Tedious crème fraîche dabs: Lafer blames top restaurants for working conditions

According to TV chef Johann Lafer, the shortage of staff in the catering industry is homemade.

Tedious crème fraîche dabs: Lafer blames top restaurants for working conditions

According to TV chef Johann Lafer, the shortage of staff in the catering industry is homemade. "You can do it in the Bundeswehr as it was sometimes in the kitchen, but it's not okay even there," he explains in an interview. He also struggles with excessive wine prices.

TV chef Johann Lafer has criticized the conditions in starred restaurants. "People in the catering industry have been overwhelmed for too long and paid too little for the overwhelm," said Lafer of the Düsseldorf "Rheinische Post" according to the advance notice.

Poor working conditions, according to Lafer, are a major reason why there is a shortage of staff today. "Even the treatment of the employees - you can forget that. You can do that in the Bundeswehr as it was sometimes in the kitchen, but it's not even okay there. Where are we?"

Lafer himself ran a star restaurant for more than two decades and has meanwhile been awarded two Michelin stars.

The top chef also criticized the prices in starred restaurants. "In very good restaurants you now spend 600 to 700 euros per person," said Lafer and asked: "Who still wants that? Who still needs that?". The development of wine prices also makes him think: "An 80-euro magnum bottle is sold in the restaurant for 468 euros." That was "hard". Lafer said: "The restaurateurs need the money, but it's a blatant development."

He himself also gave up his star restaurant when he saw "that the chefs in my kitchen only plucked dill tips and spread crème fraîche dots on the plate and it took me five minutes to do it, I did ask myself : What comes after dill tips?" He comes from a farm, grew up digging up potatoes. "And there was only a tip of dill with a hint of basil oil. Then I thought to myself: Hey, Meier!", says Lafer.