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Each winter, as Vienna slips into its festive glow, taubenkobel migrates north from its Burgenland nest to stage one of Austria’s most intriguing culinary pop-ups. For 2025, Barbara Eselböck and chef Alain Weissgerber mark ten years of this ritual flight with VOGELFREI at Atelier Augarten, a gallery where art and history trade whispers beneath high stucco ceilings.
Alain and Barbara are the quietly rebellious pair behind the Michelin-starred taubenkobel in Schützen am Gebirge, long considered a beacon of avant-garde Austrian gastronomy. Their restaurant, set within a rustic Pannonian farmhouse, distils a philosophy of freedom: food rooted in the earth, crafted by hand, guided by instinct. Alain’s cooking dances between restraint and revelation, while Barbara shapes the theatre of hospitality with her inimitable warmth and precision. Together they have redefined rural fine dining as something intimate, soulful and just a little wild.
VOGELFREI translates loosely as “free as a bird”, though its older meaning hints at being unbound, even outlawed. The title fits. For six weeks, from 14 November to 21 December 2025, Atelier Augarten will transform into a world of culinary flight, where Alain’s menus, Hochflug and Zwitscherflug, move between playful elegance and quiet exuberance. Art will frame the tables, sound will hover in the air, and the experience will feel less like dinner, more like an ephemeral installation of taste and time.
What began as a seasonal experiment has become a cult tradition: taubenkobel in motion. Each pop-up carries a new narrative, yet always returns to that same credo of freedom, curiosity and unfiltered joy. VOGELFREI promises to be a fitting high note in this decade-long story of culinary migration.
Online: taubenkobel.at, by phone:+ 43 2684 2297 or via e-mail: restaurant@taubenkobel.at
Awarded two Michelin stars, this culinary haven blends art, nature, and bold flavours for an unforgettable dining journey crafted by visionary Chef Alain Weissgerber and Barbara Eselböck.
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Get the insider news and lowdown on what we've been up to, where we've been, and who we've met along the way. Be the first to discover new places and get the scoop on our favourites.