Hiroshi Sakai

After graduating in Hotel Management, Hiroshi Sakai began his career by working for a variety of top restaurants in Japan including the hotel chain Kamori Kanko. A few years later, Hiroshi moved on to new horizons running the catering of the Japanese Embassy in Austria before becoming Head Chef at Unkai in 2002.

Whilst Hiroshi's background is in classical Japanese cuisine, he specializes in taking a modern approach and delights guests with unexpected twists in flavour and ingredients in his dishes, all of course stunningly presented. He constantly works at developing his extensive seasonal menu, by introducing new styles. He combines Austrian and Japanese ingredients and uses modern flavors in traditional recipes without ever losing his authentic Japanese touch.

The Japanese are not best-known for their desserts, and so Hiroshi has worked hard with Food & Beverage Director Siegfried Pucher at changing this perception. Their tasty, innovative creations have been so successful, that they have been added to the menu's of the other restaurants in the Unkai chain across Japan and Australasia. All these efforts have not gone un-noticed with the leading restaurant guide Gault Millau awarding the restaurant a number of times since its first year of opening.

By the way: Hiroshi's talents do not just lie in the kitchen - he's also a qualified diving and ski instructor!