Star chefs will present their creations at the first Baden-Baden Wine & Gourmet Festival by Falstaff from May 19-21, 2023, culinary artists who are sure to be spoiling guests at the event.
MASSIMO BOTTURA
Massimo Bottura has been a restaurateur and entrepreneur for more than 30 years and is one of the most innovative and influential personalities on the world gastronomic scene. Born in Modena in 1962, Bottura opened Osteria Francescana in his hometown in 1995, the restaurant winning numerous awards: three Michelin stars in 2012 and first place in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2016 and 2018, honours that helped maintain the chef´s reputation worldwide.
THOMAS BÜHNER
Thomas Bühner has been in the league of top German chefs for more than 20 years. After working for Günter Scherrer and Jörg Müller, Bühner finally joined Harald Wohlfahrt as chef de partie at the Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn in 1989: the best prerequisites for taking over the position of chef de cuisine at the La Table restaurant in Dortmund in 1991. Five years later, he was awarded the first Michelin star there, followed by the second in 1998. From April 2006 to July 2018, Bühner headed Restaurant La Vie in Osnabrück as managing director and head chef, the restaurant awarded three Michelin stars as well as top marks in all other German restaurant guides.
DANIEL GOTTSCHLICH
Daniel Gottschlich is the owner and head chef of two successful restaurants in Cologne, including the internationally-renowned Ox&Klee, for which he was awarded the first Michelin star in 2015 and the second in 2019. With Experience Taste, Daniel Gottschlich has designed a restaurant concept that revolves around the six taste qualities of sweet, sour, umami, salty, bitter and fat, and their perception with all five senses. Through his experience, passion and professional expertise, he combines all six qualities through different ingredients and at the highest culinary level in 15 courses each on one plate. External influences through smells and sounds also play a role his restaurant.
MARIA GROS
MariaOstzone at Bachstelze is described as more than a label: it is an attitude to life that aims for uncomplicatedness, innovation and quality. Maria Gros arrived in Berlin as a student before quickly discovering she enjoyed cooking more than study, honing her skills in a gourmet kitchen on Gendermenmarkt. From there she headed for Switzerland before a call from her hometown Erfurt in 2013 saw her made head chef at Kaisersaal and 11 months later, Erfurt had its first Michelin-starred restaurant. Now she works alongside her husband Matthias at Bachstelze, under her label MariaOstzone.
STEFAN GSCHWENDTNER
With top products from near and far, Gschwendtner’s cuisine is seasonal in character, happily regional and organic, but by no means dogmatic for the best products. The dishes are characterised by a reduction to the absolutely essential, resulting in outstanding clarity and depth of flavour, which allow all components to blend harmoniously. The special focus for chef Stefan Gschwendtner is on the quality of the products and the preparation, which is the daily demand of the seven-member kitchen team that he has been leading since 2016. Team spirit is the secret of the crew's success, a fact confirmed in 2022 when, among other things, the "Speisemeisterei" was awarded two Michelin stars.
PAUL IVIĆ
Since opening in 2011, Paul Ivić has been the figurehead of the Tian restaurant in Vienna as head chef and general manager. He has revolutionised vegetable cuisine, transforming natural ingredients, with a special feeling for flavours and aromas, into delicious and varied vegetarian and vegan dishes. With his refined creations from purely vegetarian ingredients and a never-ending search for the best quality, fairly produced food and sustainable cuisine, Ivić cooked up a Michelin star in 2014 – the only vegetarian restaurant in Austria and only a handful of restaurants worldwide which did this.
MARIO LOHNINGER
Anyone who thinks that Austrian charm cannot be combined with fine gourmet dishes is unfamiliar with Mario Lohninger's cuisine. For many years, the Austrian-born chef has been part of Frankfurt's top gastronomy and has made a name for himself far beyond the borders of Hesse. With his tasteful and sophisticated cuisine, he was able to meet the tastes of his customers from the very beginning: after training as a chef in South Tyrol, he worked with gourmet specialists Rudi and Karl Obauer before joining Eckart Witzigmann at Tantris at the age of 19. This was followed by stints with star chef Wolfgang Puck in Los Angeles and Guy Savoy in Paris, before he returned to the USA. In 2010 he opened the restaurant Lohninger which, with its wooden chairs, benches and stucco ceilings, stands for a successful combination of style and cosiness.
ANTHONY SARPONG
Born in Kumasi in Ghana, Anthony Sarpong came to Germany with his family at the age of eight. After leaving school, his biggest dream was to become a professional footballer and reach the top of the Bundesliga, however, an injury shattered this dream. He therefore followed his second passion: cooking. Equipped with the basics of African cooking culture, he began an apprenticeship at the renowned Crowne Plaza in Wiesbaden. After his training, he travelled around the globe as a private chef, a journey that helped shape the diversity of his international culinary art to this day. After many stations in the world's best kitchens, the family man decided to stay in Meerbusch in 2014 with his wife and three children. With his restaurant, Anthony's Kitchen, he has been awarded a Guide Michelin star since 2018.
STÉPHAN BERNHARD
Stéphan Bernhard’s Cuisine du Coeur has its roots in classic French cuisine. Having grown up in Alsace and learned and worked there with outstanding masters, his cuisine has long known innovative impulses in addition to the tradition he respects. His joy in preparing dishes, more aptly characterised as culinary art, brings forth surprising creations time and again. The discerning guest appreciates this and looks forward to new discoveries.
MALTE KUHN
From 2011-2013, he trained as a chef at the Dollenberg Hotel with star chef Martin Herrmann, before adding a dual degree with a focus on hotel management on top. His stations include the Althoff Seehotel Überfahrt on Lake Tegernsee, Tim Mälzer's restaurant Off Club, the Gasthaus zum Raben with Steffen Disch, and the Lakeside restaurant in the hotel The Fontenay in Hamburg. Since 2018, he has settled in Baden-Baden with his dual concept of coffee house and gourmet restaurant Hidden Kitchen. His cuisine is expressive, product-oriented, and yet reduced to the essentials.
ROLAND ETTL
Chef Roland Ettl was born in Austria. He completed his apprenticeship in the Austrian five-star hotel industry and hotel management school. To gain experience, he moved to Zurich, Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Mallorca, among other places. For the most part he worked in star-rated restaurants, his cooking style most influenced by Rino Casati, the first Italian star chef in Germany, Ettl mastering the art of combining avant-garde and classic. The menu changes every four weeks, and if a customer wants to eat his favourite dish and the ingredients are available, the chef reacts flexibly.
FARID FAZEL
He discovered his passion for cooking at an early age and began his career at the Jerzner Hof before moving to the five-star superior Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol. For three years he was Chef Entremetier and Chef Saucier there before continuing his career at the Best Western Hotel Leipziger Hof in Innsbruck. In November 2012, he moved to the Kitzbüheler Hütte of the Medici restaurant in Baden-Baden, and after a year became sous chef there before using his expertise to become chef de cuisine for the hosting of the German Media Award, cooking for Ban Ki Moon and Barack Obama, amongst others.
CHRISTIAN FRITZINGER
Christian Fritzinger is head chef at the Maison Messmer Baden-Baden and has expanded his experience in Switzerland at Montreux, in the South of France, and on the West Coast as well as in the French Alps. For years, he has enriched the five-star hotel industry in Baden-Baden with his seasonal, regional and also international cuisine.
ALEXANDER GILLIS
His professional curriculum vitae is glittering: Alde Gott in Neuweier, Hotel Wasserturm in Cologne, Stüva in Ischgl, etc. Once he was even summoned to the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi as a private chef. In August 2018, Alexander Gillis started as head chef at the Baden-Baden restaurant Rizzi. There, he not only inspires with his ingenious cooking talent, but also always focuses on regionality and sustainability in addition to quality.
ALEXANDER KONRAD & ALEXANDER BOON
The two Alexanders, Konrad and Boon, have been loyal to the Monte Christo restaurant in Baden-Baden for over ten years. They complement each other with new ideas, creations and imaginative dishes, motivated by their shared passion for varied, genuine Spanish tapas cuisine. This works particularly well as a team – the two chefs can thus offer a sophisticated range of dishes and constantly raise their level to meet all the different tastes.
MARIO PROVENZANO
Mario Provenzano, a native of Offenburg with Italian roots, began his career as a ship’s cook, travelling all over the world before settling in Baden-Baden. He has been working in the Rizzi & Co. establishments since July 1991, with the influences of his international experiences and culinary adventures reflected in the menu at The Grill.
