- After dinner for Diana, he quit his job.
At 53, Tim Mälzer looks back on an impressive career as a chef, TV star, and cookbook author. In the "deep and clearly" talk of NDR, he reveals that he has also experienced some unpleasant things along the way, with the former British royal couple, King Charles III (75) and Lady Diana (1961-1997), playing an indirect role.
Shocking Accounts in the NDR Talk
In the talk with moderators Aminata Belli (32) and Aurel Mertz (35), Mälzer speaks of shocking experiences before his big breakthrough as a TV chef and restaurant owner, which took place in the 1990s. At that time, after completing his training at the Hamburg InterContinental Hotel, he worked as a chef at the prestigious Hotel Ritz in London. He quit the prestigious job relatively quickly due to inhuman working conditions - and a dinner for the British royals.
In the NDR talk, Tim Mälzer speaks of severe violence behind the scenes: "Someone was burned with a hot knife next to me because they didn't peel foie gras fast enough. I saw someone being kicked by six people in the kitchen because they were annoying us so much. We were racist, sexist, we were everything. It was terrible. We physically attacked mentally challenged people. I was an accomplice just by watching."
Resignation After Dinner for Lady Di and Prince Charles
The final straw was a dinner for the British royal family, "back then with Di and Charles and all that." After the stressful cooking, the leading "pen pusher" humiliated the head chef in front of everyone, causing him to cry on the floor and soil himself.
After this experience, Mälzer thought, "Whoa, this is probably not my cup of tea." The next day, he went to the head chef and resigned.
After that, Mälzer only stayed in London for a short time, working for the Italian culinary legend Gennaro Contaldo (75) among others, before returning to Germany to continue his career.
In the shocking accounts shared during the NDR talk, Tim Mälzer recalls a particularly distressing incident involving Lady Diana and Prince Charles. The chef was left deeply affected after witnessing the royal family's guest being publicly humiliated at a dinner they attended.
Reflecting on this experience, Mälzer decided that the brutal working environment and treatment of individuals, including the incident with Lady Diana and Prince Charles, was not aligning with his values, leading him to resign from his position at the prestigious hotel.
