Alfons Schuhbeck (born Alfons Karg; 2 May 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 aspe ...

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 Books, printed publications. While telev ...

, author and businessman.

Education

Born Alfons Karg, Schuhbeck 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 municipality in the district of Traunstein in Bavaria, Germany. The town, classified as a climatic spa, is located at the Waginger See, the warmest lake in Upper Bavaria, with temperatures up to ...

, he ran into the

Sebastian Schuhbeck, who committed Alfons in a career in the hospitality business and became his mentor. Sebastian Schuhbeck later adopted Alfons and made him his heir. Schuhbeck 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 Stau ...

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

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(in

Eckart Witzigmann Eckart Witzigmann is an Austrian chef. Training After his chef-apprenticeship in the Hotel Straubinger in Bad Gastein (1957–1960), Witzigmann moved on to numerous positions in prestigious restaurants around the world, among others as a stu ...

s three stars awarded ''Aubergine'').

Career

Schuhbeck finally took the ''Kurhausstüberl'' from Sebastian Schuhbeck in 1980. He was the driving force in his mentor'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, Schuhbeck 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 restaurants ...

, 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 restaurants on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest. Restaurants given ...

restaurant guide gave him 17 points and 3 hoods and elected him ''Cook of the Year'' in 1989. Since 1990, Schuhbeck 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. German TV broadcaster

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

has aired Schuhbeck's 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

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020 and 2021 caused Schuhbeck's business to suffer. After futilely waiting for government relief to arrive, he eventually announced that he had filed for bankruptcy on 18 July 2021.

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 Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Tax evasion and imprisonment

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

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