but I also am not exaggerating when I say that you will feel incredible afterwards. All this pushing towards your limits and beyond makes you become a so much stronger person inside and out. If you want to leave your comfort zone and push yourself, you really NEED to go to a Scorch session.
One trial session costs 15€, then depending on which rate you chose it varies from 20-25€. Not cheap, but very well invested money for sure.
Inspiration of the month – Nate O’Brien
This month the inspiration is not a book, not a movie, and not a documentary. It is a youtuber. No, not one doing vlogs and pranks but one who really can inspire. I have found Nate O‘Brien a few months ago, when a friend recommended him to me. She said that he is a pretty cool youtuber. So I checked him out. And I really started to like his videos.
They are focused on how to improve your life (mostly from habits) and on economics. The main topics he is covering, are minimalism, stocks, habits from successful people, productivity, books and investments. What is so great about his videos, is that you can really learn and take away so much from every single one and implement it yourself.
The videos are around 10 minutes long and are uploaded pretty much weekly (although he took a little break last month). I personally enjoy his habit videos (e.g. millionaire habits or minimalist habits) because especially the learnings from those videos are some, which you can implement immediately. And therefore you can also see a difference in your daily life immediately.
I can only highly recommend checking out his youtube channel and watching one video. This only takes 10 minutes and may actually make a big change. Give it a shot and afterwards you can still decide whether you like it or not.
I genuinely hope that these Top 6 will help you make the most of July and enjoy it to its fullest. I would love to hear and/ or see what you think of those and how you like those Top 6. So, feel free to just comment here or on Instagram @uneptcuisiniere or send me a DM! Have an incredible summer!
Love,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisnière