Multisensory experiences in Salzburg
Two Michelin stars and four toques – Andreas Senn, a top Austrian chef with Tyrolean roots, is famous for his light, innovative cuisine. In his restaurant in Salzburg, which opened in 2015, he is committed to offering multisensory experiences and even integrates the history of the former bell foundry that now houses the SENNS.Restaurant into the overall concept. It is with good reason that he cooks on BORA appliances. In an interview, he explains how simplicity and Michelin star cuisine can actually go hand in hand.
BORA: Hello Mr Senn. Thanks for letting us visit you here in your restaurant in Salzburg! What role does Salzburg play with regard to Michelin star cuisine?
Salzburg plays an extremely special role in relation to Michelin star cuisine. This is because Salzburg and Vienna are currently the only Austrian cities with Michelin star restaurants. These attract people from a particularly wide area. We’re not far from Munich and its international airport, making Salzburg an important culinary hub.
BORA: You weren’t born in Salzburg. Where are you from originally and how did you get into cooking?
I essentially grew up in the kitchen. My grandparents had a business in Tyrol where my mother regularly helped out. As such, I could never imagine myself as anything other than a chef when I grew up. I love working with food and getting to know different products and cookery styles. I still take on new challenges every day and constantly learn new things.
BORA: You’ve already helped write the BORA X BO gourmet cuisine cookbook. Which of your BORA signature dishes would you recommend to readers for the summer?
Fried aubergine slices with celery salad and coconut foam. Rosa bianca aubergine is cooked in coconut milk and served with a celery salad.
BORA: You implement a multisensory concept in your restaurant. Can you explain that to us? What does it mean for your restaurant patrons?
I think it’s important for a restaurant to give off the right overall impression: to appeal to the senses of touch, hearing, smell, sight and taste. The musical concept is important for the sense of hearing – even if the main focus naturally lies on the dishes and how they taste. We’re located in a former bell foundry. To appeal to the sense of sight, we’ve intentionally left everything that still works in its original condition: an old bell, a pug mill and a fire pump. We want to offer our patrons a holistic experience. I therefore always compare dining in our restaurant to going to a theatre show or musical.
BORA: Do you also consider the multisensory experience when designing new dishes?
Yes, I believe that any new dish should appeal to all the core taste sensations: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami. Both the dishes in my kitchen and the logo for my restaurant are created with that in mind. In the world of fine dining, it can take several weeks to create a new dish: a framework is developed on the basis of an idea, then tinkered with and modified until the dish is truly perfect. Only then will it be added to our menu.
BORA: Where does simplicity come in? Is it a concept that goes with Michelin star cuisine at all?
For me, simplicity comes into Michelin star cuisine through the principal of only using the best products available. You can take these and conjure up something amazing. Simplicity in fine dining may be somewhat different to in everyday cooking. This is because it’s achieved through a great deal of work, which the restaurant patrons neither notice nor see.
BORA: Something else that’s really simple is using the BORA appliances. You have several of them in your restaurant. How satisfied are you with them?
I’m fortunate enough to use BORA systems both at home and at work. Cooking with the BORA X BO and the BORA Professional is great fun. This is because the appliances are extremely simple to use and function perfectly. You can use the new BORA X BO to bake, steam, roast and even sous-vide-cook – all in all, it certainly makes life in the kitchen much easier.
