An interview with Martin Klein: “There’s no shortcut to success”

An interesting consequence of the Icarus concept: if you constantly analyse other culinary styles, at some point you develop not less, but more of your own distinctive voice. Inspiration then becomes not a means of copying, but a toolbox.

When do you know: ‘Now a dish is truly finished’?
Of course, you become more mature with age. I’ve seen a great deal by now, cooked an incredible amount myself, and drawn inspiration from around 280 guest chefs. That’s how you develop a feel for it. At some point, you’re no longer surprised as to whether a dish works or whether something is still missing. You just know. At the same time, I really enjoy drawing inspiration from my young staff. We have a strong team and an incredible wealth of good ideas. Many of the ideas in the current menu also stem from this shared creative process.

How do you build a menu out of so many ideas, rather than simply a string of great dishes?
We don’t want a menu that’s full of ups and downs. The trajectory should be upwards. Dish by dish, there should be a gradual build-up, culminating in a veritable explosion of flavour. And when a particular ingredient takes centre stage, it really must do so. When we serve a truffle course, it’s all about the truffle. When we serve a caviar course, it’s all about the caviar. The dish needs a clear focus.

This sentence sums up one of the key differences between complex and complicated cuisine: a dish can be technically sophisticated yet still taste instantly recognisable. Klein does not seek to create a sensation for its own sake. His aim is focus: a top-quality ingredient should remain recognisable, even if it involves a great deal of technical work behind the scenes.

Your cuisine in three words?
Strong in flavour. Creative. Lively.

How do you want a guest to feel when they go home after an evening at Ikarus?
The dishes should be precise and full of flavour, yet fresh and light at the same time. Especially in summer, we don’t want cuisine that leaves you feeling weighed down. They should be summer dishes – intense, yet light.

What do you think makes a good leader in a kitchen?
Motivating staff. And I’m really very lucky with my team. It’s fine to say that. After all, I can only go as far as my team is willing to follow me and get on board. When we set our sights on something big, I need to be able to demand a great deal from my team. That only works if everyone is prepared to go down that path together.

After all, top-class cuisine is often presented to the outside world through individual names. In reality, however, a restaurant of this calibre can only function through the highly precise interplay of numerous people. The fact that Klein explicitly attributes the success to his team is therefore more than just modesty: culinary excellence is always also a matter of organisational and leadership skills. The Ikarus team works under particularly unusual conditions. Every month, the culinary style, ingredients, techniques and philosophy change. What is perfected over years elsewhere must be understood and replicated here within a very short space of time. It is precisely this constant change that the restaurant itself describes as one of the key challenges of the guest chef concept.

What advice would you give to young chefs starting out in this profession today?
Just stick with it. Don’t give up too quickly. I see many young chefs who perhaps lose their motivation after only a short time. Of course, this profession isn’t always a walk in the park. There’s a saying I heard when I was starting my own career: ‘There’s no lift to success.’ You have to stay motivated, keep going, and you have to enjoy what you do. Because if you don’t enjoy it, at some point it simply becomes too much.

If you could start your career all over again, would you do anything differently?
Not much. I’m very grateful for the path I’ve been able to follow.

Perhaps this is also the paradox of Restaurant Ikarus. Martin Klein has been working for years in a place where the only real constant is change. One month might have a French flavour, the next a Nordic, avant-garde or Mediterranean one. For every new guest chef, Klein visits their restaurant in advance, familiarises himself with their philosophy and prepares the team in Salzburg for the new culinary style.

And that is precisely why August is so interesting. When Martin Klein and the Ikarus team cook themselves, you don’t simply see yet another culinary style. In a sense, you experience the sum of decades of culinary encounters, filtered through their own approach. Klein himself describes the result with surprising simplicity: strong in flavour, creative and lively.

Ultimately, a great kitchen really needs no further words.