"Chef Ioan Bebeselea cooks the most interesting food in Sibiu: a duck breast with pink grapefruit and sour cherry, beef tongue in rhubarb, and a market-led menu that earned a Gault&Millau Terroir award."
Syndicat Gourmet sits on Strada Targului in Sibiu's old town, a short walk from Piata Mare. Chef Ioan Bebeselea built it around the food of his Transylvanian childhood crossed with the spice of Indian cooking, the only kitchen in town working that fusion. In 2019 he took the Gault&Millau Terroir award for the approach.
It is a small, owner-run room rather than a grand dining hall. For the wider field, see the Sibiu dining guide.
The menu changes with the market and the season, almost everything sourced from Transylvania. Bebeselea's signature plates run to a duck breast with pink grapefruit and sour-cherry sauce, beef tongue in rhubarb, and a nettle cream soup when spring allows; the kitchen also leans into chicken tikka and curry on the Indian side. It is inventive, produce-led cooking rather than tasting-menu theatre.
For more refined rooms in the city, see Sibiu's fine-dining tables.
The dining room is small and warm, with a handful of tables and friendly service, which suits a first date or a solo dinner at the counter as readily as a quiet anniversary. It is closed Mondays, and the seasonal menu means the board can shift between visits. Booking ahead is wise on weekends.
Let the season lead and order whatever Bebeselea is building the menu around, but the duck breast with pink grapefruit and the beef tongue in rhubarb are the dishes to seek out. Pricing is à la carte in the mid-range ($$-$$$). For other Transylvanian tables, see the modern European picks in Sibiu.
Syndicat Gourmet suits a first date or a quiet anniversary: a small owner-run room, a market-led menu and food found nowhere else in Sibiu. See more first-date tables and anniversary restaurants.
Not for a large group or a fixed-menu crowd: Syndicat Gourmet is a small room with a board that changes by the season and the market, so diners wanting a predictable menu or a big celebration table should look to a larger Sibiu restaurant.
Ioan Bebeselea is the chef and owner of Syndicat Gourmet. He cooks the food of his Transylvanian childhood crossed with Indian spice, the only kitchen in Sibiu working that fusion, and changes the menu with the market and the season. In 2019 he received the Gault&Millau Terroir award, which recognises a chef's work with local produce.
Syndicat Gourmet is at Strada Targului 10 in the old town of Sibiu, Romania, a short walk from the main square, Piata Mare. It is a small, owner-run dining room that seats a handful of tables, closed on Mondays. Because the menu shifts with the season and weekends fill, it is worth booking a table ahead.
Order whatever the seasonal board is built around, but seek out the signature duck breast with pink grapefruit and sour-cherry sauce and the beef tongue in rhubarb, two dishes regulars name. In spring the nettle cream soup is a highlight, and the Indian side of the menu brings chicken tikka and curry. The kitchen is produce-led, so the market sets the day's plates.
Syndicat Gourmet is à la carte and sits in the mid-range for Sibiu, a notch above the city's casual tables but well short of grand-hotel pricing. Expect a multi-course dinner with wine to land in the moderate band ($$-$$$). The value is strong for a kitchen with a Gault&Millau Terroir award, which is part of why locals keep the small room full.
Via syndicatgourmet.ro - Old Town Sibiu
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