The grandmaster
Harald Wohlfahrt presents contemporary cuisine at the
highest level.
He is currently the undisputed number one chef in the Germanspeakingworld.. His cuisine has been crowned with three MichelinStars for 21 years. His Schwarzwaldstube in Traube Tonbach is referredto as “a shine of heute cusine”. The usually extremely critical and harsh GaultMillau reverently described him as “god-blessed”. And those who decide todine at his place have to come to terms with a waiting period no less thanhalf a year. Hardly anyone has shaped contemporary German gourmetcuisineas he has. When it comes to the number of Michelin Stars, his threeformer students, Christian Bau, Kevin Fehling and Klaus Erfort, have caughtup with him. We are talking - as gourmets have by now recognized – aboutHarald Wohlfahrt.
But Wohlfahrt too, had prominent teachers. After working with EckartWitzigmann and Alain Chapel, he took over the kitchen of the “Schwarzwaldstube”in 1980. The hotel and the restaurant have been his home eversince and Wohlfahrt has connected with the two in a kind of symbiosis.Despite of all his successes, the likeable chef has remained very modestand down to earth. TV cooking shows and talk shows have never been hisforte. Wohlfahrt does his shining in the kitchen. His menus exhibitexcellent harmony and offer guests an incomparable arc of suspense.A virtuoso of flavors, he creates a cuisine of perfect lightness. Precise anddelicate in execution, intense, round and delicious to the palate.
The self-description that the Traube-Tonbeach publishes simply reads:“It is said that every epicure is supposed to have dined with HaraldWohlfahrt. International media have ranked his famous Schwarzwaldstubeamong the best restaurants in Europe for 20 years. Each menu isa subtle interplay of scents and flavors, textures and nuances. A culinaryjourney never to be forgotten.” The internet site “Starcookers” posed arather serious question: “What is easier to get: an audience with the popeor a dinner at Harald Wohlfahrt’s Schwarzwaldstube? You need patience to eat a dinner cooked by Harald Wohlfahrt, one of the best chefs inEurope, in North Schwarzwald. Therefore, there is a lot of anticipation for the culinarydelight.” Despite the fact that he, unlike many of his colleagues, never left his country forlong, his outstanding talent quickly shined through. He took over the “Schwarzwaldstube”in 1980 when he was only 25 years old. Until then, it was managed by Wolfgang Staudenmeierand already had two Michelin-stars. Wohlfahrt was able to top that in 1992 when hewon his third Michelin Star, which he still keeps.Wohlfahrt completed his apprenticeship as a chef from 1970 to 1973 in “Mönchs Waldhotel”in Dobel, which was closed in the early 1980s. He worked as a clerk for Willi Schwankin the former two-star restaurant “Stahlbad” in Baden Baden from 1974 to 1976 and inthe Tantris for Eckart Witzigmann in Munich in 1977. He became a sous-chef in WolfgangStaudenmeier’s “Schwarzwaldstube” in “Hotel Traube” in Baiersbronn-Tonbach. He visitedthe master school in Baden-Baden in 1980 and completed an internship with Alain Chapelin Mionnay.
