When Christian Kuchler (33) received his first Michelin star, it was an impressive moment. It was even more significant when he received his second. “I was employed for the first one, but I got the second one at home under my own steam.” He has been the chef at the “Taverne zum Schäfli” in Wigoltingen, Thurgau, for three years. Three years ago, he took over the business from his parents, where he grew up and helped out in the kitchen as a young boy. “I was probably born to be a chef one day.” He is glad to be back in the countryside. “I’m not a city person.” Although there is one metropolis that has particularly influenced him: Paris.
His career began as an apprentice chef at the Schloss Mammern clinic. He used his time in the military to train as a chef. “It was the first time I managed people. It was a cool experience, although it really got me out of the restaurant rut,” he recalls. He then worked in Sierre with top chef Didier De Courten, among others. Until he was drawn back to his former training company.
Paris – persistence pays off
At some point, his boss thought that his former apprentice should work for none other than Alain Ducasse in Paris. For a while, five of the Frenchman’s restaurants were awarded a total of eleven Michelin stars. The “Plaza Athénée” in the French capital, where Christian Kuchler worked for two years, has three stars. “I simply sent in an application. And my boss kept calling me until I got an acceptance letter.” Impressive when you realise that the restaurant only hires chefs with French citizenship. “Apart from the French technical terms that you learn as a chef in Switzerland, I didn’t speak the language at all. So of course everything that happened on a social level was difficult at first.” Christian Kuchler remembers this fondly. It was the time in Paris that shaped him the most.
At the age of 24, he returns to Switzerland and takes over a business for the first time. Gault&Millau named him “Discovery of the Year” in 2010, and a year later, when he was working at Gasthof Hirschen in Eglisau, he was awarded his first Michelin star. “I learnt a lot about business management from my boss at the time, Werner Dubno, the owner of the Hirschen. I have the utmost respect for him, he had a huge influence on me.” The Gault&Millau points increase from year to year. With the “Rising star of the year” award, one star and 17 points, Christian Kuchler decides to return home to Wigoltingen.
With the Ghibli to the Engrosmarkt
He visits the Engrosmarkt in Zurich once a year. “It’s important not to lose touch with the products. “I can look at everything here and choose the best. It also encourages creativity. When I hold the produce in my hands, new ideas come to me and I sometimes buy a box of vegetables that weren’t actually on the shopping list.” The different colours in particular inspire him again and again. “Something quickly comes together in my head. Now, during the game season, the colours brighten up the dark, gloomy dishes.” No matter what he chooses, quality is his top priority. It’s just a shame that the market is so far away. Even though he can make the journey from Wigoltingen to Zurich in his Maserati Ghibli – “at 4 o’clock in the morning, when there’s hardly any traffic, it’s already nice on the road” – he usually orders his daily vegetables digitally. He simply doesn’t have the time for a regular visit.
His days start at 8 a.m. with administrative work. Deliveries of goods, fish, meat and vegetables are checked and he also pays a quick visit to the wine merchant. Then it’s time to produce. The main focus is on the sauces and stocks, which can easily be prepared in the morning and prepared for the evening. This is essential when 30 guests each receive ten courses, so 300 plates are prepared by three chefs in one evening. In the afternoon, Christian Kuchler leaves the kitchen for an hour at a time. That is important. Afterwards, he is usually at work until midnight. It is not uncommon for a guest to want to have a drink with him. The night’s rest usually begins at around 2am.
Christian Kuchler describes himself as very cheerful and funny. “I’m also very efficient and well organised, but only when it comes to work,” he says with a grin. His awards prove that he is determined. But he used to be lazy during puberty. “School was secondary for me, I was only really useful in my apprenticeship in the final year. Suddenly you realise that you only have one year left until the exam, and that’s when I started to put my foot down.”
He cooks with cream, butter and acids
He is a calm chef in the kitchen. “I’ve experienced choleric people myself, something I definitely don’t want in my kitchen.” The fact that one of the other two chefs who work with him has been with the company for nine years also speaks in favour of the good atmosphere. The fact that he and his team have fun together is just as important to him. “We always play loud music when we’re cooking. And when it’s the World Cup, we cook in our jerseys.” He only gets nervous when he knows that a tester is sitting in the restaurant. At this moment, it is particularly important to remain calm. “If you have a good team around you that you can rely on blindly, you can do it well.” The worst thing that has happened so far was: “The fruit jellies were turned in salt instead of sugar.”
He describes his dishes as full of flavour. “Everything is extremely reduced and cooked with a lot of steam.” The top rule: “It always has to taste good. I don’t cook elegantly. If I cooked like Tanja Grandits, you wouldn’t believe me at 1.90 metres and 100 kilos.” It is extremely important that the acid balance in the menu sequence is right. “It shouldn’t be too heavy. Vinegar, lemon, lime and yuzu are the main ingredients I use.” If you eat at Christian Kuchler’s, you should definitely take your appetite with you, because his portions are not small. “My cooking isn’t as light as Andreas Caminada’s either. We cook with butter and cream. Acids are the antithesis of this.”
The meat always sizzles in the pan
The top chef is a denier of sous-vide, or as he calls it “condom cooking”. This involves vacuum-sealing meat, fish or vegetables in a plastic bag and cooking them in water. “Every piece of meat sizzles in the pan. The flavours in your nose – that’s fun and makes you happy.” Christian Kuchler cooks everywhere in the kitchen. He is always the last person to see the plate. “The sight should inspire the guest.” In addition to taste and aesthetics, he also takes his role as host seriously. “When I’m not there, the restaurant is closed. It’s important to me that I can greet and say goodbye to all guests. We can’t compare ourselves to a grand hotel, we have to provide our own service every day.”
Christian Kuchler is always delighted when his guests remember what they ate on their last visit to the “Taverne zum Schäfli”. “When that happens, it’s good, authentic cuisine.” As far as the pressure is concerned, he says: “Of course there is economic pressure, yes. It’s important that the pub is full. But if I lose a star, I won’t hang myself up. You put pressure on yourself first and foremost.”
He thinks it’s unlikely that he could get a third star in the future. “I would have to hire two more chefs for that so that I could take more time for the creative side. But that would no longer be financially viable.” In Wigoltingen, he tries to cook better every day than the day before. “As long as you’re having fun, it’s all good.” He enjoys preparing fish and meat the most, as these are his favourite products to eat. However, he doesn’t have a favourite dish, “it just has to be well cooked”. When he has time off, he also uses the work kitchen to prepare something for himself.
He used to find inspiration for new creations in cookery books. He stopped doing this because of the danger of copying too much. Today, he draws inspiration from his previous workplaces and travels. “Most products repeat themselves over and over again. With the last dish with tomatoes, for example, I ask myself: what was good, what wasn’t? I want to create dishes that have never been done before.” During the summer holidays he spent in Oman, he was inspired by an oriental lamb dish. “I looked at the spices at the souk, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to serve this dish with the same intensity in Switzerland.” His guests are delighted when he brings home new flavours from his travels. “They always want to know where I’ve been and whether I’ve discovered anything that I can incorporate into the kitchen.”
He shares the Maserati with his guests
Christian Kuchler experienced another memorable moment a few months ago. The morning Maserati delivered a black Ghibli with a sports engine and burgundy-coloured leather seats to his door and he was allowed to take his very first drive. “I drove over the Seerücken, nestled between Lake Constance and the Thur Valley. The bends I can take on this route with this car are very cool. It’s my first vehicle that has this much power.” The S Q4 has 430 hp and accelerates to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds. Both front doors are adorned with the “Schäfli” logo and the words “Firstclass Essen”, while the two rear doors bear the words “Firstclass Fahren” alongside the Maserati logo. His guests can also enjoy this driving pleasure. If you eat at the “Taverne zum Schäfli”, you can request to be chauffeured from the railway station to the restaurant and then home in the surrounding area.
The chef also values aesthetics when it comes to vehicles. “Preparing a plate or writing a menu is similar to designing a car, it’s a process that takes time and effort to get it just the way you want it in the end,” says Christian Kuchler. When he sits in the Ghibli, it means he has time off. “Then I feel twice as good, so to speak. But there’s never a day when I don’t want to work.” When he has a little more time on his hands, he enjoys travelling to Germany in his Maserati. “The car is great on the German motorways.” It reaches a top speed of 286 km/h. “And I’m already looking forward to driving the car to St. Moritz to go skiing.”
Contact
ALFRED GOHM
Graf-Zeppelin-Platz 1
71034 Böblingen
Tel.: +49 703120550
Web: https://www.maserati.com/de/de/dealers/gohm/ueber-uns
