Schatz Imhof

Review

Curated cooking

A man's got to do what a man's got to do. Whatever that may mean, the men Sebastian Schatz and Gregor Imhof had to work at Sass am Karlsplatz, then take it over and ultimately turn it into a fine, small boutique club. But because what a man has to do seems to change over time, over the years the two have felt a longing to deal with guests during the day as well. Schatz and Imhof searched for a long time, and last year they found the former Stadtkind, the pub that pub pioneer Sepp Fischer (1980 Krah Krah, 1985 Fischer-Bräu, 1996 Blaustern) opened ten years ago together with his sons next to the university's new institute building. Schatz and Imhof set out to change this, firstly with the design, which they tried to sharpen up with bright green accents, brighter lighting, a new bar and plenty of modern art (the larger-than-life tongue sculpture didn't work out so well after all, so they are working on a replacement ...). And, of course, they also want to deliver in terms of cuisine - after all, both are great eaters, Gregor Imhof is also a passionate wine collector, while chef Max Zechmeister previously worked at Do & Co, Konstantin Filippou and Salon Plafond, among others. Schatz and Imhof give him a free hand in terms of style (just like the DJ at Sass). The only requirement is to buy from small regional producers and, ideally, organic products. They see their task as "curating", as Gregor Imhof explains, a term we've been hearing a lot lately in culinary contexts, so please don't overdo it. At Schatz Imhof, however, this is shown to be profound scene cuisine at a really high level. Beet tartare with frisée on yoghurt cream is great, a mixed chicory salad marinated with carrot cream called Sakkura is also very good (€ 11), the fried chicken salad "House Style" - crispy fried chicken pieces with tomatoes, sesame and kimchi mayonnaise - is the best of the starters (€ 16).
Among the main courses, the pink roasted saddle of veal with chimichurri and gratin was extremely successful (€ 34), as were the braised shortribs with cabbage sprouts. There's plenty to drink and good things to eat, and soon they'll also be cooking for lunch, where there will be inexpensive scoops. The social aspect is also important to Schatz and Imhof, which hasn't quite caught on yet. To sum up: a restaurant that used to be beautiful is now even more beautiful and finally good. Soon it will even be cheap.

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