A photo is missing here. Sorry, I just jumped on the dish!
It was leeks. Leeks cooked with blueberry leafs, candied potatoes, potato crisps, preserved blueberries, blueberry juice and black trumpets.
Himmelpfortgasse 23, 1010 Wien, Austria
Phone: +43 1 8904665
Tian in Vienna brands itself as a vegetarian gourmet restaurant. But hey, don’t think you need to be vegetarian to enjoy it!
Chef Paul Ivic is not vegetarian himself, but he is a highly ethical and passionate person who, when approached by his (now) business partner, with the idea to create a vegetarian restaurant, took it as a challenge to create vegetarian cuisine that will please also omnivores like himself. Working with a focus on vegetables and getting a deep insight into this type of cuisine, he believes and demonstrates that sometimes we could easily skip the meat and give a chance to vegetables to see them and taste them in all their grandeur. And vegetables (just look at Tian or at the vegetable season at Noma for example) offer so much variety in flavour and texture that after a dinner like this, you definitely don’t miss anything. Paul succeeded. Tian became one of the only 4 vegetarian restaurants worldwide that was awarded a Michelin star and he has built himself a huge fan base also between carnivores!
“I was fed up with the poor quality of vegetarian cuisine – the replacement meat products like veggie ‘sausages’ and ‘burgers’,” he says. “Nature itself offers such wonderful, healing creations with all its variety of vegetables. We should be working with nature – not against it! There are many carnivores among my guests who tell me that they didn’t miss fish or meat at all, and that is the biggest compliment for me.”
Paul is working very closely with the farmers who are, together with him. looking for the best, often old, varieties of vegetables and fruits to grow them for Tian. Varieties that have a better flavour and a higher nutritional value. For Paul, it’s all about creating dishes that are delicious, nutritious and healthy.
Besides being a great chef, is Paul also one of the nicest people I know. He is a great team leader and motivator who supports his staff in many ways – also by covering the costs of their journey to work, as long as they use public transport – he knows that we need to take every precaution to save our environment, so he follows this ethics also outside the kitchen, not only within his cooking process.
Where does Paul Ivic come from? Born in Tyrol to a Croatian father and Austrian mother, he fell in love with cooking at a very young age. He honed his skills in some of the best restaurants in Austria and Germany and did some working experience in Spain as well. Who influenced him most? “Many people have influenced me. The first one was my boss in education. He taught me that I have to do more than others, that I have to be tough and only pay attention to quality. The ones that followed, taught me how to cook. Their passion for quality and detail, as well as accurate work, fascinated me. Then there was Sepp Schellhorn. He was the perfect host and a very good emotional cook. My boss Martin Sieberer, on the other side, influenced me to pursue my creativity and taught me how to lead a team with peacefulness and patience. And then (yes I know that is crazy!) Captain Kirk. How he united different people and nations has always inspired me. Uniting the best in each segment of your team into a strong team, leaving everyone the way he is. I think my style is a mix of everything.”
How does Paul’s food taste like? Super delicious! Carrot, marigold, honeycomb was my favourite this time. A dish that is stunning to see and even more delightful on the palate. A very delicate dish with a beautiful story. The dish itself is made of a carrot broth with carrot tartar, a marigold flower made of carrot, “hippe” in the form of honeycomb (a special, very thin waffle/crisp that is here made of carrot puree), honey-based marinade.
It was inspired by the fact that the honey producer (bond to Demeter biodynamic principles) that supplies Tian, has his hives located very close to the farm of Robert Brodnjak who supplies carrots and other vegetables to Tian. So the bees actually feed themselves with the nectar of the plants on that farm. That honey meets on the plate again those vegetables. It’s the beautiful circle and connectivity in nature.
Ah, and I had at Tian the best milk rice ever! So beautifully enriched with coconut!
Paul’s cooking is like a love song to nature, composed for the people who walk this Earth with open minds and hearts. It is prepared with so much knowledge and care, that you can feel the love in every bite.The menu, even in winter, when the choice of vegetables is scarcer than in other seasons, shows that you can create a delightful, sexy, nutritious and satisfying tasting menu also without meat. Paul’s guests love it! On the evening when I dined there, at a table close to mine, the guests enjoyed it so much, to decide to return already the day after, bringing with them also a group of friends.
When in Vienna, you should simply try and see yourself! Vegetarian food can be so fascinating!
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