14. 12. 11. - 11:33

Albertinapassage dinner club opens today

By Rebecca Musgrave

The Vienna dinner club, the "Albertinapassage", opens today after seven months of building works on the site by the State Opera House in Austria’s capital. In just over half a year the venue has been transformed from a dilapidated pedestrian underpass to a modern underground venue serving up gourmet food and live music.

The 1,500 square metre site which has a capacity of about 300 people is decorated almost entirely in white with the walls illuminated in different colours. According to owner Matthias Kamp from "Sunshine Enterprises", the large stage provides the main focal point of the club, where live music will play until midnight from Tuesday to Saturday. The music is then taken over by a DJ who will play away until 4am.

Owners have urged however that the venue is not just about the music. Alexander Kumptner, a pupil of star chef Reinhard Gerers (previously head chef of Korso bei der Oper), is in charge of matters in the kitchen and intends to provide an international menu with an emphasis on the Austrian and American. According to Kamp the price of the food will be in the middle-upper bracket.

The company "Sunshine Enterprises" already operates several bars in Vienna including a club in an abandoned pedestrian underpass at Burggarten. Kamp claims however that The Albertinapassage will not provide competition "because we are not a nightclub". He also argues that the Dinner Club is aimed at a "more adult audience" such as guests staying in hotels on the ring road, business people and theatre and opera goers. The venue clearly caters to this more exclusive end of the market with a VIP member’s area.

The pedestrian underpass the Albertinapassge was first opened in the city in 1964 and closed in 2009 due to damage to the ceiling. For years the city of Vienna has discussed a potential use for the underpass which was becoming increasingly derelict hoping for something "high quality, aesthetically attractive and for tourist use". The ÖVP hoped that a Life-Ball (an AIDS charity event that takes place in Vienna) shop could be set up but the idea was not pursued.

The "Albertinapassage" opens this evening.

For more information visit: www.albertinapassage.com