Amador

Review

Sons of Mannheim

Juan Amador, 52, cooked his way to superstar status in Germany. Last year, he closed his restaurants, moved to Vienna and planned a bombastic restaurant in Cabaret Renz. In February, there was a press conference at which Amador announced that he now wanted to open a tavern and a grocery store here, which was somewhat surprising given his Michelin rating of three stars (there are only two stars in Austria, three of which are in Vienna: Steirereck, Mraz & Sohn, Silvio Nickol/Coburg). And he also said that he hated the Michelin-starred cuisine in the end - understandable, as many people who have left the gourmet circus say. The "Wirtshaus" opened in mid-March, and lo and behold, it became a gourmet restaurant again with two eight-course menus at 125 euros each, consisting largely of successful dishes from his three-star restaurants in Mannheim. Let's put it this way: great, but we were expecting something a little different. And to complete the confusion, the "Greißlerei" has now also been opened. Of course, it's no more a "Greißlerei" than the Wirtshaus is a "Wirtshaus". Instead, the "Greißlerei" is a kind of tavern-like anteroom to the restaurant, with a wooden floor, brick vaults, four wooden tables and a long glass table, and master baker Helmut Gragger has installed an oven in the courtyard for his own bread; the shelves are still empty, however, with baskets standing around, giving you the feeling that the "Greißlerei" project is either not quite finished yet or not being taken very seriously. At least until the food arrives, because Amador and his team, most of whom he brought with him from Mannheim, cook great things. For example, a lamb Beuscherl with curd cheese dumplings, which can already be counted among the best in the city - all the more surprising as the Germans had never made Beuschl until a few days ago (€ 12). The bright green wild garlic and velvet soup was fantastic, even if it was probably made from sorrel, which doesn't hurt either (€ 10), and the baked pork chop, three centimetres high and served with a deliciously melting potato and cucumber salad, could hardly have been better. Well, it also came at a price (€20), which is what you usually pay for this dish, including starter and drink. It will be interesting to see how this project develops. Is there a need for another gourmet restaurant in Vienna, will the (German) Amador fans support the restaurant? Who will go to the Wirtshaus aka Greißlerei? Will both concepts remain? In summary: a German three-star chef is making a Wirtshaus that is a gourmet restaurant and a Greißlerei that is a pub. Wirtshaus und Greißlerei Amador 19, Grinzinger Str. 86 Tel. 0660/9070500 www.amadors-wirtshaus.com

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