Herzig

Review

Have a cute lunch

Photo: Katharina Gossow Sören Herzig had looked at the impressive building - a former Dorotheum warehouse built by architect Michael Rosenauer in 1926 with elegant practicality - before, but it was still a building site and he could hardly imagine his restaurant in there. That changed when the building was completely renovated, "developed" and rented out. Sören Herzig is a young chef from Cuxhaven who spent seven years cooking for Juan Amador - the man who recently became the first person in Austria to receive three Michelin stars - and followed him from Mannheim to Vienna three years ago. Aside from his bright disposition and resonant name, the young man stood out above all because he was able to cook a terrific Beuschl within a very short space of time, which is by no means a matter of course for a German gourmet chef. In September 2017, he then moved to the Aï in the Goldenes Quartier, which had been bombastically raised by Lebanese investors, and when it soon closed again, he announced that he would probably stay in Austria. That was good news. And two weeks ago, he opened his first restaurant. Which was brave, it has to be said, because firstly, seven-course (nominally, but actually more like twelve-course) gourmet menus for 135 euros are definitely a minority program in Vienna, and secondly, even more so on the Schmelz. But since Aend on Mollardgasse, Filippou on Schwedenplatz and, of course, Mraz & Sohn on Wallensteinstraße prove that even in Vienna the dictate that fine dining only takes place in palaces is beginning to disappear, Sören dared to take the plunge. What is particularly pleasing is that he not only cooks his sole sandwiches with crab stuffing in the evening, his rack of lamb with rhubarb cooked sous-vide and his yeast ice cream with pear sugar, but also opens for lunch. And then there's pasta or goulash or roast pork with soup for ten euros. Primarily intended as an offer for the employees of the companies in the building, says Herzig, and staff meals have to be cooked every day anyway, so you can do a bit more. But it's also a real opportunity for anyone who has half an hour for a fantastic lunch. You won't find beef soup of this quality more than 20 times in Vienna, the ox cheek goulash is terrific and the butter spaetzle is the best I can remember. On Wednesdays we have pasta and on Thursdays roast pork made according to my grandmother-in-law's recipe from Spitz. She has already tasted it and approved of it, says Herzig's partner Saskia Leberzipf. And you don't have to drink champagne or Bordeaux, there's also Astra Rotlicht. Summary: a new gourmet restaurant with a loft atmosphere on the Schmelz, where you can eat lunch like in a pub, only better. Only better: Restaurant Herzig 15, Schanzstr. 14, Tel. 0664/115 03 00, Tue-Fri 11.30-14, Tue-Sat from 18.30,

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