A guide to Germany's three starred chefs: Christian Bau

Christian Bau is head chef at the three Michelin starred restaurant Victor’s Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Berg, which he took over with his wife Yildiz Bau in 1998.

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The restaurant is part of the Hotel Schloss Berg and is located in Perl-Nenning in Saarland, close to Luxembourg. He was taught, among others, by Harald Wohlfahrt at the Schwarzwaldstube. Christian was born in 1971 in Offenburg in southwest Germany.

When did he start cooking?

When he was only 14, he did an internship in the kitchen he would later do his apprenticeship in and knew from then on that he was going to be a chef. At 16, he did his apprenticeship in the Hotel Götz Sonne-Eintracht in Achern and later worked at the Hotel-Restaurant Talmühle. After a short time cooking for the army, he became chef at the Le Canard in Offenburg and then started as sous chef at Harald Wohlfahrt’s famous Schwarzwaldstube.

After five years, he left and became head chef at Victor’s Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Berg in Perl-Nenning. This restaurants unique approach is that they offer no à la carte menu. Christian says that this concept makes more sense for the restaurant which is housed in a luxury hotel. They want to offer a special culinary experience, which can be seen in the title of Christian’s nine-course tasting menu: Voyage Culinaire.

Cooking style

The other originality is the Carte Blanche menu: a four or five-course surprise menu. The guest names any food allergies or dislikes beforehand and the chefs then create an individual menu. One of Christian’s signature dishes is artichoke structures with parmesan, Jabugo bellota and herbs. Christian describes his cuisine as “light, modern and cosmopolitan.”

The authentic produce is always the main priority and he is open to new techniques. He mostly refrains from using cream and butter, which makes his dishes light. His food is inspired by cuisines from all over the world, but mostly he loves Japanese cooking, which is noticeable in his menus.

He said: “I appreciate the Asian cuisine more than French, because of its aromas. The Asian cuisine is also more digestible and fresher, as so much is made raw.” But he combines Asian and European tastes with a classical French basis and thereby surprises his guests.

He explained: “What inspires me most is the processing of seafood. You can find a lot of that in my menus.”

He also likes to play with contrasts, such as soft and crunchy, hot and cold.

When did he first gain a Michelin star?

After only seven months of taking over the Victor’s Gourmet Restaurant Schloss Berg, Christian and his team received their first Michelin star. The second one was awarded only one year later, when Christian was 28. In 2005 they received the third star and has held them ever since. Christian’s wife Yildiz Bau, who is originally from Turkey, is responsible for the service in the restaurant.

He has two daughters, who have started cooking themselves – so far only in their personal kitchen at home. It is Christian’s dream to someday work with one of his daughters in his kitchen and maybe pass on his head chef status to them.

By Vera Kleinken