Chefs

Growing up in a family of restaurateurs in Upper Austria, Philip Rachinger always knew that he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.

During his years at cooking school, he gained valuable experience at some of Austria’s most prominent restaurant, such as Döllerer’s or Pfefferschiff as well as famous restaurant Tantris in Munich. After school he joined family Reitbauer in Styria before moving to Heinz Reitbauer’s restaurant Steirereck in Vienna for two years. He always dreamed of going to Paris and as luck would have it, Pierre Gagnaire took part in an event at the Steirereck and Rachinger was able to register his interest in going to Paris. An application was followed up by a personal interview in Paris and Rachinger was offered a position, not in Paris, but in London’s Sketch.

Moving to London with the hope of making it to Paris soon, his wish didn’t come to pass. So he joined Isaac McHale at Upstairs at the Ten Bells where he experienced first-hand how the Clove Club came to fruition. After a year in London, he finally moved to Paris and worked with Sven Chartier, a pupil of the great Alain Passard. After a year in Paris it was time to return home and from 2014, he has been heading up the kitchen team of Mühltalhof together with his father Helmut.

He says of his cuisine: “Our cooking is uncomplicated and if it is complication, it mustn’t be obvious. The most important thing is the taste and the flavour combinations. We cook strictly regional and use berries and vinegar for sourness, rather than citrus fruits.”