Events at Arff Castle
Favourite foods –
Dieter Müller and Franz Keller
presented by Denis Scheck
and Eva Gritzmann
Fine Food Days x Arff Castle
On 3 September, a special evening will take place at Arff Castle: Eva Gritzmann and Denis Scheck will be talking to culinary legends Franz Keller and Dieter Müller about the DNA of German cuisine. They’ll explain why cooking is political and rave about green sauce or trout „blau“, Maultaschen or Sauerbraten, asparagus with morels or Baden-Baden saddle of venison, Baumkuchen or Heligoland lobster. Above all, however, they will serve up a culinary feast featuring dishes they count among their favourites.
Dieter Müller is one of the very few German three-star chefs to have successfully retained this accolade for over ten years. Müller played a key role in the so-called „German culinary miracle“ – first at the ‘Schweizer Stuben’, and then, from 1992, at Lerbach Castle. He subsequently ran a small restaurant on the MS Europa, which dropped anchor in a different place every day.
Thursday, 3 September 2026
Doors open: 18:30
Start: 19:00
Venue: Arff Castle, Schloß-Arff Straße, 50769 Cologne
Tickets: 195 per person, including an aperitif; wine pairing not included; advance booking required
Franz Keller, a pupil of Bocuse, also played a part in this „German culinary miracle“. In 1975, he earned two Michelin stars at his parents„ “Schwarzer Adler„ in Oberbergen, and in Cologne during the 1980s he made gastronomic history with “Franz Keller’s Restaurant„ and “Die Tomate„. Franz Keller is now the most famous figure to have walked away from the world of the “star circus„. In the 1990s, he founded the “Adler Wirtschaft„ in Hattenheim in the Rheingau – now run by his son – and today he rears pigs and cattle himself at the Falkenhof, ensuring the animals are as happy as can be.
A separate chapter in Eva Gritzmann and Denis Scheck’s new book *Leibspeisen* (Insel Verlag) is dedicated to each of Franz Keller and Dieter Müller.
The book tells the culinary autobiography of the Federal Republic of Germany. Eva Gritzmann (born 1965, Freiburg) and Denis Scheck (born 1964, Stuttgart) went to school together until they took their Abitur. She then completed a banking apprenticeship, studied business administration and medicine, and went on to complete a PhD in medical psychology. He studied German language and literature, amongst other subjects, went on to become one of Germany’s best-known literary critics, and has for years been seeking to forge links between literature and cuisine through numerous events and publications. In 2011, their first joint book, *Sie & Er*, was published, in which Gritzmann and Scheck examined the different eating habits of men and women. Then, in 2015, came *Solon’s Legacy: On the Right Moment in Life*. In 2025, they published *Kafka’s Cookbook – Franz Kafka’s Vegetarian Metamorphosis in 577 Recipes*.
