May 12th
2006
Being on your way to Hangar-7 can mean one of three things: either you're into air planes, love art or are a foodie par excellence. In any event, you're up for something memorable! On second thought, aviation and haute cuisine are not necessarily concepts that you'd typically expect to find combined in one place.
But Red Bull's Hangar-7 located close to Salzburg airport is a perfect example of how well those two distinct subjects can be introduced and realized, literally under one roof. True, the Ikarus may be among the most expensive restaurants in Salzburg, but certainly is the most extraordinary one.
For the night owls, a floor above the restaurant is the Mayday Bar and The Threesixty skybar floats right below the hangar ceiling; a narrow bridge connects the restaurant to it - unfortunately neither one of them we were able to experience first hand - they were closed when we visited (at noon).
Frequently Changing Art Exhibitions
While the Greek figure literally got burned for flying too high, there is little chance that it'll happen to his namesake in Salzburg. Dadalus Eckart Witzigmann, the patron of the restaurant and chef de cuisine Roland Trettl presented the so-called 'guest chef' concept with the Ikarus' debut in 2003, introducing guest chef appearances by a new international cook each month. Across a broad spectrum of cuisines and with chefs including Jean-Georges Vongerichten, David Thompson, Marc Haeberlin, Lea Linster and Dieter Müller Ikarus manages to wow its visitors every 4 weeks anew, keeping the culinary momentum. The list of past and upcoming chefs speaks for itself, this restaurant attracts the best and most creative chefs in the world.
Nitrolandia POP
Gianluigi Bonelli, guest chef for the month of April, has cooked with Ferran Adrià at El Bulli, with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck, with Massimiliano Alajmo at Le Calandre and with Alfonso Iaccarino at the Don Alfonso - all four are Michelin stars awarded chefs and indubitable among the top chefs globally. Admittedly, we have not heard of him before but the places and chefs he worked with were reference enough. Having been in charge of the kitchen at the Kee Club, one of Hong Kong's finest private clubs, as well as his earlier engagements with for instance the Intercontinental Hotel Grand Stanford (HK) have certainly contributed to the Eastern influence in his cooking - his menu compilation fell nothing short of exceeding our expectations.
Chips 38
scampi - 3 x cucumber - white balsamic vinegar - cress
What appealed to us immediately was the thought of experiencing molecular gastronomy first hand, especially in light of Gianluigi Bonelli's experience gained at El Bulli. Not surprisingly the presentation was excellent, our photos barely do them justice. The taste - even better.
scallops - carrot - potatoe - cardamom - coffee
A fantastic, out of this world menu, completed with in fact two desserts. One being a chocolate - apricot - tarragon creation, while the second one served with an espresso then finally concluded our 6+3 course lunch. +3 because three additional not-listed courses were squeezed in (and no, we didn't tell them we were going to write about our visit) - how many courses would have been added to the alternatively available 15 course menu, we still keep wondering...
Our first acquaintance with molecular gastronomy was far better than expected. It wasn't merely reduced to a combination of strange ingredients in unusual forms and shapes coming straight from the kitchen laboratory. The various tastes of the served courses seemed perfectly balanced and their unusual state even boosted the whole experience. Who would have thought cucumber mousse could have such a distinctive taste?
tortello - red onion - pumpkin - marjoram
Perhaps the one exception to the otherwise perfect menu was the pork's belly, a notorious dish known for its ability to divide people's opinions (so we were told). Other than that minor demerit (again this is just us, for someone else it could have been their top choice) the entire menu didn't leave anything to wish for.
Interesting to notice was the fact that each course seemed to either cover a full spectrum of tastes and thus would create a very powerful, rich in contrast experience, while other courses appeared to focus on a set of "adjoining" flavors and rather go in-depth, in more subtle, nuanced way.
Most impressive course or taste (per N.): The Valrhona chocolate mousse (chocolate - apricot - tarragon). With a rather untypical firm consistency somewhere between butter and - pardon me - Nutella, a singular chocolate debauchery. Best. Chocolate. Experience. Ever.
O's pick on the most impressive course or taste: The scampi - 3 x cucumber (foam, mousse and gel) - white balsamic vinegar - cress. The scampi taste was incredible, the consistency unusually soft. And I know that the answer to how the scampi could have been prepared kept O. thinking all day.
black currant - praline - blueberry - pistachio - olive oil - chocolate
For a high-end restaurant great service should be a matter of course, but Ikarus' impeccable service has just raised the bar to a record high that'll be difficult, if at all possible, to beat. A very well informed staff, utmost attentive, yet never too present - if that makes sense. By the standards of the restaurant, the butter as well as our glasses of water seemed to have had an extremely thin temperature tolerance and was exchanged/refilled steadily, yet unobtrusively. Even our inquiry to shoot the one or other photo was responded to with a big smile - in other cases we've read about restaurants going berserk and threatened to sue people... here we're being basically invited to.
Good news and bad news. Bad news first, the month of April is over and Gianluigi Bonelli passed on the stick to the next guest chef. So if you're intrigued specifically by his cuisine, you'd have to pay him a visit in Hong Kong. Good news is, however, that Frank Zlomke will ensure to keep the high standards and spoil Ikarus' May guests with his creations.
The upshot of it: To put things a bit into perspective, it suffices to say that while it has been a delicious culinary adventure that inevitably will occupy all your senses, I can't see myself craving this type of cuisine. Will we have it again? Absolutely! But will I wake up in the middle of the night and be thinking of it? Probably not. I don't intend to impair the experience, but to point out that rather traditional cooking will always have its place. We'll be back...(October maybe?)
Here is the complete 2006 list of guest chefs:
January 2006: Juan Amador, Amador, Langen, Germany
February 2006: Gabriel Kreuther, The Modern, NYC, USA
March 2006: Vivek Singh, The Cinnamon Club, London, Great Britain
April 2006: Gianluigi Bonelli, KEE, Hongkong, China
May 2006: Frank Zlomke, Bosman's Restaurant, Paarl, South Africa
June 2006: Robert Feenie, Lumière, Vancouver, Canada
July 2006: Yoshii Ryuichi, Yoshii Restaurant, Sydney, Australia
August 2006: Roland Trettl, Hangar-7, Salzburg, Austria
September 2006: Andrés Madrigal, Balzac, Madrid, Spain
October 2006: Jin Jie Zhang, Green T. House, Beijing, China
November 2006: Jean-Georges Klein, L'Arnsbourg, Alsace, France
December 2006: Alex Atala, D.O.M., Sâo Paulo, Brasil
Ikarus
Hangar-7
Salzburg Airport
Wilhelm-Spazier-Strasse 7A
5020 Salzburg Austria
(+43) 662 21 97
www.hangar-7.com
That seems like a completely fantastic food experience , on all levels. The photos are (of course) fabulous and really make me want to be able to taste the food. I have never had 'foam' at a restaurant...but that seems to be very popular these days. The desert looks divine. I was checking over your list of guest chefs, and noticed Rob Feenie is the chef for June. I have been to his restaurant Lumiere in my own home city, Vancouver. His food is great, not molecular gastronomy...but, more rustic in a very formal way. That doesn't really describe it very well, but if you get a chance...you might want to check him out.
wow...WOW. What an amazing lunch! Cucumber is one of my favorite flavors--it can be so subtle and sweet. In summer I always have a carafe of clear water in the fridge with lemon and cucumber slices floating in it ...The scampi with cucmber x 3 sounds like endless summer. The foam and mousse I can almost imagine...but the gel!?
Thanks for sharing your experience. Looking forward to reading more!
Great post! Given the unusually soft texture of the scampi, I'd like to suggest they were prepared sous-vide (ie. sealed in a Cryovac package, then cooked in a low temperature circulating water bath). This emerging technique is the best way to cook meats that are unbelievably moist and tender, because the heat is so low as not to evaporate any of the water in the flesh itself. Of course, circulating water baths are atrociously expensive, but there are some ways a home cook can play with this technique. Check out John Campbell's Salmon Mi Cuit in "Formulas for Flavour." In this dish, the salmon is cooked (maybe poached is the more accurate term) in 35-40C infused oil for 40 minutes. My wife and I made it once, and the result was the tenderest, juiciest piece of salmon we've ever tried, though trying to keep such a low temperature on an electric stove top was something of a challenge. If you'd like, I can email you the recipe.
The chocolate mousse sounds superb, and your description of it as "a singular chocolate debauchery" is priceless.
By the way, as a Canadian I can't help but promote Rob Feenie. Though I've not had the pleasure of dining in his restaurant (Vancouver being about 3500 km away), I can say that he is recognized as one of Canada's best chefs. His culinary background is Alsatian, and he is renowned for his skill with sauces.
As a lover of molecular gastronomy, I'm quite gratified that you took the time to post about your meal. I too have never heard of Gianluigi Bonnelli, though his dishes sound sublime.
Way cool, this sounds like a very interesting restaurant concept. Hopefully I can make the time to check it out on a next occasion when I am near Salzburg. Bonelli would have been my no.1 choice if I had to pick one of the 2006 cooks, but there are so many great names on the list for the upcoming year. Fantastic pictures btw!!
It sounds truly amazing. I am always so amazed by FOAM food. I have no idea how they do that but it really is fabulous.
what an exciting place!!
Great interesting post and what an experience this must have been. I wonder if this is the only place where such event will take place? I too would think it must be memorable to have such fun but like you, would not be thinking that it is the only type of cuisine that I want to eat. I would miss the rustic part that I am very fond of in any country's cuisine. Thanks for this insight!
I'm so jealous you guys went to Hangar 7. Our buddy Jereme Leung cooked there last year and he raved about the experience. Then when I was in Vienna, a bunch of art dealers I was working with kept talking about it as well. Thanks for sharing!
Okay, I guess I'm going to have to break down and go try some foam. I've been skeptical this far, but with the continual rave reviews rocketing toward me from all corners of the blogosphere...it's foam time. Where in NYC is the place for foam?
WAW! I am in complete awe! This is an amazing website!!! I have never seen anything like it. I happened to stumble on it because I was googling a recipe for yoghurt! Thank heaven for discovering this page. I will try out loads and loads of your recipes! (as soon as my exams are finished)
I was wondering, do you also post recipes on request?
I'm looking for the perfect Sacher Torte recipe. A while back I had one in Switzerland for my birthday, and I have been dreaming ever since to make one myself. It seems to me you are the perfect person to ask this.
congratulations again
Ar
from Belgium
Wow, this looks absolutely spectacular! I am so jealous!!
~Dianka
Einfach Klasse, super toller Bericht und die Bilder sind der Wahnsinn. Wenn ich Zeit habe muß ich hin und das Menü probieren. Danke für den Bericht. Gruß Thomas
Great picture of the B-25 Red Bull. Pics of the food are good also.
Looks like a fantastic food experience. Thanks for the pictures and the interesting review, we're planning a trip to Europe, maybe we should visit Salzburg and the Ikarus, too!
Das Menü sieht unglaublich toll aus, kaum zu glauben, das die Bilder am Restaurant-Tisch entstanden sind. Es kommt eben immer noch darauf an, wer hinter der Kamera den Auslöser drückt, Kompliment ;) Kannte das Ikarus bisher noch nicht, das muss sich aber bald ändern, ist schließlich nur ein Katzensprung aus München!
[...] A volte mi trovo a guardare cosa preparano e mangiano negli altri blog, quindi eccovi qualche spunto pubblicato di recente: - Body Sushi (via Gustoblog) - La gustosissima salvia fritta (via La Cuoca Petulante) - Una torta salata di spinaci dalla Grecia (via Chubby Hubby) - 6 ricette da brivido (via Giallo & C.) - una cena all'Hangar 7 di Salisburgo (via Delicious:days) [...]
Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Exceptional photography...my mouth is watering. This is not a "to do," it's a "must do" with you two. Also, we love your Salzburg review- we got to relive all our day trips to this beautiful city, and Cafe Tomaselli is always on the list.
-S & D-
the last time i was in salzburg was back during school days... after reading this, i wonder how i can try to squeeze a trip in to my already tightly budgetted travel schedule for this year...
i'm sure i can find something... thank you for bringing such wonderful review back to us!
Ich habe selber schon mehrfach bei Roland Trettl gegessen und war jedes Mahl mehr als angetan. Sehr angenehmes Ambiente, vorzügliches Essen. Die nächsten Monate sind einige interessante Köche zu Gast, wobei Reservierungen während der Festspielwochen unerläßlich sein werden. Sehr schöner Bericht.
We enjoyed Vivek Singh in March at H7 - and it was absolutely great!
Hi Hag, Foam, certainly an interesting and completely new experience was also a bid unsatisfying. Why? Well, after putting it in your mouth it completely dissolved into thin air. All that was left was the taste. The unsatisfying part is that it isn't really "eating", but being teased.
Yasmin, All three cucumber preparations tasted slightly different, I would think that those subtle differences may have to do with how each is processed. In any event, I agree the fresh taste of cucumber is totally a summer thing.
Hey Rob, That was our guess too, and what funny coincidence you mentioned Salmon Mi Cuit. A little while back, well in September last year we gave it try and it turned out fantastic. With all the recommendation on Rob Feenie, I can't help but feel that Ikarus will have us again as guests sooner than they thought...
Liz, The list of the upcoming chefs is truly amazing and I'd be surprised if any of the chefs would not WOW their guests.
Hi Gabriella, We haven't gotten into foam yet either, but being the more adventurous of the two of us, I see myself setting up a lab soon...
Hey Bea, The concept of "rotating chefs" is great and I too wonder if there aren't any other places that follow a similar idea. I haven't heard of any in Germany, but maybe in other places/countries?
Hi Aun, Since I know you guys travel a lot, definitely put this one on your list, I'm sure you'd love it!
Kate, Foam in NY? Check with a local spa - juuust kidding :) I'm hoping that someone familiar with the NY restaurant scene is reading this and can give advice...
Hi Ar, Thanks for your kind feedback. Concerning Sachertorte you might be interested in this post. Nicky is not too keen on Sachertorte, but hmm, maybe you want to check out our favorite recipe for a moist chocolate cake...
Mika, yes yes and yes!
Hans, Das ist ja leider das Dilemma, es ist praktisch schon zu nah...
Hey Stephanie, Any time!! Can't wait to have you guys back here in Munich, maybe next time with "special K"? Funny side-note on Tomaselli: When I told my grandpa about our trip to Salzburg, he asked me, if we've been to Tomaselli - because an old friend of him ran the place many years ago. Small world!
Kaspar, Die Situation zu Event-Zeiten ist tatsächlich alles andere als spaßig, da sind wir in München natürlich schon Leid geprüft. Das Oktoberfest, aber auch die WM (die mir so langsam schon aus den Ohren kommt) machen die hiesige Lage ähnlich schwierig. Da hilft meistens nur eins, raus aufs Land...
Knutschflower, Unfortunately we've been too late for Vivek Singh. Until I get another chance I'll keep comforting myself with his beautiful Indian cookbook (The cinnamon club cookbook).
[...] „Ins Pub?” Überzeugt scheint mir Christoph nicht zu sein, als ich ihm noch in Notting Hill von den Plänen für den Abend erzähle, oft bleibt er vor den Speisekartenschaukästen der hübschen Italiener und Franzosen am Eck stehen, die wir auf dem Weg zur U-Bahn passieren. Ach komm, sag’ ich, dass Zuma gestern war Dein Tipp, für den ich Dir sehr dankbar bin, aber heute bin ich dran – und unser Mittagessen war schon mal nicht übel, oder? „Na gut”, sagt der Mann, der jedes Drei-Sterne-Catering auf den Formel-1-Stecken der Welt kennt und Witzigmanns Privatküche dazu, der im Hangar 7 im Stammgastbuch steht und in seinem Weinkeller Dinger liegen hat, also… [...]
just had to add that when the chef i was working for, gray kunz of cafe gray in new york city was invited to cook for ikarus...it was a great time for all of us. roland came to new york to "train" with us and gather information and recipes. he ended up partying with all the cooks and hopefully had a great time in the city. i'd love to visit in person sometime. so it is nice to hear that the concept is continuing to work well for them.
Hallo Nicky, hallo Oliver...ich muss euch sagen diesen Blog finde ich absolut fantastisch! Ich habe schon einen Tisch im Ikarus reserviert und haette da eine Frage: Wie ist den der Dress-Code? Kravatten-must? Danke fuer die Info!
Hallo Alice,
Also wir waren zur Mittagszeit da - beide in Jeans, Oliver mit Hemd (ohne Krawatte), ich mit Rollkragenpulli und Blazer - und fühlten uns sehr wohl damit. Es gab sowohl Herren im schwarzen Anzug mit Krawatte als auch Gäste, die deutlich legerer gekleidet waren als wir. Ich kann mir schon vorstellen, dass es abends einen Tick eleganter ist, aber Krawatten würde ich auch da nicht als MUST ansehen ;) Wünsche Dir auf jeden Fall ein fantastisches Essen dort!
Great chefs, great and fantastic food! How wonderful it would be to have the chance to visit this spetacular place!
Hallo hier ist das Hangar-7 Team,
wir sind ganz begeistert von dem tollen Feedback! Eure Fotos sind super geworden.
Leider habe ich die Seite erst jetzt gefunden...
Wir hoffen auf ein baldiges Wiedersehen im Restaurant Ikarus und freuen uns auch sehr über neue interessierte Gäste.
Auf der Hangar-7 Homepage findet Ihr die Gastköche 2007 - sind wieder viele tolle dabei ! Liebe Grüße aus Salzburg,
Julia Pempelfort / Ikarus Concept
[...] ces 2 manifestations, j’espère que nous aurons le temps d’une escapade gourmande. Imprimer ce [...]
[...] ‘ concept with the Ikarus’ debut in 2003, introducing guest chef appearances by a new international cook each month. Across a broad spectrum of cuisines and with chefs including Jean-Georges Vongerichten, David Thompson, Marc Haeberlin, Lea Linster and Dieter M?ller Ikarus manages to wow its visitors every 4 weeks anew, keeping the culinary momentum.4 [...]
The pictures look beautiful - what a interesting place to have such a interesting meal! You're so lucky to have this gastronomic adventure! Those desserts look out of this world!