Hangar-7

Wolfsburg's 3-star chef Sven Elverfeld's secret recipe? Childhood classics transformed into a taste sensation.

One of Germany's best chefs: Sven Elverfeld from "Aqua" in Wolfsburg, surprises with native individuality.

If I'm going to tell you about Germany's 3-star celebrity Sven Elverfeld, I first have to tell you about VW motor city in Wolfsburg. There is an impressive mixture of contemporary architecture and successful landscaping at this 25 hectare-plus museum and theme park. Everything is so perfect and clean you feel like you're in an artificial world. The only thing missing is a disembodied voice telling you to please not drop cigarette butts on the clean paths. There is now the perfect "Ritz Carlton" in this perfect setting, with the no less perfect "Aqua" restaurant. And at the heart of it is Sven Elverfeld, with his celebrated cuisine.

I'll quickly move on to Elverfeld's first dish so I can stay with the word "perfect" – pork belly slow cooked sous-vide, i.e. vacuum-packed in a plastic bag and cooked at a low temperature, served with goose liver, pancakes and variations on plums. What a daring composition – rich belly pork, rich foie gras and rich pancakes fried in goose fat. But what a finish – because it's served with a mousse, a jus and what is known as plum dust, a kind of powder which melts away to a perfume in the mouth. It's pretty good and great and courageous and thus a dish which superbly characterises Sven. The man is really going out on a limb.

It may sound banal of a 3-star chef, but Sven's "Aqua" has really delicious things that simply make you want more. His potato pot-au-feu, for example, a wonderful combination of potato, spinach and truffle.

The vision: classic meets modern

Or the cold calves' tail essence (it's so strong it doesn't need gelatine), with caviar and crème fraîche. This is the second aspect of Sven's cooking philosophy – his devotion to classical dishes that everyone knows from their childhood. The third is his passion for intelligently and humorously bringing highly traditional dishes bang up to date.

Sven, who collects old cookery books, occasionally puts dishes such as Jägerschnitzel (pork or veal cutlets in a mushroom sauce) or beef Stroganoff on the menu. The transformation that they undergo can be seen from the difference between traditional northern German sole Finkenwerder style, which in Sven's version mutates into a Breton sole, with dried mushroom flakes, slices of toasted bread, diced dried bacon, parsley oil, onion purée and a beurre noisette foam. The connoisseur laughs, the traditionalist and the fan of all things contemporary rejoice, and all enjoy.
Sven told me that the name "Aqua" is supposed to stand for transparency and clarity. In view of this I am absolutely sure that my colleague will feel very much at home in the goldfish bowl that is Hangar-7.

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Guest chefs 2012 /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2012/preview-guest-chefs-2012/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: May 2012

Pino Lavarra /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2012/pino-lavarra/

Trettl meets Pino Lavarra

Pino Lavarra
Italy /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2012/roland-trettl-meets-pino-lavarra/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: April 2012

Tanja Grandits /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2012/tanja-grandits/

Trettl meets Tanja Grandits

Tanja Grandits
Switzerland /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2012/roland-trettl-meets-tanja-grandits/

Guest chefs at Restaurant Ikarus: February 2012

Tim Raue /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2012/tim-raue/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: March 2012

Ryan Clift /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2012/ryan-clift/

Trettl meets Ryan Clift

Ryan Clift
Singapur /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2012/roland-trettl-meets-ryan-clift/

Trettl meets Tim Raue

Tim Raue
Berlin, Germany /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2012/trettl-meets-tim-raue/

Guest chefs at Restaurant Ikarus: January 2012

Nuno Mendes /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2012/nuno-mendes/

Trettl meets Nuno Mendes

Nuno Mendes
Viajante, London /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2012/trettl-meets-nuno-mendes/

Guest chefs at Restaurant Ikarus: December 2011

Daniel Redondo &
Helena Rizzo /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/daniel-redondo-helena-rizzo/

Guest chefs at Restaurant Ikarus: November 2011

Björn Frantzén &
Daniel Lindeberg /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/bjoern-frantzen-daniel-lindeberg/

Roland Trettl on tour

Helena Rizzo & Daniel Redondo, São Paulo, Brazil /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2011/roland-trettl-meets-helena-rizzo-daniel-redondo/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: October 2011

Xavier Pellicer /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/xavier-pellicer/

Roland Trettl on tour

Xavier Pellicer,
Barcelona, Spain /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2011/roland-trettl-meets-xavier-pellicer/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: September 2011

Alvin Leung /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/alvin-leung/

Roland Trettl on tour

Alvin Leung,
Hong Kong, China /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2011/roland-trettl-meets-alvin-leung/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: August 2011

Ikarus Team /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/ikarus-team/

Roland Trettl on tour

Peter Goossens,
Kruishoutem, Belgium /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2011/roland-trettl-and-the-ikarus-team/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: July 2011

Peter Goossens /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/peter-goossens/

Roland Trettl on tour

Peter Goossens,
Kruishoutem, Belgium /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2011/roland-trettl-meets-peter-goossens/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: June 2011

Emmanuel Renaut /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/emmanuel-renaut/

Roland Trettl on tour

Emmanuel Renaut,
Megève, France /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2011/roland-trettl-meets-emmanuel-renaut/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: May 2011

Anatoly Komm /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/anatoly-komm/

Roland Trettl on tour

Anatoly Komm,
Moscow, Russia /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2011/roland-trettl-meets-anatoly-komm/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: April 2011

Daniel Humm /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/daniel-humm/

Roland Trettl on tour

Daniel Humm,
New York, USA /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2011/roland-trettl-meets-daniel-humm/

Guest chef at Restaurant Ikarus: March 2011

Claus-Peter Lumpp /en/ikarus/guest-chef-at-restaurant-ikarus/2011/claus-peter-lumpp/

Roland Trettl on tour

Claus-Peter Lumpp,
Germany /en/ikarus/roland-trettl-on-tour/2011/roland-trettl-meets-claus-peter-lumpp/