Pressurized water works in Frankfurt open again

DThe pressure water plant on the banks of the Main is open again. The small steakhouse chain Abacco’s from Ludwigsburg has been running a restaurant there for a few days. As managing director Markus Heim explains, however, service is currently only available in a tent in front of the historic building because the renovation work in the large interior of the industrial building is still ongoing. The steakhouse offers its guests the option of roasting the pieces of meat themselves on a hot stone at the table. Because of the associated smoke development, it is necessary to install a special ventilation system, which Heim says is still missing due to a supply bottleneck. According to the company, the meat is supplied by three breeders from the United States, Argentina and Uruguay, all of whom you know personally.

Founded in 2014, Abacco’s Steakhouse GmbH, which Heim owns together with another entrepreneur, currently operates restaurants in Munich, Stuttgart, Heilbronn and Korntal-Münchingen as well as in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Bonn. According to a spokeswoman, in addition to the restaurant that opened a few days ago in Frankfurt, there will also be one in Augsburg. The outdoor gastronomy at the Druckwasserwerk is initially only open in the evening from 5 p.m. Heim plans to fully open by the end of September. The previous tenants of the pressure water plant had closed the restaurant at the beginning of May, but even then it was said that this would not last, a new tenant had already been found. Heim reported on Monday that his company had taken over 15 employees from the former restaurant.

Until 1960, the pressurized water plant was used to drive loading cranes, transfer tables and elevators in what was then the west port. In the building, which was completed at the end of the 19th century, two steam engines drove hydraulic pumps, which in turn pushed water at high pressure into the port network, with which various facilities were operated. In the early years, this even included a lifting station for freight cars to bridge a difference in height between two routes. In 2009 the first restaurant was opened in the listed building.

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