Labstelle
Understatement meets perfection.
A visit to a restaurant that doesn’t shout, but whispers. And in doing so, says everything.
Whoever enters Labstelle leaves the city’s noise behind. Here, in a quiet courtyard in Vienna’s city center, time seems to pass differently. Slower. More thoughtfully. Like a deep breath. You immediately feel: This place has nothing to do with show. And everything to do with substance.
A space for reduction and relevance.
The architecture of Labstelle speaks the same language as the cuisine: reduction to the essential. Wood, stone, clear lines. The aesthetic is not made for Instagram, but for people who want to feel what a space does to them. You don’t just sit here. You are embraced.
In the kitchen: Matthias Hausburg, a chef who doesn’t seek a stage – but deserves one. His dishes are quiet compositions. And yet so present that you remember them hours later. Not just as a taste. But as an attitude.
Lamb I Sweet Potato I Chickpea I Blood Sorrel
by Matthias Hausburg
Cooking as an attitude, not a performance.
Regionality here is not a promise on the menu, but lived practice. Everything is pickled, fermented, smoked, all in-house, all handcrafted. No product ends up in the pass by chance.
“What we serve has an origin, an idea, a
justification”, says Hausburg. And you can taste it.
The plates are reduced, but never minimalistic. They tell stories – about farms in Lower Austria, about forgotten varieties, about the aroma of a tomato that only has a four-week season.
And in the middle of it all: Micro Greens from Herbeus.
They are never the main focus – and yet they are essential. The greens from Herbeus serve as a structuring, flavorful, and visual link. Sometimes lemony-spicy, sometimes bitter and deep green, sometimes sweet and nutty. They set accents where others only see decoration. It is this fine sensory perception that makes them so valuable – and that fits the philosophy of Labstelle like a handcrafted stone in a mosaic.
