Star chef Silvio Nickol and his team have succeeded in establishing a fixed star in Vienna's top gastronomy with the restaurant of the same name in the luxurious, historic 5-star Palais Coburg Hotel. Opening hours: from Tuesday to Saturday, from 18:00 to 21:30.

EXCEPTIONALLY COMPOSED INNOVATIONS

For the last six years, the team has been offering its guests a special gourmet experience at the highest international level. The culinary offer includes creative interpretations of classic dishes as well as extraordinarily composed creations, which can be combined in a unique way with the comprehensive wine assortment of the Palais Coburg wine stores. Boasting more than 6,000 items, the restaurant's wine book offers an extremely impressive range and the perfect accompaniment to every possible menu.

GOURMET CHEF AND "CHEF OF THE YEAR”

Architecturally, the gourmet restaurant denotes itself with it’s use of glass, wood and leather in a private but modern atmosphere in the middle of the historic palace. The Silvio Nickol Gourmet Restaurant is currently awarded two Guide Michelin stars and four Gault Millau toques (19 points). In 2014, Silvio Nickol was named "Gault Millau Austrian Chef of the Year". Chef Silvio Nickol discovered his passion for cooking at the age of seven at his home in Hoyerswerda, in Saxony, Germany, when he made food for his little brother because his single mother had to work. He became a top chef thanks to his years of apprenticeship and travelling with award-winning chefs.

HIS COOKING STYLE CAN NOT BE PIGEONHOLED

The chef makes a point of not letting himself be pigeonholed with his style of cooking: "I grew up with classic cuisine and still think it has its merit. But of course, you evolve over the course of your career, and in the past few years in particular, we have started to focus even more on the essentials, to place much more emphasis on taste. The plates became more straightforward, and the flavour is focused more on the few components on the plate."

A TINKERER AND PERFECTIONIST

The dishes strength lies strongly in the quality of the products, which is why Silvio Nickol primarily works with high-quality and selected producers from Austria, whom he also often visits personally with his team. New dishes for the menu, which change every two to three months, are created through teamwork. "The ideas of all the staff flow into it. I have a strong team with great chefs and there is an intensive brainstorming process before a new dish is created. But one thing is clear, of course, a new dish only makes the menu if I myself am 100 percent enthusiastic about it," emphasizes the chef, who is known as a tinkerer and perfectionist.

THE CAREER OF SILVIO NICKOL

After beginning his apprenticeship as a chef in 1991, Nickol moved in 1994 to Lothar Eiermann's two-star restaurant Wald- & Schlosshotel Friedrichsruhe in Zweiflingen and in 1997 to Harald Wohlfahrt's three-star restaurant Schwarzwaldstube in the Hotel Traube Tonbach in Baiersbronn as chef de partie. This was followed in 1999 by Roger Souvereyns' Scholteshof in Stevoort (Belgium), where he worked as sous chef. He returned to the Schwarzwaldstube in 2001, in the position of sous chef. This was followed in 2005 by a move to the Köhlerstube in the Traube Tonbach as deputy head chef. He then worked at Heinz Winkler in Aschau from 2006, and became head chef at Schlossstern in Velden Castle on Lake Wörthersee in 2007; the restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars under his management in 2009. Since 2011, he has managed the Silvio Nickol Gourmet Restaurant at Palais Coburg in Vienna. Here, too, he has held two Michelin stars since 2012. In 2017, he was awarded four toques and 19 points by Gault-Millau. In 2014, the wine list with over 6,000 items was named Best Wine List in the World by the renowned British magazine "The World of Fine Wine".