Michelin Stars

Johann Lafer and Galia Brener in Ischgl

Johann Lafer and Galia Brener in Ischgl 1633 1633 Galia Brener

Super fun cooking day with Johann Lafer in Ischgl.  Thank you dear Laurent Perrier for the awesome invitation to the Sterne Cup der Köche. It’s such a fun weekend! ❣️

#johannlafer #promi #koch #laurentperrier #galiabrener #fashiondesigner #influencer #entrepreneur #ischgl #sternecupderköche

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Journal Frankfurt – October 2017

Journal Frankfurt – October 2017 960 1280 Galia Brener

Thank you to my dear Jens Prewo for this great article! Thanks you dear Uwe M. Carl for the funny and lovely photo  Thank you Nils Bremer for my favorite magazine!  The gBags are coming very soon!

• Thank you dear Tobias Tröndle for my lovely hair color!
• Thank you dear Sevgi Schäfer and the Famous Face Academy for my makeup!
• Thank you dear Albrecht Ollendiek for the wild gold dress!
• Thank you dear Franz Zimmermann and the Schlosshotel Kronberg – Hotel Frankfurt for the beautiful photoshoot location!

 

3rd Gourmetsalon at the Schlosshotel Kronberg

3rd Gourmetsalon at the Schlosshotel Kronberg 1536 2048 Galia Brener

Last week was a very delicious one indeed! Being a foodie since I could chew as a child, I have always looked forward to any and all meals of the day. I used to run around the kitchen, annoying my Mama with thousand questions about what we will eat, what is she cooking, how is she cooking and when will the food be finally ready. Unlike many other children who simply wanted to eat quickly and go outside to play, I rather stayed at home to eat slowly, taking my time to taste and savor my food.

Needless to say, when my invitation arrived for the 3rd Gourmetsalon at the Schlosshotel, I was ecstatic! Not only is this one of the most beautiful hotels in this region, it is full of heritage, history, elegance and style. Keeping this in mind, I immediately started sorting out my dresses and preparing the ones that are not too tight around the waist – looking for the perfect one that I can eat in all night, in large quantities and nobody would notice! The magic dress that allows me to eat and eat and eat and not explode at the seam. Otherwise known as: a dream come true.

As we arrived at the Schlosshotel in Kronberg, there was a beautiful red carpet laid out for the guests and the excitement could be felt from miles away. Franz Zimmermann, the hotel director, greeted everyone personally at the entrance and gave us a warm welcome. Upon entering the lobby, we were given two cold flutes of champagne to enjoy. Across the lobby is a romantic Romeo and Juliet style balcony, where a band was playing and entertaining the curious guests. After most of the gusts had arrived, Mr. Zimmermann gave a speech and presented all of the Michelin starred chefs. I was incredibly impressed by the names that I heard. This evening we had a privilege to enjoy the creation of Philipp Stein, Marcello Fabbri, Alexander Hohlwein, Hans Horberth, Satoshi Fuji, Jörg Lawerenz, Cedric Schwitzer, Ronny Siewert, Christian Weber and Gerhard Wieser.

After the wonderful presentation of the chefs, it was finally time to eat! I could see how excited and hungry everyone was, and almost immediately the guests were gone and spread out into the various areas of the hotel. The cool thing about this event is that it takes place in all of the lovely areas and rooms of the Schlosshotel, including the large kitchen itself. I’m a huge fan of their kitchen, because it’s one of the nicest ones I’ve seen in a hotel so far. It boasts high traditional European ceilings and state of the art equipment. Of course being the little carnivore that I am, I directly made my way to the juicy steak and spent a while there, appreciating the perfectly prepared meat.

While in the kitchen, I met Gerhard Wieser, a two started Michelin chef, and had an interesting chat with him. Mr. Wieser told me that he is inspired by nature. He comes from Südtirol and grew up with the Italian, farming and Mediterranean culture. His mother was a cook and he learned the magic of perfect food from her. We had a lot to talk about, considering that we both love food so much! Gerhard Wieser is also a best selling author, having sold over 1.5 million books called, “So kocht Südtirol”. For tonight, Mr. Wieser prepared delicious tortellini with chicken, Parmesan and black truffle. Having an amazing Michelin chef, a famous author and lots of steak in front of me, I was compelled to ask him a curious question: what his opinion about the vegan lifestyle is. Mr. Wieser said that being vegan is like a fashion trend: it comes and it will go.

After eating all the steak and seafood that I can fill into half of my dress, it was time to fill the other half with the tasty delights in the other rooms. On my way out of the kitchen, I discovered the hidden Laurent-Perrier champagne bar perfectly balanced with fresh oysters. I was very happy to stay in this area for a while longer, enjoying the amazing Maldon oysters, delicious champagne, meeting new foodies and sharing our funny food stories.

Next stop for me was the red salon, which is my favorite room in the Schlosshotel. It’s warm, sensual, cozy and very romantic! There was a band playing all my favorite songs, which made the delectable goose liver cube in combination with rhubarb, salted caramel and Prinz von Hessen wine taste even better. What a spectacular explosion for the taste buds! I was very impressed by the depth of the various flavors intertwining into each other. I was curious to see more. Next were the restaurant, green and blue salon, which displayed more incredible temptations, including sushi, sashimi, fish, amazing dried meats, Norwegian scallops, pork belly, seafood, red shrimp, more steaks, desserts, pastries, pralines, fresh breads, delicious and rare wines, cheeses, chocolates and everything else that the heart, soul and body desire!

Slowly the second half of my dress was starting to become a bit tight. With a huge and satisfied smile on my face, I bid farewell to everyone, congratulated Mr. Zimmermann on a very successful event, looked back at the steak longingly, wishing I had more place in my stomach. It was time to leave the beautiful Schlosshotel Kronberg and make my way back to my favorite little cosmopolitan city with a big attitude. It was a wonderful evening full of Michelin stars, culture, wine, delicacies, exotic flavours, handsome chefs, music, champagne, surprises and delicious fun. I will definitely be back for more!

 

 

Cooking with Matthias Schmidt at the Genussakademie

Cooking with Matthias Schmidt at the Genussakademie 1280 1263 Galia Brener

The long-awaited day has finally arrived, and I was very excited about this evening’s wonderful activities. This cooking class was a present, which I gave to my best friend for his birthday. We were both very happy at the thought of cooking with a Michelin starred chef!

We made our way into the cold night and arrived at the Genussakademie on Ludwigstraße 33-37 right on time. I was already familiar with this beautiful location because I have been to quite a few Christmas parties here before. It’s a cool, big, loft space, which is a perfect place to cook, laugh, dance, eat, drink and have fun! It was a chilly Sunday evening, but that didn’t bother anyone, because it seemed like everyone was wearing a big and warm smile. We were a small group of about 15 hungry people.

The guests were greeted with a cold glass of champagne. Our well-known and beloved chef, Matthias Schmidt, was walking around the kitchen, preparing everything for our big cooking-jam-session. Matthias worked in a few 1 and 2 starred restaurants in Germany. When he came back to Frankfurt, he worked at the Villa Merton and was the head chef there since 2008. At the beginning, they had 1 Michelin star. Within the next years, Matthias and his team created a kitchen, which was based on the culture and products of our region. They used as many organic ingredients as possible, and in 2012, they got the second Michelin star!

We waited until everyone had arrived and the introductions were made. The people were relaxed, in a good mood and eagerly awaiting the big cooking bash. This was my first time participating at such an elaborate cooking class. The only time I ever took a cooking course before was at junior high, but unfortunately our team burned the teacher’s hair off! Horror of all horrors – she walked around with a crew cut the entire school year! I tried to avoid public heating elements ever since. But finally the time has arrived to brave the public stove once again!

After the first glass of bubbly and Matthias’s extensive information about our 4-course meal, it was time to start! Our menu was: Gebeizter Saibling, Schwarzwurzel, Short Rip and Grüner Hafer Eiscreme. It appeared like they were all cooking pros, because everyone seemed to know the techniques, tools and ingredients. Only I was staring at the fish skin like an alien, and didn’t know what to do with it. Matthias walked by, laughed, gave me scissors and told me to cut the skin in strips. After obediently cutting the dried fish skin, I decided to walk around the room and see if there was any trouble that I can cause. Unfortunately there were no chance for trouble, so I had to behave and follow Matthias’s cooking orders. I ended up cutting some long vegetable thingy, which I swear I have never seen before in my life! It was long, thin and very strange. Ze Germans call it “Schwarzwurzel”. After putting the komisch thingy into the oven, it was time to try the delicious white wine, standing in mass amounts of bottles on the counter.

Of course there was one Schlaumeier in the group, who seemed to know everything better than everyone else. She even tried telling Matthias how to do things better a few times. I couldn’t help but clasp my glass of wine in the background and laugh at the silliness of it. Who the hell tells a star chef how to cook?! There is a Besserwisser in every group and it wouldn’t be the same without her. When the good wine flows, even the showoffs can be pathetically amusing.

Our menu was quite fancy and delicious. I could probably reproduce the appetizer myself, but the main course was too complicated for me to repeat at home. Therefore I just eased into “eating-mode” and stepped away from my “trying-to-remember-and-doing-this-at-home-good-girl-cooking-mode”. I was super entertained at how my fish skins puffed up into tasty crunchy fish chips in the frying pan. I found the crispy fish skin to be the best tasting element of the appetizer, and many agreed with this. I was also pleasantly surprised that the Schwarzwurzel tasted this good, after all, it looked like a tree log at the beginning. After the third glass of wine, nobody was really cooking anymore except for Matthias and his team. All I can say is that the short ribs tasted absolutely amazing! I don’t think that I have ever eaten anything so soft, tender and juicy before. This officially makes Matthias Schmidt the new Meat Master in my books!

The sweetest part of the evening had arrived. Since I’m not so big on desserts, I took more meat instead of the ice cream. The men loved it and the ladies thought I was crazy. All in all, everyone was laughing, having a good time and I was happy to see that my friend was enjoying his birthday present. There were interesting stories rotating the tables and many funny jokes. Matthias and his team seemed to be enjoying the evening as well. I looked down at my watch and realized that we were cooking and eating for over 5 hours already! How incredibly fast the time flies by when you’re having fun.

The cooking lessons offered by the Genussakademie are perfect to attend as a couple, with friends, parents, siblings or even single! You will meet many new people and have tons of fun. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many different food categories, styles and chefs were on offer. The classes vary in time, location and price, so there is something for everyone. There are lots of different foods and delicious dishes to try, and you might even leave at the end of the evening with a new recipe or two – that is if you still remember it after all the bottles of wine. Try it, enjoy it and bon appétit!

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SRA BUA – 1 Michelin Star – featuring new head Chef: Simon Prokscha

SRA BUA – 1 Michelin Star – featuring new head Chef: Simon Prokscha 1200 400 Galia Brener

Last week I received a fabulous invitation from Mr. Steffen Ball, spokesman of the Kempinski hotel and also known for his company Ballcom. Mr. Ball has been doing the PR for the Kempinski Frankfurt hotel for the last 10 years. He was pleased to share with us the accomplishment of the restaurant SRA BUA by Juan Amador with getting their well-deserved Michelin star! Last night was the official introduction of their head star chef, Simon Prokscha, a well accomplished man at the age of 28!

 

Simon started out in SRA BUA – a concept created by the great Juan Amador – in November 2013 as sous chef, and has made his way to the very top with creativity and ambition. I asked him what his inspiration is and he replied, “Authentic Chinese dishes! I like to take a classic Asian dish and transform it into my own vision. Everyone in the kitchen has a say in our creations. We all contribute our visions and the creations are always a result of team work.” I was very impressed by his answer and dedication to team spirit. One can see that he is a good leader due to his care for his team and involving them fully in the process and accomplishments – the perfect recipe for a successful Michelin starred restaurant!

 

The evening started out in the lounge area of the hotel. I was very impressed by the grandeur of it! The ceilings were infinitely high, accentuated by a huge chandelier at the end of the bar. Each side had a fireplace to give the feeling of warmth and comfort. We were greeted with a cold flute of Moët, served on a grand piano, for that elegant touch. We got a chance to introduce ourselves and meet the other press members. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits! After the meet and greet, we were taken to the SRA BUA restaurant, where the fantastic trip into taste-bud-Heaven was to begin! Being the curious creature that I am, I made my way into the kitchen first to see who this Simon Prokscha was that everyone was talking about? He turned out to be a really cool, down-to-Earth guy, funny and quite charming. I was impressed that the Michelin starred man was actually so nice!

 

Back at restaurant we began our 7-course SRA BUA Menü & Champagner experience with little delights like dim sum, soup in a test tube, Naan bread, and other little treats. Each course was accompanied by a different wine that matched the main ingredient in the dish and was picked to accentuate the taste! Throughout our 4 hour tasting experience, we were served various creations – half of which I have never even heard the names of before. So many exotic flavors in one little evening. The best part was that each dish was served to look like a work of art! I called it Food Art, and was impressed with the precise attention to details, form, color and composition! One could see that this was made by the hand of a creative master. In each dish one could see an entire landscape of art – from an Asian garden to an surrealist painting, the art was screaming at us from the plates, teasing us to eat and enjoy! We were served Australian Kingfish, scallops, Chawanmushi, back of deer, Onde Onde, crazy cotton candy, and other wild delights. (Please see photos below).

 

After the last course, I literally couldn’t move anymore. It has been a long time since my taste buds were exposed to such an amazing experience! I thanked Steffen for the wonderful invitation, Simon and his team, and all the others that made our evening so wonderful. We were given a few lovely reminders to take home, amongst them my favorite pistachio macaroons. As we walked back through the lounge area, I couldn’t help but notice how many people were still there, having an amazing time! It was midnight and the party was still going strong. I bid everyone farewell and made it to my carriage, thankfully not turning into a pumpkin just yet. It’s 2015, and Cinderella’s curfew has been extended to 1am. Welcome to Frankfurt – a city with no time and no limits, and definitely with one hell of a delicious Michelin-starred restaurant!

 

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