Preview Guest Chefs 2025
Top chefs at Restaurant Ikarus
Guest Chef January 2012: Nuno Mendes
Nuno Mendes’s dishes are not Portuguese, British or Japanese. They are a personal interpretation of his culinary experiences, which he has gathered at many restaurants around the world since completing his apprenticeship in San Francisco.
But even if his cuisine cannot be attached to one specific country, one thing is certainly true: It is highly creative and totally unusual – experimental global cuisine of the very highest order. The Portuguese chef is a master of combining unusual ingredients, and he loves to experiment with textures and flavours. His experiences, which he has soaked up during his travels and his work, are plain to see in his creations. In 2008, Mendes opened his current base, the Viajante (Portuguese: the traveller) restaurant in London’s East End, which finally brought him his long-overdue first Michelin star in January 2011.
Each month at Salzburg’s two Michelin-starred Restaurant Ikarus, a different top international chef creates the menu. For this globally unique concept, Hangar-7 executive chef Martin Klein visits the cream of the crop, takes a look behind the scenes of haute cuisine, and is let in on some exciting culinary secrets. “Culinary Heights at Ikarus” offers a unique glimpse into the world of high-end cuisine and provides an interesting portrait of each guest chef, their culinary philosophy, and the food culture of their country.