The night without directions. As part of the recently concluded eat&meet culinary festival, the Salzburg restaurant Yazzoon organised a very special culinary journey. A four-course menu in which different national cuisines come together to create delicious fusions. We at QueerSalzburg were invited to take a seat at Yazzoon and embark on this culinary journey together.

As soon as you close the door behind you at Yazzoon, you immediately sense the pleasant atmosphere. The subdued lighting and the velvety sofas and chairs create a warm, living-room-like ambience. The candles burning on every table complete the scene. The tempting aroma wafting from the kitchen piques our culinary curiosity the moment we settle into the comfortable armchairs and sofas.

We’re treated to an amuse-bouche fairly quickly. A poached tomato with a mozzarella centre, topped with an olive crumble, sets the tone for the meal.

Spanish-African & Italian-Turkish

The first dish has a Spanish-African twist: we were treated to three culinary highlights served on a wooden board: tacos with sheep’s cheese and pomegranate seeds, beetroot caviar with sesame seeds, and finally potato croutons on a bed of green salad and carrot strips.

The second dish combined Italian and Turkish cuisine. The sweet potato gnocchi, cleverly combined with Turkish sheep’s cheese, pomegranate seeds and small pieces of truffle, and finished off with olive crumble, filled the air with a wonderful aroma. Many of you will no doubt have cooked gnocchi yourselves or eaten them in a restaurant, but for us it was clear that evening: this creation by Yazzoon was our culinary highlight.

From an adventurous dish to a fitting finale

After the first two courses, a short break seemed just the thing. An Egyptian white wine to aid digestion was exactly what was needed, and it was, of course, deliciously sweet.

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For the third course, we were served a piece of cod fillet accompanied by a baked banana on a bed of pistachio cream. Served on a bed of risotto with sea asparagus, the dish brought together a variety of flavours on a single plate.

Personally, I particularly appreciate a good dessert as a fitting end to a culinary evening. The elderflower and rhubarb cheesecake harmoniously combined sweetness with a pleasantly light tartness. The cheesecake was exactly what it should be: a fitting end to a culinary journey.

“Eight people of six different nationalities”

After the four-course meal, we had the chance to speak to the owner of Yazzoon, Yazan Peter Sikarea. The first question I was dying to ask was how the ideas for the dishes served at the eat&meet event came about. “Yazzoon has been open for two and a half years now. There are eight of us, representing a total of six different nationalities. Each of us brings something from our own homeland, and that’s how we came up with our ‘Night without directions’,” said the owner.

When asked what visitors can expect when they visit Yazzoon, Yazan replied: “There’s always something new happening here. We love to experiment with food and are constantly coming up with crazy ideas, which often lead to new culinary highlights.”

Finally, I naturally wanted to know what Yazan’s favourite dish was from his four-course menu. “The tacos with sheep’s cheese are my absolute favourite,” he said with a smile on his face.

For us, Yazzoon is well worth a visit as a culinary journey. The food, the atmosphere, the people. You really feel as though you’ve been invited to the Yazzoon team’s home for a meal.
Sebastian Brandstätter

The Yazzoon is located at Ursulinenplatz 4 in Salzburg.