Tim Mälzer
🇩🇪 Germany · German cuisine · b. 1971
Germany's most popular celebrity chef and an outspoken voice for German home cooking.
Biography
Tim Mälzer is a Hamburg-born chef, restaurateur and TV personality who is, by most accounts, Germany's most popular celebrity chef. After training in classical hotel kitchens in Germany and working under Jamie Oliver at Monte's in London, he opened the Bullerei in Hamburg's Schanzenviertel in 2009, which became one of the city's defining restaurants.
His long-running cookery shows — 'Schmeckt nicht, gibt's nicht,' 'Tim Mälzer kocht!' and 'Kitchen Impossible' — are some of the most-watched food programmes on German public television. His cookbooks have sold millions of copies and his style is rooted in unpretentious, ingredient-led cooking that draws on German regional traditions, Italian home cooking and modern international influences.
'Kitchen Impossible' (sending him and a guest chef to recreate dishes blind across the world) has become one of the most-discussed food shows in continental Europe.
Cooking Philosophy
Robust, unpretentious cooking — modern German with international influences. Mälzer is cheerfully sceptical of fine-dining pretension and argues that the goal of cooking is to make food people actually want to eat at home: hearty, flavourful, easy to reproduce.
Restaurants
- BullereiHamburg
Mälzer's flagship since 2009; lively all-day restaurant in the Schanzenviertel.
- Off ClubHamburg
Smaller bistro project.
Awards & Recognition
- Bambi Award
- German Television Award (Kitchen Impossible)
- Bertelsmann Cookbook of the Year (multiple)
Iconic Dishes
Cookbooks
- Schmeckt nicht, gibt's nicht
- Born to Cook
- Heimat
- Greenbox
Signature Recipes Inspired by Tim
Original recipes we created as homages to Tim's cooking style and signature dishes. Not direct reproductions of any copyrighted material — these are our interpretations of the traditions Tim has worked with throughout their career.
Recipes in Tim's Style
These recipes from our database reflect the german cooking tradition that Tim works in. They are not direct reproductions of Tim's copyrighted recipes, but traditional dishes inspired by the same culinary heritage.
Career Timeline
Begins hotel-kitchen apprenticeship at the Hotel Inter-Continental in Hamburg.
Moves to London; works at Monte's under Jamie Oliver, then at other London restaurants.
Opens his first restaurant, Das Weisse Haus, in Hamburg.
'Schmeckt nicht, gibt's nicht' begins broadcasting on ARD — becomes his breakout TV series.
Opens Bullerei in Hamburg's Schanzenviertel — quickly becomes a defining restaurant of the city.
Launches 'Kitchen Impossible' on VOX — becomes one of the most-watched and most-discussed food shows in continental Europe.
Publishes 'Heimat,' a cookbook returning to regional German home cooking.
Mentors & Influences
Frequently Asked Questions about Tim Mälzer
What is Kitchen Impossible?
'Kitchen Impossible' is the German cookery show in which Tim Mälzer and a guest chef are flown to remote restaurants around the world and asked to recreate a regional dish blind — without recipes, ingredients lists or even being told what the dish is. It has become one of the most popular food shows in continental Europe.
Did Tim Mälzer work for Jamie Oliver?
Yes — Mälzer worked at Monte's in London while Jamie Oliver was head chef there in the late 1990s. The experience was a formative one and is part of why his cooking style draws heavily on the same ingredient-led, unfussy approach that Oliver pioneered for television.
What is Bullerei?
Bullerei is Tim Mälzer's flagship restaurant in Hamburg's Schanzenviertel, opened in 2009 in a converted former cattle hall. It serves an all-day menu of modern German-international cooking — pasta, grilled meats, regional German plates — in a lively, large-format dining room and has been credited with reshaping the Schanzenviertel as a culinary district.
Why is Tim Mälzer so well-known in Germany?
Mälzer combines a long-running set of public-broadcaster TV series (ARD, VOX), bestselling cookbooks, and a high-profile flagship restaurant — a combination unusual for a chef in the German-speaking world. He is also notable for advocating ethical sourcing of meat and for outspoken commentary on the German restaurant industry.
Cook this hands-free
Get AI meal plans, step-by-step cooking mode, and your saved recipes in the free Bento app.
Plan your meals, track fasting and build your grocery list — free
MyCookingCalendar's dashboard runs right in your browser, no download needed.
Read more on Wikipedia