Ever since he went to hotel school in Vienna 40 years ago, restaurateur Bob Antoniou (Little Anthony’s, Mediterra) has longed to open a high-end Austrian restaurant. He fulfi lls the dream with Amadeus, on Richmond Street’s suddenly red-hot strip, a stein’s throw from the opera house. While suits dine on Austrian chef Rudi Kitzberger’s classic tafelspitz (boiled beef served in the traditional copper pan) and blood sausage dumplings, the less formally minded can tuck into Viennese pastries in the café or make merry in the 190-seat bier stube. There, comely fräuleins in frilly dirndls serve all manner of sausage and 14 draft beers to the rhythms of a live oompah band. Toronto has never seen anything quite so Austrian—a perfect pit stop before a Mozart opera over the road.

Amadeus, 111 Richmond St. W., 416-366-3500.