September 2014
How has it started; why Stradivarius?
OR: For me everything has to do with the music school I attended as a child. I have always been fond of music and music has always been at my side during my entire life. Then the chance occurred to have a restaurant in a location with a great perspective, having already had a well known name among music lovers, but which it had not really used until then. These were the starting points. From here everything got structured up to the actual shape we find the Stradivarius restaurant today.
I have quite an experience with restaurants. Select was a good school for me and then – of course – Chic; each of them with its own type of customers, but starting from here, Stradivarius benefits of the entire experience of many years in this area. The varied menu for different types of customers, the opening to young people and their demands make the Stradivarius a restaurant open to anyone, a place capable to fulfill every demand.
How do you see Stradivarius among other restaurants in Timişoara?
OR: I think we are in the top of the category we are a part of, especially due to the ambient, dishes and services. The strengths of our kitchen/dishes are for example that we use quality raw materials, bio, homemade products that ensure a superior quality and a good taste to the served dishes. We have some dishes of our own: pickles, noodles, homemade desserts after traditional Banat recipes. About the ambient and the services, we let you decide upon their value.
Which is the relationship with the restaurant’s personnel and the customers; what is the kind of relationship you wish for?
OR: The restaurant team counts about 20 people and we have been together for about 13 years, having a close, tied, working relation. Each of us knows what to do. Due to this fact we try to have a relation, as warmly as, possible to our guests. I wish for everyone to feel good here, to come with joy and to feel somehow at home; a close relationship is the only one that will allow us to adapt to their demands and expectations.
Do you have a chef who is supervising what is coming out of the kitchen? Could you tell us o few words about him?
OR: Mircea Ursachi has been a chef/master chef since 2006 and he is also a teacher in his domain. He has been with us for a long time. He is the one taking care of the kitchen team, the quality of the people he coordinates, of their results. He is a creative person, inventive in his specialty and he often surprises us through his solutions for a catering or special event. His love for the local kitchen/dishes is a guarantee for me in that area of restaurant kitchen I love very much, the Banat dishes. I think I can count among our most popular dishes: the boiled or fried Papanasi – typical for this area and the turkey with dried tomatoes. How could these be so appreciated without our chef’s daily contribution?
Which is your most loved dish from your childhood? Can it be found in the menu of this restaurant?
OR: My childhood is tied to the area around Caransebeş and Domaşnea, a very beautiful region, rich in culinary traditions, with simple and extraordinary tasteful dishes. But, when I think about my childhood, the Cold Banat Plate is the one getting the closest to it … then the Crempita/ a cake with vanilla cream, Gomboţii/Plum or Apricot Dumplings and a lot more. I have tried to get as close as possible to that happy part of my life and I surely share it through the dishes in our menu.
What do you think about the restaurant market in Timișoara? Which restaurant is your favorite?
OR: For me – when I think about a favorite restaurant – then I am in Vienna at Cafe D’Europe. Each time I return to Vienna with pleasure. The Viennese atmosphere inspires me and has been a model for me during remodeling the Stradivarius restaurant, for the menu and finding a suitable location. Timișoara offers diversity; there is a place for everything; there are a lot of restaurants, each of them with its own specific. I hope to be among those restaurants that offer you the pleasure of a thing well done, a little bit of the Viennese charm, which is not so foreign to the hearts of Timisoara inhabitants.
How do you see the future development of the Stradivarius restaurant?
OR: Stradivarius has some major advantages starting in the near future: an exceptional location in the Piaţa Unirii, a location that is going to become important when the works in the square and the historical center of Timisoara will be finished. We will open a large terrace in front of our restaurant; we will serve specific season dishes both in the daily menu and in the section for homemade desserts. We wish Stradivarius to become a location for business meetings, conferences or business events. We will have musical events with invited musicians in order to contribute to a special atmosphere, pianists, appreciated musicians, classical music, jazz, blues – generally – good quality music. Our partnership with The Festival of Old Music in Timișoara has opened new possibilities for us. In the kitchen area we will work upon developing the Banat dishes, because we want to enlarge its variety.