HENDI continues its success story of the last few years and is now pleased to have the support of a truly exceptional expert in the Austrian gastronomy scene. Brilliant in detail and yet never losing sight of the big picture, Martin Kilga and his cuisine are what HENDI embodies: versatile, reliable, and professional. A melting pot of many things ... and definitely not boring mainstream.

The long road to happiness.
Martin Kurt Kilga was born in 1982 in beautiful Vorarlberg and attended the tourism school in Bludenz after his primary school years in Götzis Berg and the secondary school in Götzis. Including two internships in service and kitchen, this was an early first step in what would later turn out to be the right direction: gastronomy.

After his school time and jobs at the Löwen Hotel and Inn in Feldkirch, the Alpenhof Messmer in Schruns and the Vinothek zum Zehentkeller in Röthis, Martin got a position at Jörg Wörther's Schloss Prielau in Zell-am-See in 2002. Probably one of the finest addresses in Austria, run at the time by someone who was as brilliant as he was feisty, a student of Witzigmann, a 4-hood chef and for many years the best kitchen virtuoso in Austria. Without a doubt a formative time and, who knows, perhaps thanks to his purism an early source of inspiration for today's Paradoxon concept - but more on that later. Enough adulation, let's move on: in 2003 Martin then worked for a few months in Marc Veyrat's restaurant in Megeve, France. Three Michelin stars, 4 Gault Millau toques - not much more needs to be said about this intermezzo. This first experience abroad saved him the ticket to a job at the Restaurant Mangold in Lochau from 2003 to 2006 - as Chef de Partie, with one Michelin star and 2 toques. Next stop: Munich. Some 200 kilometres away, and what station comes to mind in direct succession to Wörther, Veyrat and Co. A little hint: Tantris. His record there: Chef de Partie, 2 stars, 4 toques, 2006-2008.

This is where it gets interesting for all Salzburgers: not because the next stop from 2008 to 2012 was the Ikarus in Hangar 7 in Salzburg, but because we probably also owe it to this first step to Salzburg that Martin has remained with us in Salzburg to this day, adding an attraction to Salzburg's gastronomy scene. One star, three toques and a lot of input from Europe's culinary elite later, Martin opened Austria's first pop-up restaurant in cooperation with Stefan Brandtner's SB GmbH and from then on, as executive chef and unregistered managing director, he was responsible for the development and implementation of new a multitude of new gastronomic concepts. Between 2012 and 2016, he worked on innovative projects such as Brandtner 63, Brandtner & seine Leit and Brandtner's Mithridat - all in Salzburg and all with completely different, but no less successful concepts

The BYOB era.
As Tony Gaskins said, "If you don't build your own dreams, someone will hire you to build theirs". No sooner said than done. In 2016, Martin decided to devote himself completely to his heart's project and become his own boss (hence BYOB - be your own boss). With a lot of passion and the vision of creating a modern, small company with a focus on quality and professional development, he opened the Paradoxon restaurant in Salzburg and from then on dedicated himself to the guiding idea of offering his guests and employees a new image of gastronomy and management. With success. The Paradoxon is now an award-winning gourmet restaurant "whose only aspiration is quality and responsibility".

Martin and the Paradoxon create taste experiences and an exciting place of change and pleasure. They celebrate purism (perhaps the one of Jörg Wörther, who knows) in the facet of understanding ingredients in their simplicity and packing them in sensual dishes and paradoxical history. The Paradoxon is out-of-the-box and combines culinary (but well-considered) adventures with excellent service and a simple, yet warm feel-good atmosphere that is second to none. This completes an all-round angular and edgy circle that sees change as the only constant in life and is more creative than the most creative. Paradoxical somehow

In any case, we are already looking forward to our next visit to Paradoxon and you should definitely do the same - we think. By the way, you can find the contact details for a reservation at the end of this text.

The essence.
Looking back on this article and forward to a successful collaboration, both of them can probably be summed up in a few keywords: Diversity, competence, innovation, professionalism and anything but boring mainstream. Which also explains why Martin Kilga was probably love at first sight for HENDI and why we are very happy to have him on board. A radiant new face and an undoubtedly exceptional Chef for HENDI: Martin Kilga.

Restaurant Paradoxon
Zugallistrasse 7 | 5020 Salzburg | Austria
Phone: +43 664 1616191
E-mail: restaurant.paradoxon@gmx.at
Web: www.restaurant-paradoxon.com