Aqua: Industrial Romanticism

An eel lying in your glass, a rabbit over yonder watching you with a surprised expression, and the sun is setting behind the rabbit painting the factory chimneys in crimson hues…

 

I’m not talking about a picture reflected on the canvass from the crazy mind of Dali or the brush of Yerka.

 

It is a scene from the prominent “Aqua” Restaurant in the “Disneyland of the automotive industry” held in Wolfsburg which makes you feel like a child again if you are a car enthusiast.

 

14 Years with the Chef Elverfeld

 

Wolfsburg is a little industrial city between Berlin and Hannover. It is the heart of the automotive industry. Although you might be dreaming of a grey city scape by this definition, it has its own trick to make you change your mind: Autostadt.

 

Located beneath the head office of Volkswagen which is also a historical factory, Autostadt is a gorgeous museum opened in 2000 that magnets millions of car enthusiasts from every corner of the world. The thematic park also has the second Ritz Carlton Hotel in Germany (the first one in Berlin). When it comes to the culinary attraction of the city, the Chef Sven Elverfeld takes care of that.

 

I attend the organization every two years thanks to a customer of mine. Aqua Restaurant has almost become a tradition for me as I’ve been visiting the eatery for 12 years.

 

The modest Chef Elverfeld started his career as a pastry chef and when he felt that he could do more with his skills, he took up working as a flying chef for Lufthansa, and went on to improve himself working for various star-awarded restaurants in Germany. It didn’t take too long for him to get his first star when he was transferred to Ritz Carlton. As he successfully helped Aqua to get its first star in his first year, it was awarded with a second one in 2005 and a third one in 2008.

 

Aqua along with “Vendôme” have become two long-standing German restaurants featured in “The World’s 50 Restaurants”. It has a whooping 19/20 Gault Millau points as well.

 

Elvefeld has an upbeat personality. As he doesn’t restrict himself to a particular cuisine of a region, rather sees the whole world as his playground. He blends minimalism with his intelligence. You can also read about his style in the book titled “The Cook Book” which may be found at the restaurant. He’s got a limitless creativity so that he never repeats any of the recipes amongst the hundreds and keeps making up new ones for years.

 

The restaurant overlooks a scene of skyline filled with old factory chimney still smoking and a car stuck onto each chimney that produces it. While some think that it has a bleak scene, when the big windows are opened to a small garden, it sort of gets the touch of surrealism and fuses its atmosphere into industrial romanticism with all the rabbits freely wandering about.

 

As the Art Deco style pervades the restaurant, its whole design carries the signature of the master French interior architect Andrée Putman.

 

As the chairs are rather comfortable and the tables are covered with starched tablecloths, the tables are placed far from each other. Hence, the layout of the tables does not allow the voices turn into a cacophony. On top of that, the service is wonderful too. The waiters seems knowledgeable about their job and it takes seconds before they tend to the tables when needed. Otherwise, they know how to be invisible.

 

A Tasteful Journey with Impressions

 

Aqua offers two menus. These are “Visions” with creative dishes and “Impressions” with more classical dishes. The prices are as follows.

 

As we chose the Impressions menu and set to wait for the dishes, the table was served a bread basket. The sourdoughs shaped like drops and loaves of whole wheat bread were just fine. However, the most impressive taste in the basket belonged to the delicious breads, on the left side of the picture, that look like American cupcakes, made with a flour mixture of corn and bran and with tomato and salt crystals sprinkled over.

 

 

The bread basket was followed by mini burger tandoori. These little pieces were made with chicken and they were really mini! They were hardly one bite sized and left us hankering after more.

 

The last amuse bouche was the smoked eel in a glass. Covered with celery mousse, there was a piece of pumpkin at the bottom. Although I got used to the eel dishes served in Japan, this unusual combination agreed with my palate too.

 

When we began with the mains, the first dish was Britany mackerel. Garnished with cucumber, peanut, clam, avocado and lastly “rambutan” (an exotic fruit that looks hard on the outside but soft inside), the presentation of the mackerel was rather delightful too.

 

Atlantic sole came with dazzling colors of its curry and carrot bedding. Although it had an innovative taste, to my palate, it was a tad above average.

 

The following dish was skate wing and poached Gillardeau oyster, accompanied by marinated spinach and artichoke. Its taste can be comparable to the skate-wing dish served in one of my favorite restaurants, “Austernkeller” located in one of the narrow roads across Mandarin Oriental Munich.

 

Everyone knows that I love offal dishes. In keeping with my liking, the dish that made me happy was beef lamb with “magnatum pico” truffle which is mostly found in Northern Italy. As it was accompanied with quail egg and Jerusalem artichoke poached in water with vinegar, the dish was the hit of the night.

 

Sobre followed the lamb tongue to cleanse our palates. It was one of those rare tastes that left an unforgettable impression on my palate. As this experimental dish was made with the champagne of my choice, it was absolutely one of the most successful dishes in the menu.

 

Our last meal was neck of Japanese Wagyu beef. It was, of course, a far cry from the ones I tasted in Japan. Although, with its accompaniments: sweet-sour beet, coriander mayonnaise and radish, the dish had a fine taste to offer.

 

The Maitre d’Hotel Jimmy Ledemazel brought a silver Christofle trolley with three shelves. The variety of cheese in the trolley was breathtaking. As most of them were originated in France, Every Sweden and local cheese variety was made from non-pasteurized fresh milk. It got a good mark from me.

 

Our dinner at Aqua came to an end with spruce sprouts and Araguani chocolate. When the creative presentation garnished with mushroom, tonic and coconut met a wonderful type of chocolate, it made such a fine dessert that we left the table with a smile on our faces.

 

Following the dinner, it was very considerate of the Chef Elverfeld to pay attention to every diner and asked about their opinions. We ended our night reviewing the dishes with the chef and Sylvia Jost, the editor of the German Newspaper “Bild” while sipping on the champagne that we chose for sorbet.

 

A Little Change in Your Travel Plans

 

It’s been fine a journey for me to witness the humble Chef Sven Elverfeld reaching his maturity and finding his own style. Today, the glitter of the controversial stars of Michelin repels some people from star-awarded restaurants. But as Aqua sets an example for a sustainable quality, this way, it almost proves that it has got its three stars without any commercial concerns. Moreover, this all happens under the leadership of one of those rare chefs who managed to get 10 Gault Millau points…

 

Maybe Wolfburg might not be central to your travel plans. It’s even less likely if you’re not straying from the popular gastronomy centers. But 1 hour drive from Berlin, Aqua Restaurant is worth a try with all its tastes!

 

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life…

 

Aqua Restaurant

www.restaurant-aqua.com

Ritz-Carlton, Parkstrasse 1 38440
Wolfsburg, Germany
+49 5361 60 6056