If you are having trouble snagging a table at Alinea, in Chicago, you might consider going to Austria instead. Throughout November, Grant Achatz’s ingenious food will be served at a peculiar restaurant called Ikarus, which opened in 2003 and is located inside Hangar-7, the glass-encased, wing-shaped headquarters of an airplane armada owned by the founder of Red Bull. Each month, a different chef visits the Salzburg restaurant and designs a temporary menu—meant to put his or her personal style on display—that is then carried out by Ikarus’s executive chef, Roland Trettl, and his staff. This revolving-door concept offers diners a unique opportunity to experience highlights from the culinary masterminds of the world. (Past guest chefs include Kenneth Oringer of Clio, in Boston; Germany’s Juan Amador; and Thierry Marx of Château Cordeillan-Bages, in France.) And if you are curious about the name of the restaurant, Ikarus does indeed refer to the well-known character from Greek mythology who attempted the incredible feat of flying. “Our main aim was to get wings,” says Trettl. “But of course, we try to avoid the end of that story.”
Like a small museum with ever-changing galleries, the progressive and very modern restaurant Ikarus showcases the world’s best talent, one chef at a time.
