Michelin-starred restaurant: “Many regular guests said: Really good, but we’ll never come back” – DiePresse.com

It was moments like these that made him switch from fine dining in the “Goldene Birn” in the posh Park Hotel to the farmers market a year ago, says Posch. Because it is uncomplicated and family-friendly. “It has poor insulation,” he says, looking towards the ceiling, “but it has charm and is fun.” It was never foreseeable that he would earn a Michelin star with this of all things.

“My wife told me on the phone,” says Posch, describing the moment in March. “There’s a star! I say: No, I don’t know anything, and she: Yes, I see it. Then she started crying, and then I.” Posch still doesn’t seem to have fully realized it, but there are clues that help: the star that he had tattooed on his arm the day after under his first cap. The inquiries, the gourmet restaurant on the market is currently fully booked for six to eight weeks. The selfie that a young man is currently asking him to take.

The latter in particular will take some getting used to for him, as the move from the professional kitchen to the tiny market stall of the Graz gastro family Grossauer was an “extreme change” for the chef, and not so much because of the cooking conditions: he also had little space in the Parkhotel. Only when the kitchen brigade from his main restaurant Florian “were away did we have the whole kitchen to prepare”. Rather, “direct human contact is now added,” says Posch. “This is purely an aquarium. It was very tiring at the beginning.” At the same time, he also appreciates the mixed audience. “It’s more family-like, you cook for everyone, whether it’s the student who gets a pizza sandwich or some doctor.”

At this point you might have to briefly explain the concept of the gourmet restaurant, which actually runs two tracks: During the day you can stop here for a quick meal (he has just developed a goose liver cheese, “with marinated red cabbage, mustard mayonnaise and a normal roll”) or just drink a Spritz (in contrast to the 16 seats inside, the outdoor dining area can accommodate 80 people). Posch begins his day between eight and nine in the morning with a tour of the market. Freshness is his top criterion, trading is hardly possible because there are enough “private” buyers. Ongoing experiments then feed the fixed ten-course menu in the evening.

And that worked from the start? “No,” says Posch. “When I started, a lot of regulars from before came here, looked at it, ate it and said: Alex, that’s really good, very nice, but we’ll never come back.” Because: That’s it Yes, really a market stall where other people are constantly walking past…

Conversely, he was received with skepticism on the market. “Now comes the award-winning chef,” it was said, “even within the team, they didn’t really talk to me much in the first week because they wanted to get to know me. But they quickly saw that I also pick up the trash and clear away glasses. But I still can’t collect money.” In the meantime we have pulled ourselves together well. “I taught them why you don’t need flowers at the table if I have a white napkin, and they taught me something humanly: how to talk to guests. Because I just didn’t like that, I always avoided it.”

Cooking itself, says Posch, has become much more relaxed since the award. “Since the star, something has been released in me. I’m only cooking with an apprentice here. It’s confirmation that you can really do it.”