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Chefs, restaurateurs, journalists and selected people who like to eat have been placing the „Steirereck am Stadtpark“ in Vienna among the 50 best restaurants in the world for years. In 2022, it was even able to achieve 13th place. This pleases the owners, Heinz and Birgit Reitbauer, who are also farmers in Styria and who for this very reason place food appreciation above all else.
CHEF HEINZ REITBAUER IS THE SECOND GENERATION TO RUN STEIRERECK
His parents had already turned a tavern in the 3rd district into an award-winning restaurant before they moved to the so-called „Meierei“ in Vienna's Stadtpark in 2005, to ascend to the Olympus of domestic gastronomy again after "a few turbulent years", as Heinz Reitbauer tells PANGAEA. He is now proud to have been awarded two Michelin stars and the certainty of being one of the hundred best restaurants worldwide.
Reitbauer runs the kitchen with 35 chefs, "with many right hands", as he puts it, "who form a good team". A total of 100 people are responsible for the 90 seats in the restaurant, which are always fully booked. The prices are on average for comparable gourmet temples.
BUT WHAT DISTINGUISHES STEIRERECK FROM OTHER TOP CHEFS AND EXCLUSIVE RESTAURANTS IN VIENNA?
"Very little," says Reitbauer, "we all have very high-quality standards, we try to implement in our own way and style that is peculiar to us in the best possible way, and we want the people who are our guests to somehow feel and notice that." What is special about Steirereck is perhaps that the family has an agricultural background, he is a farmer, and thus has a close personal connection to the product. Reitbauer says he has always tried to pass on the appreciation of the farm products to his staff and guests. This lies very close to his heart.
MANY OF THE HIGH QUALITY AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS COME FROM STEIRERECK'S OWN FARM
Many of the products that are made into fine dishes at Steirereck come from the restaurant's farm, such as lamb, pork and potatoes. This is used in the specialty section of the house. All in all, the menu presents the overall picture of Austrian products.
Reitbauer is enthusiastic about Austrian gastronomy, in general, which works at a high level and yet is not the same. Steirereck attempts to produce cuisine that is very, very close to the products and nature that underly it. "If one of my producers or suppliers were to see his product on the plate, he would have to recognize it and see that we have only added something to it," says Reitbauer, who says that the product should not be changed so much that the person who produced it is no longer able to recognize it. That is his approach.
As an umbrella term for dishes that one can get at Steirereck, Reitbauer calls it: "Austrian natural, seasonal cuisine". The newspaper "Falter" described the food at Steirereck as follows: "Creative cuisine completely without clichés, but with maximum individuality".
APPROACH THE POGUSCH “TAVERN” IN ST.LAURENZEN WITH A HELICOPTER
When asked about the Pogusch in St. Lorenzen in the Styrian Mürztal, district of Bruck an der Mur, which belongs to the Steirereck operation and is even approached by helicopters by Formula 1 pilots after the Spielberg Grand Prix to enjoy the famously good food there, Reitbauer says that there are indeed several helicopter landing pads at the Pogusch, but that they do not want to be perceived as a helicopter landing pad tavern. Anyone who wants to arrive in this way is welcome. We want to know from Heinz Reitbauer whether the term "tavern" is not too common for Pogusch, "no, not at all", is his answer, "We are definitely a tavern in everything we do and in the way we want to be perceived".
But the Steiereck is a restaurant, Reitbauer says. With the term "Wirtshaus", people have different expectations. This brings us back to Vienna and a look at the wine list. For the past five years, the sommelier of the year 2022, René Antrag, has been responsible for it. He followed in the footsteps of his predecessor Adi Schmid, who was active for decades and was also an award-winning sommelier. The focus is strongly on Austrian wines, with more than half coming from local winemakers. "But we are also open to wines from other countries, in contrast to the cuisine, where we are very regional," says Reitbauer.
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