Conseiller Culinaire Bernhard Frais, a Certified Master Chef, has received the highest award from the Association of Austrian Chefs (VKÖ - Verband Der Köche Österreichs). It was presented at the annual meeting of the VKÖ’s Vienna and Lower Austria section on Friday, July 24, 2020 held in the Mutti - Landgasthof Aprea at Schleinbach in the beautiful Weinviertel area of in Lower Austria!

Founded in 1902 the VKÖ is the official professional association for Austrian chefs. Since 1993 it has been presenting its highest award for meritorious chefs. This year, after more than 15 years, the award was given to a chef (Bernhard Frais) in eastern Austria, more precisely for the first time in Baden bei Wien.

Bernhard, born in 1978, lives in Oberwaltersdorf, Lower Austria. Since his early childhood he has been in contact with gastronomy because his parents ran two restaurants. It was not surprising that at the age of seven he was already bustling around in the kitchen. Even then, when people asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up and to do in the future as daily work, there was always one and the same answer: "Chef". A belief and desire that has not changed to this day!

Even as a schoolboy he was very interested in networking with his gastronomy colleagues, which was one of the reasons why he joined the VKÖ in 1994. After completing his training and completing military service (as an à la carte chef for officers), he was drawn to conquer the culinary world. He was able to discover the typical delights in Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Sri Lanka and Austria and worked his way from Commis to Executive Chef.

It is well known that a chef never stops learning. In order to develop further, Bernhard took part in numerous competitions, to be precise from 1995 to 2016 there were 58 competitions in Austria and abroad (including the European Masters, World Championships and Culinary Olympics).

Bernhard Frais has been a member of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs since 2010. He became Conseiller Culinaire in 2014. Since then he has been responsible for Chaîne-related culinary matters throughout Austria.

In 2013 he successfully completed his training as a Certified Master Chef. In 2015 he was accepted into the “Oxford Encyclopaedia of Successful People”.

A member of the management committee of the Chaîne’s Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs Competition, Bernhard has always seen it as his task to drive and support young chefs. In collaboration with the Committee Chair, David Tetrault, he is responsible for creating and reviewing the black boxes, kitchens, judges and participants.

Bernhard’s motto is “Standstill is a step backwards”. It is no surprise therefore that in 2018 (after years of training many apprentices) he decided to do something new and started as a Culinary Instructor in the Pannoneum Tourism School at Neusiedl am See.

He says, “At the Pannoneum I have the opportunity to live ALL my wishes and passions, I can cook, impart my knowledge to the young people and prepare them for their professional lives.”

In addition, Bernhard is already fully in the Bachelor's programme for a teacher’s qualification (B.Ed) at the University of Teacher Education in Vienna in order to be able to offer his best performance not only as chef but also as a teacher.

We congratulate Bernhard Frais warmly on this high award and we wish him continued success!