WEG: More than just a horse show.

 

Featured Chef: Joachim Splichal

Joachim Splichal is a leading figure in America's evolving food and restaurant industry. Acknowledged as one of the country's premier restaurateurs and master chefs, Splichal, with his wife Christine, opened the famed Patina Restaurant in Los Angeles in 1989, and has since gone on to open five additional French bistro-style restaurants, a museum cafe, and a certain division. In 1995 he was inducted into the James Beard Foundation Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America, was named "Best California Chef" by them in 1991, and has twice been nominated "Best Chef of the Year" in 1991 and 1994. He was named in 1996 "Treasure of Los Angeles" by the Central City Association and Los Angles Mayor Richard Riordan. In 1997 he was voted Restaurateur of the Year by the California Restaurant Writers Association. 

 

The New York Times describes Splichal's style as "clearly rooted in classic French cuisine, yet he adds a California sensibility that both lightens it and provides visual whimsy. If Mr. Splichal's cooking has a trademark, it might be called the crackerjack factor-there is a little surprise every time."

 

Splichal has over 20 years of experience in the restaurant and hotel business. Born and raised in the Spaichingen, a small village in Germany, he left his home country at the age of 18 to work in the hotel industry allowing him to travel around the world-Canada, Morocco, Israel, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland. He perfected his culinary training in France, where he worked as chef saucier at La Bonne Auberge, a Michelin three-star restaurant in Antibes, and at the legendary L'Oasis in La Napoule. At age 23, he was hired as sous chef by Jacques Maximin, who became his professional mentor, and worked at his side for four years at the Chantecler restaurant in the Hotel Negresco in Nice During this period, Splichal accumulated numerous culinary awards, including first prize for "Youngest and Most Creative Chef" from the Cercle Epicurien Society. 

 

With nothing but trunks filled with personal belongings Splichal came to the United States in 1981 to serve as Executive Chef for the newly established Regency Club in Los Angeles. His reputation spread, and he proved wildly successful at the Seventh Street Bistro in downtown Los Angeles, an establishment he helped develop from the ground up. He left to open Max Au Triangle in 1984, where his memorable meals were the talks of L.A.'s food aficionados. 

 

 

(Source: WEG)