Already as a child, I was just as happy to cook as I was to play football. I grew up in the Steiermark and most of the products we cooked came from our own farm. Hence, I learned very early on to have great respect for food and even today, the quality of the products and greatest care during preparation are the guiding principles for my cuisine – as well as natural individual creativity.
After training in Graz, I decided to go to Germany.
First to Berlin, then to Hamburg to Josef Viehauser at Le Canard. Co-operation with Dieter and Jörg Müller and then with Eckart Witzigmann in the years thereafter made a great impression on me. After a stopover with Gaston Lenotre in Paris, an introduction to the wonderful world of patisserie, I applied for my first job as executive chef – with Silvia Buchholz-Lafer whom I later married.
For 11 years I worked as executive chef and later owner together with my wife of the Restaurant Le Val d´Or in Guldental. When the Stromburg came up for sale in the neighbouring Stromberg, we didn’t hesitate very long. After comprehensive conversion work – a challenging task – we opened Johann Lafers Stromburg at the end of 1994 with our restaurant Le Val d’Or and the Bistro d’Or.
Even today, the shining eyes of our guests are my biggest motivation.
What was your most moving culinary experience?
My most positive experience was when my 14-year-old daughter served me a perfectly prepared dessert from my first cookery book. My worst experience: during an invitation in China I had the “honour” of discovering the eye of a sheep in my soup. It took a great deal of inner persuasion before I managed to swallow it whole, so as not to appear impolite. For days after, I had the feeling that something was looking at me from the inside.
The most amusing kitchen incident you ever witnessed?
A guest informed us that he planned to propose to his sweetheart and so he asked us to hide a very valuable engagement ring in a dessert. To his clearly visible horror, his fiancée swallowed the tartlet, together with the ring, in one. The two did marry later at our hotel but with a brand new ring.
Your best piece of advice for amateur chefs?
Amateur chefs love to cook and to conjure up culinary delights for their friends. However, as an amateur chef normally doesn’t have a large brigade behind him, good timing and organisation are all the more important.
You shouldn’t overdo it on any one occasion, but invite friends around regularly. It’s best to try the dishes out beforehand, to always choose high quality products and to prepare them lovingly and carefully.
Germany
