Thitid Tassanakajohn
Guest Chef December 2024
August 2023: The Ikarus Team
The concept is as unique as the architecture in which it is realised. 20 years after its opening, the wing-shaped Hangar-7 is still a landing pad for international top chefs. Every month, one of them leaves their mark on Restaurant Ikarus with their individual menu, cooking style and personality. Hundreds of thousands of guests have set off on culinary journeys around the globe over the past two decades in the impressive glass and steel construction – travelling light, without a boarding pass and even without having to leave Salzburg at all.
Then as now, Chef of the Century Eckart Witzigmann is patron of the guest chef concept. A strong crew around him tunes in to new dishes month after month to plate them up just as perfectly as the international guest chefs would do in their own kitchens. The well-coordinated team demonstrates openness to new ingredients and techniques, attention to detail when it comes to preparation and perfection with regard to presentation. Long before take-off on the first day of each month, Executive Chef Martin Klein intensively studies the cuisine and philosophy of the guest chefs, visits their venues all over the world and prepares his team in Salzburg for the next menu and its special features.
Martin Klein has been at the helm of the kitchen brigade at Restaurant Ikarus since 2014, but even before his time as Executive Chef, he had been working there as Chef de Cuisine for nine years – interrupted only by a stopover in the South Pacific, where he cooked on the private island of Laucala. Today, Martin Ebert has taken over the position of Chef de Cuisine at Restaurant Ikarus. He is assisted by Sous Chef Miguel de Freitas and Head Pastry Chef Stefan Howells, who completes the refined menus with sweet precision landings. Also the service team knows how to hit the spot with their guests. Service Manager Matthias Berger, Restaurant Manager Florian Kempinger, Head Sommelier Christoph Hartinger and Sommelier Mario Onida accompany bon vivants on their culinary voyage in an unobtrusive, professional and good humoured manner.
20 years later, the guest chef concept still sparks curiosity for the many facets of haute cuisine. International restaurant guides award top ratings to this combination of explorative spirit and highest quality standards. Restaurant Ikarus holds two Michelin stars, five toques as well as 19 points from Gault&Millau, 99 Falstaff points and five spoons in the Schlemmer Atlas. It is also a member of the prestigious association Les Grandes Tables du Monde.
In the Salzburg Festival month of August, it is traditionally not a guest chef but the Ikarus team itself that takes the culinary lead and ventures to epicurean heights with its own creations. A nuanced anniversary menu is waiting for you, inspired by international influences and 20 years of teaming up with the world’s best chefs. Welcome on board!
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.