In portrait
Clemens Rambichler: An accident made him Germany’s youngest three-star chef
Clemens Rambichler actually became a three-star chef as a result of an accident, here with his partner.
© Waldhotel Sonnora
Clemens Rambichler doesn’t want to be a star chef. And he certainly doesn’t need autograph cards. He is a craftsman, a diligent craftsman – that made him Germany’s youngest three-star chef.
Clemens Rambichler is not someone who bakes small rolls, he starts right away with the big bread. On the way to the top, he, Germany’s youngest three-star chef, simply jumped the first two hurdles. He had to. A misfortune wanted it that way. Strictly speaking, his ascension came before his time. Because when the culinary mastermind at “Sonnora”, Helmut Thltges, suddenly died five years ago, Rambichler had little choice. Three stars had to be defended. And he still does today.
The story of Clemens Rambichler is one that many describe as madness. It’s crazy that he, the youngster, was able to pin three stars to his lapel overnight. After all, he had only been wearing the boss’s apron for four months when the award came. “That’s nonsense,” says the chef. The stars, he says, were there long before him. And he ended up cooking with his mentor, boss and friend Thltges for seven years – “he would have said: ‘Ass to ass'”. Only the responsibility that came suddenly. Rambichler was not even 30 at the time.
Rambichler: “I’m not a star chef”
“Some say that fighting for a star is one thing, keeping it is even more an art,” says the chef. “I have no idea if there’s anything to it. I can only say that I cook to the highest standards and I try my best.” He is not a star chef, nobody who needs autograph cards. He is simply a good craftsman who gives full throttle every day. Every day. Because he wants to reach world class level every day. He says he simply won’t settle for less.
Rambichler knew early on that he wanted to be in the top culinary league. At least once, he says, hire at a three-star. “If I had become a car mechanic, I would have left no stone unturned to get a job at Ferrari,” said the chef. But before that he learned the trade at the Intercontinental Resort in Berchtesgarden. And he loved it, coming to work earlier than necessary every day, sometimes several hours, to try something out in peace, he remembers. Rambichler is someone who can work hard and doesn’t rest on his laurels. Even today he is the first and the last in the kitchen, trying incredibly hard – “Every day. So much!”. Immediately after completing his training, he moved to the hotel’s one-star restaurant, and at the age of 21 he started in the Waldhotel in Dreis.
He was traveling through Italy when news of Thltge’s death reached him. He turned around without thinking twice. He has never regretted taking his post. Although he didn’t sleep very well at first. The eye bags were worth it. Today he is one of the top 9 best chefs in Germany. And yet it is very rare that he says to himself: “Whoa, that was awesome today.” He is never completely satisfied with the quality. Rambichler is someone who achieved a lot early on. One could say that early on he achieved everything that can be achieved in the culinary world.
“Three Stars: You Can’t Get More” by Gunnar Meinhardt and Isolde Heinz, 176 pages, 28 euros.
© Eulenspiegel
More than three stars are not possible. But Rambichler still has a lot planned. It is perfection that he strives for. So he dares the comparison: “If my dog runs through the garden and I hold out a ring to him, he will jump through it now and again. To ensure that it works every time and right away, we have to train hard and long. And I want the dog to jump through the ring in our kitchen every day.”
Isolde Heinz and Gunnar Meinhardt have written more about Clemens Rambichler and the other three-star chefs, how they tick and what drives them in the portrait collection: “Three stars: more is not possible”. The quotes are taken from the book.
Continue reading:
– Christian Jürgens: The three-star chef who was discovered washing dishes
– Marco Müller: This is Berlin’s only three-star chef
– Fehling, Elverfeld, bau: Germany’s best chefs talk insider’s heads