And the winner of the Austrian Chef of the Year 2009 award is…Thomas Dorfer
Date: 25.09.2009Restaurant Landhaus Bacher, 3512 Mautern an der Donau, Austria
On 25 September, Thomas Dorfer, the chef de cuisine at Restaurant Landhaus Bacher, Mautern an der Donau, in Lower Austria, was declared Austrian Chef of the Year 2009 in the course of a celebratory award ceremony. A renowned chef, Dorfer was awarded 18 out of 20 points in the GAULT MILLAU 2009 guide.
THE AWARD
The award of the much sought-after title of Austrian Chef of the Year conferred to the country’s top chefs by GAULT MILLAU took place for the 27th time in 2009. For the past 17 years, this award has been conferred under the patronage of AGRANA. This year, a further sponsor for the event was on board: Voslauer, the Number 1 in the Austrian mineral water market. Voslauer Biolimo – sweetened with AGRANA’s organic sugar beet sugar – ensured that the refreshments on hand were organic.
An earlier stop on Dorfer’s career path had already included the Landhaus restaurant of Lisl and Klaus Wagner-Bacher way back in 1996. In 2002, he returned as chef de cuisine and ultimately became the husband of their daughter Susanne Bacher. Since then, Dorfer has been working in the kitchen alongside his mother-in-law Lisl Wagner-Bacher. It is not easy to re-invent cuisine, but there are always new variations on an old theme as the mix of generations at the Landhaus restaurant demonstrates. A few of the dishes on the menu are clearly traditional, while others reflect the innovative spirit and creativity of Dorfer.
”This successful combination of tradition and innovation is also pursued by AGRANA, an internationally active company which adds value to agrarian raw materials and one with deep Austrian roots. The Sugar Division, the Group’s most traditional business segment, has also been producing organic sugar since 2008, based on sugar beet grown under controlled organic conditions in Austria – part of the trend toward sustainably growing domestic produce ongoing in all of its business segments. Just like the preparation of culinary delicacies by Thomas Dorfer, the production of organic sugar also imposes the highest requirements on all production steps, from the growing of the raw materials all the way through to their careful processing,” says AGRANA’s CEO Johann Marihart explaining the Group’s long-term support of this event and the selection of this year’s winner.
Minister of Agriculture Niki Berlakovich stressed the importance of the cooperation between agriculture, the food processing industry and the catering sector. “In the course of the initiative “Genuss Region Austria”, the Ministry is presenting Austria’s culinary specialities in the 113 designated regions. I am delighted that the Austrian catering sector is placing such emphasis on regional and seasonal products. The partnership between the catering sector, food processing industry and agriculture is particularly important given that the catering sector plays such a central role in shaping the image and the quality of our food besides also being the culinary shop window of our country,” says Minister of Agriculture Niki Berlakovich.
Top chef Thomas Dorfer and the Restaurant Landhaus Bacher make up one of the flagship restaurants. ”Thomas Dorfer is undoubtedly one of the most talented chefs we have in Austria. It is no surprise that he also came to the attention of the organisers of the Bocuse d’Or event. Since then, his performance has continued to rise; and we can’t wait to see where this ultimately leads him. His creativity and sustained high level of performance have amazed us for many years and we therefore warmly congratulate him on becoming Austrian Chef of the Year,” says Editor in Chief of GAULT MILLAU, Martina Hohenlohe.
THE WINNER – Thomas Dorfer (34)
Thomas Dorfer was born on 27 April 1975 in Spittal an der Drau in Austria’s Carinthia province and completed his traineeship to become a chef at the Hotel Alte Post in Bad Kleinkirchheim.
Career stops
1994 - 1995 Restaurant Kaiserstuben, Sydney | Australia
1996 - 1997 Restaurant Landhaus Bacher, Mautern | Lower Austria
1997 - 1998 Restaurant Jöhris Talvo, St. Moritz | Switzerland
1999 - 2002 Restaurant Bareiss, Sous Chef, Baierbronn | Germany
Since 2002 Chef de Cuisine at Restaurant Landhaus Bacher, Mautern | Lower Austria
His previous awards
1993 – Double gold medal winner at the provincial and federal trainee championships
2001 – Winner of the Grand Prix Culinaire Taittinger – in the German Final
2001 – 4th Place in the Grand Prix Culinaire Taittinger – World Final
2004 – Winner of the Austrian qualifying event for the Bocuse d’Or
2005 – 6th Place at the Bocuse d’Or in Lyon
THE SPONSOR
AGRANA is the leading sugar company in Central and Eastern Europe, a major supplier of special starch-based products in Europe, and the largest producer of bioethanol in Austria and Hungary. AGRANA’s Fruit Division is the global leader in the production of fruit preparations for the dairy products industry and also Europe’s top producer of fruit juice concentrates.
In its 2008|09 financial year, AGRANA generated sales revenues of around €2bn. The Group currently employs more than 8,000 personnel at 52 facilities in 25 countries around the world.