Alfons Schuhbeck (born on May 2, 1949) is one of Germany's top chefs, as well as being a

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in printed publications. While television ...

, author and businessman.

Biography

Born ''Alfons Karg'', he trained as a telecommunications technician, but soon became disenchanted with this profession. While playing with his band in the Bavarian holiday resort of

Waging am See Waging am See (officially: ''Waging a. See'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Traunstein (district), Traunstein in Bavaria, Germany. The town, classified as a climatic spa, is located at the Waginger See, the warmes ...

, he ran into the

Sebastian Schuhbeck. This man committed Alfons in a career in the hospitality business and became his mentor. Sebastian Schubeck later adopted Alfons and made him his heir.

Career

He studied at the ''College of Hotel Management

Bad Reichenhall Bad Reichenhall (Central Bavarian: ''Reichahoi'') is a spa town, and administrative center of the Berchtesgadener Land district in Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is located near Salzburg in a basin encircled by the Chiemgau Alps (including Mount Staufe ...

'' in Bavaria. After that he went through practical training in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

(in

Eckart Witzigmann Eckart Witzigmann is an Austrian chef. After his chef-apprenticeship in the Hotel Straubinger in Bad Gastein (1957–60), Witzigmann moved on to numerous positions in prestigious restaurants around the world, among others as a student of Paul B ...

s three stars awarded ''Aubergine''). He finally took the ''Kurhausstüberl'' from his mentor in 1980. Alfons was the driving force in Sebastian Schuhbeck's business. His chef skills impressed the guests of the ''Kurhausstüberl'' in a way, that this former village inn became a favourite restaurant for the upper society of

and

. In 1983 he was awarded with one star in the French

Michelin Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

, as the third chef outside France at this time. The also French

Gault Millau Gault et Millau is a French restaurant guide. It was founded by two restaurant critics, Henri Gault and Christian Millau in 1965. Points system Gault Millau rates on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest. Restaurants given below 10 points ...

restaurant guide gave him 17 points and 3 hoods and elected him ''Cook of the year'' in 1989. Since 1990 Schubeck has operated a catering service and supplied many first-class events like the Federal Chancellor’s celebration, the ''Ball des Sports'' and the German music industry's ''ECHO'' award ceremony. In 2003 he established a new restaurant, the ''Südtiroler Stuben'' in Munich. There he won his second Michelin star in December 2003. In November 2005 he was awarded with the ''Five Star Diamond Award'' by the

American Academy of Hospitality Sciences The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (AAHS) is a for-profit business based in New York City that reviews and bestows awards on hotels, resorts, spas, airlines, cruise lines, automobiles, products, restaurants and chefs. The academy began as ...

. German TV-Station

Bayerischer Rundfunk Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR; "Bavarian Broadcasting") is a public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD consortium of public broadcas ...

has broadcast his show ''Schuhbecks'' since 1993. His popularity in Germany results in this as well as publishing more than 20 books about cooking. He is also a regular guest in other German TV shows. The lockdown resulting from the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 caused Schuhbeck's business to suffer. After futilely waiting for government relief to arrive, Schuhbeck eventually announced that he had filed for bankruptcy on July 18, 2021.

Scandals

In October 2022, Schuhbeck was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for tax evasion.

Businesses

At the end of the 1990s he set up ''Schuhbecks GmbH''. This company included the restaurant ''Südtiroler Stuben'', a wine bistro, a catering service, a cookery school, a spice shop and an ice-cream parlour, all based in Munich. ''Schuhbeck Check Inn GmbH'' was formed in 2001 to manage the ''Check Inn restaurant and bar'' in Egelsbach (south

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

References

External links

Official Website

Alfons Schuhbeck Palazzo Munich

Schuhbeck´s Check Inn GmbH

Portrait über Alfons Schuhbeck
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schuhbeck, Alfons 1949 births Living people People from Traunstein German television chefs Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants German chefs German people convicted of tax crimes