New host at the Horváth

BERLIN: Horváth has a new host: 27-year-old Miko Klages is now responsible for service at the two-star restaurant. He previously worked at Noma in Copenhagen and Hisa Franko in Slovenia - both positions had a formative influence on him. Together with sommelier Michael Stiel, he now fills the management positions in service at Horvath.

Miko Klages was born in 1996 in Cape Town, South Africa, to German parents. Although he has always worked in the catering industry since his school days, he never intended to turn to the industry full-time. But after dropping out of law school, he moved to Switzerland, where he took his first job in a fine dining restaurant.

This was followed by a degree in International Hospitality Management in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, which included his own pop-up restaurant and a one-year internship at the famous Noma restaurant. After graduating, Miko first went to Slovenia to work at the three-star restaurant Hiša Franko, where he was mainly responsible for the fermentation of drinks.

At the beginning of 2022, he returned to Noma for a full-time position, where he was able to work his way up to a senior position in service after just under two years. Miko is now striving for a new kind of hospitality at Restaurant Horváth and can fully develop in his position as restaurant manager.

Noma in particular was a formative experience for Miko, where he was part of a catering business that operated at the very highest level: "I owe a lot to Noma. Especially the way I see and perceive service and guest experience. Very personal, a lot of attention to detail, a familiar, cosy style and an energy that inspires you all round. I'm looking forward to bringing this experience to the service at Horváth."

"For me, one of the most important things in catering is building a community. That's not to say that Horváth isn't already a wonderful community. But I want to sharpen the sense that within a community we can realise our wildest dreams through the synergy and flow of work. I didn't come here to change everything, I came here to make a difference in the professional lives of my team, in the experience we offer our guests and in the results we have in terms of social and environmental issues we face in this industry.I don't want to be a revolutionary, but I want to improve the way we are perceived as a restaurant and the way the hospitality industry is perceived. I want to make a significant impact in my own small way."