In some cases , success stories obviously begin with an imprint. In the case of Mario Kotaska , at any rate, this formative beginning beginning of it all certainly lies in a favourite childhood playground: Grandma’s kitchen

Somehow my whole life took place there “, recalls the chef, who was born in Kassel in 1973, who today enjoys being in the kitchen with immense joy and creativity. And for whom – when he is asked about his favourite dish – nothing beats grandma ‘s roulades even today.

He was clearly drawn towards the catering industry. At the Schlosshotel Bühlerhöhe in the Black Forest, which also houses the gourmet restaurant ‘Imperial’, he first completed an apprenticeship as a hotel manager. ‘Because it somehow made the whole thing more complete,’ he says. But learning to be a chef had always been clear to him. The kitchen was programmed. And that’s why a cautious question to Wolfgang Müller – then head chef at the ‘Imperial’, which had been awarded a Michelin star and 18 points in Gault Millau – turned out to be a personal direct hit. Namely, the question of whether he could make himself useful in the kitchen during his holiday, ‘chop a few onions etc. …’

Chopping a few onions in 1995 soon turned into a cookery soon turned into a cookery apprenticeship and then cooking became a vocation: “It was actually more and more fun,” says Kotaska, “and Wolfgang and I quickly became a well-rehearsed team.” And this team not only cooked at the highest level at the Imperial , but also earned their own Michelin star in the years 2000 to 2002 in the Adermann” restaurant in Berlin together earned their own Michelin star .

In the end , playing as a team is the best thing for the blonde top chef, who , by the way, has also worked in the restaurant “Drei Stuben” in Meersburg, at ” Hohlbein’s” in Frankfurt and at “Die Quadriga”, (Hotel Brandenburger Hof Berlin) and in 2002 shone with the best fish dish at the ” Prix Culinaire Pierre Taittinger” with the best fish dish, to this day.

From April 2003 to the end of 2010 , he was head chef at the restaurant behind the cooker at “La Société” restaurant in Cologne , where he his skills here and not only 16 Gault Millau points at the first attempt .