Two-Michelin-starred restaurant Ikarus with a guest chef concept is one more unique thing that can be experienced in Austria. What is so unique about this restaurant that no other restaurant in the world had ever dared to attempt? If you don’t have an opportunity to dine in New York, Paris or Tokyo, it is not a problem. You just have to wait for one of the world’s top chefs to pop up in Ikarus in Austria.
The concept of Ikarus
The Ikarus Restaurant was the first restaurant in the world where the concept of a guest chef was implemented. In reality, this means that every month a new guest-chef is responsible for an eight- to 12-course menu. Different food is served by different chefs, from traditional, fusion to molecular cuisine. The high quality of the dishes and perfect service is the only imperative, and the goal of the Ikarus Restaurant is to present the world-class cuisine from different countries and show what is being served in faraway lands.
Photo © Red Bull Hangar-7
The restaurant was opened in 2003, and back then it was unclear will this concept ever succeed. 15 years later, it can be confirmed that it was very successful. Ikarus concept invented a new strategy and made a restaurant a place that isn’t static and predictable, like the typical dinners people are used to. Today, the concept was copied by others, and it is common that now the most famous chefs travel like rock stars on tour, flown around the world for limited cooking engagements.
Famous Austrian chef and the author of many cooking books Eckart Witzigmann is a patron of the Ikarus Restaurant and responsible for the invention and implementation of the concept. Witzigmann is a chef with a great pedigree, known for becoming the first German-speaking chef and the third, outside France, to receive the esteemed three stars from the French Michelin Guide for his restaurant. He was also proclaimed the chef of the century by the Gault Millau Guide and was a pioneer who brought the French nouvelle cuisine to the German-speaking regions.
Photo © Red Bull Hangar-7
The concept of the guest-chef for the executive chef Martin Klein and two other permanent chefs de cuisine of Restaurant Ikarus implies adapting to a new menu, a new guest chef, and a new philosophy each and every month. This demands a high degree of talent, versatility and team spirit.
This restaurant is located in Hangar-7, an architectural masterpiece and one-of-a-kind hangar at the Salzburg airport. A bit unusual location is a perfect environment to implement this concept of the restaurant. Surrounded by historical aeroplanes of the Flying Bulls, a unique guest chef concept in Salzburg Ikarus Restaurant offers experience for all senses.
Interesting towns related to this story
The author
Ogi Savic
Are you ready to experience this story yourself?
