Martin Schnitzer

Years of Participation

I was born and grew up in Dresden, a well-known city in eastern Germany.
There my journey becoming a chef started. I started my apprenticeship in a restaurant in Dresden called Landhaus Lockwitzgrund. After three years of cooking education, I wanted to see more and experience new styles and ways.

I decided to go to Austria, namely to one of the worlds’ most popular and luxurious skiing resort Lech am Arlberg. Here my first experiences in the high-end gastronomy commenced. My chef from these times - Hans Zusser - was a very important contact and opened the doors for me to various fine dining restaurants. He was the first one bringing me to Dürnstein, Wachau, approx. 80 km west of Vienna. I had different stops in Austria which were very defining for me. However, Austria is only a small country and I wanted to expand my horizons even further. This lead to the decision to go to Australia where I was a private chef on e.g. a luxurious diving boat in the Great Barrier Reef. I also visited many cuisines in Sydney.
Coming back to Austria I attended a Gourmet Festival in Wachau where I met Per Halundbaek who took me right away to Denmark to his restaurant Falsled Kro, awarded as one of the best restaurants in Denmark.
A friend of mine who meanwhile took over the chef position at Kristiania back in Lech then hired me again as his sous-chef. Later on, I took over his role and lead the cuisine of SLH Kristiania for the past two years.

Through the various stages of my career, I experienced some key moments one of those being working in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wachau. Here I made most of my contacts and felt the true way of living and working in the high-end gastronomy. One of the major hotels supporting me through the years was Relais&Chateaux Hotel Schloss Dürnstein.

At the moment I manage the kitchen in Fux Restaurant + Bar Lech am Arlberg, the best Asian-European fusion restaurant in Austria.