The wood mill near Uettingen is in the middle of nature. The property with the inn, the barn and the lovingly landscaped garden is rustic and romantic embedded in the landscape. Here, Christof Zirkelbach usually cooks braised lamb shank or spinach and ricotta ravioli for his guests. In the November lockdown, his kitchen stayed cold too? with one exception: for the shooting of the Kabel 1 show “Mein Lokal, Dein Lokal”, Zirkelbach cooked four other restaurateurs from the region.
A 14-person production team from the broadcaster came to the restaurant “Zur Holzmühle”, which is located in Remlingen. The cooking competition took place under difficult corona hygiene and distance regulations.
Christof Zirkelbach ended up on the show by chance. He received a call from the producers asking if he was interested in participating in the show. On the Internet, they became aware of his homepage, in particular of his person. Zirkelbach worked for many years in various restaurants in Hamburg and Sri Lanka. He also has cookbooks such as? Masterful Zen Recipes? written. ?? The request came as a complete surprise. But after a long telephone interview, everything went very quickly ?, said Zirkelbach with a smile.
The joy was of course great to be able to stand in front of the camera as a participant. Christof Zirkelbach brings camera experience with him: He has appeared in front of the camera several times as an extra, including for the ARD evening series ?? Großstadtrevier ??.
Five restaurants compete against each other within a week.
The principle of the program, which has been running since 2013, is simple: every week five restaurateurs with different concepts from a city or region compete against each other with dishes à la carte. They give each other points for quality, ambience and service in a secret vote on a scale from 1 to 10. A TV chef, Christian Lohse in this weekly series, visits all restaurateurs personally and then comments on what is happening. He also gives his score at the end of the week. The winner receives the golden plate as a trophy and prize money of 3,000 euros.
?? The nervousness is only there at the beginning, after three days it was normal ??, says Christof Zirkelbach, who had never broadcast ?? Mein Lokal, Dein Lokal ?? has seen. ?? It is incredible how much effort is put into a three-quarters of an hour broadcast. The look behind the scenes was really exciting and interesting. We shot from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. for five days. The shooting was extremely exhausting due to the long waiting times.
Good mood among the hosts
The TV show is about ensuring that every gastronomic concept stands for itself, without a script and with the aim of showing the restaurateurs as authentically as possible. Therefore, the participants should not come up with a special menu, but rather serve dishes from their usual menu.
Zirkelbach’s dishes were judged by colleagues from Würzburg and Schweinfurt. The “Namaste” and the “Vrohsoff” from Würzburg, “Zum Brunnenbäck” in Reichenberg and “TISCH7” from Schweinfurt are the other participants in the round. ?? During the week we got to know and appreciate each other well. There was a great atmosphere between us participants. I am sure that we will meet again after the shooting, if Corona allows it ??, said Zirkelbach.
He’s not allowed to reveal much about the shooting and the content of the season, just so much that working with the TV star chef Christian Lohse and the production team was a lot of fun. Until then, Christof Zirkelbach is hopefully looking forward to welcoming guests again at the Holzmühle.
The broadcast is expected to be in late February or early March 2021.
–
