New coaching team for the Köche youth national team

FRANKFURT AM MAIN - The national chef team of the German Chefs' Association (VKD) will be focussing on the RAK Porcelain Culinary World Cup in November 2026 in the coming months. The juniors will be accompanied by three coaches on their way to Luxembourg.

Team Germany has been meeting regularly again for training in Teltow near Berlin since the beginning of this year. As the "team behind the team", three chefs have been recruited to actively support the junior national team of chefs in the future. Marvin Böhm, Paul Neitemeier and Marcus Prahst will share the coaching duties as a team on an equal footing - from organisation in the run-up to menu development, team building and motivation.

The three chefs from Wolfsburg, Leipzig and Berlin are unanimous: "We are competing with the team in Luxembourg to win and bring home gold medals. The Culinary World Cup is a great adventure for everyone and means a lot to us. Among other things, it's now about strengthening the team and developing a culinary signature on the plate together."

Marvin Böhm: The 35-year-old from Lower Saxony is an internationally experienced competition chef, having won such coveted titles as Chef of the Year (2022) and Bocuse d'Or Germany three times in recent years (2016/18/22). After training as a chef, Marvin Böhm first went to the Schwarzwaldstube at the Hotel Traube Tonbach in Baiersbronn and then to Heidelberg for further training as a master chef. From 2015 to the end of 2024, he worked with Sven Elverfeld as the creative head chef at the three-star restaurant Aqua in Wolfsburg and is currently working for The Ritz-Carlton.

Paul Neitemeier: Paul Neitemeier himself became a member of the national youth team during his training as a chef at the Steigenberger Grand Hotel Leipzig and has been involved with the team for three years now. As a Team Germany supporter, the 27-year-old experienced the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg first-hand in 2022 and then the IKA/Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart in 2024. Since 2022, the Saxon has been working for CuisinEvent GmbH in hospitality catering for RB Leipzig, currently as sous-chef.

Marcus Prahst: From Berlin and familiar with creative high-end cuisine for several years, the 42-year-old is at home in the German capital. His previous professional stations in Berlin include the restaurants Fredericks by Rhubarb and Adnan as well as an "excursion" to the brand marketing photo studio of the company Hello Fresh. Three years ago, Marcus Prahst moved back to the restaurant heimlichTreu as sous-chef-tournante, where he had already been in charge of the kitchen for a good two years. Incidentally, it was owner Mike Krause who established contact with the national team of chefs - after he had experienced the VKD team live during guest cooking on Mein Schiff 3.