40 Years of the Schleswig-Holstein Gourmet Festival

Four decades of culinary excellence, world-class chefs and genuine hospitality: the Schleswig-Holstein Gourmet Festival (SHGF) will celebrate its 40th anniversary in the 2026/2027 season. Since 1986/87, Germany’s oldest gourmet festival has been bringing outstanding chefs to the north to treat food lovers to extraordinary culinary experiences at its member establishments. The SHGF e.V. has engaged 20 trend-setting guest chefs, nine of whom are making their debut. There will also be five innovative events.

Since April 2026, the SHGF has been enriched by a new gourmet destination: the Namine Witt restaurant on the North Sea island of Föhr. In Nieblum, the young hosts Laura and Ole Sondermann combine culinary delights, hospitality and the story of local poet Namine Witt to create a delightful overall experience.

The festive start to the season will be marked on 30 August 2026 by an excellent quintet of chefs at the Romantik Hotel Kieler Kaufmann (Kiel). *Lasse Knickrehm, head chef at Restaurant Ahlmanns, will welcome his multi-award-winning colleagues Nils Henkel (Hotel Papa-Rhein, Bingen), *Rene Verse (Tipken’s by Nils Henkel, Sylt), Marvin Böhm (Restaurant Buoy, Hamburg) and *Bjarke Jeppesen (Munkebjerg Hotel, Denmark) in his creative kitchen. With Marvin Böhm and Bjarke Jeppesen, two promising young trend-setting chefs are making their SHGF debut. Since early 2026, Marvin Böhm has been strengthening Hamburg’s top-tier gastronomy scene at the newly opened Restaurant Buoy (meaning ‘buoy’ in German) in HafenCity. Bjarke Jeppesen was named ‘Chef of the Year’ in Denmark in 2024. The head chef at Restaurant Treetop (Vejle) is committed to sustainability and is a member of the national culinary team.

On 19 September 2026, the celebratory event ‘40 Years of Culinary Delights between the Seas’ will take place as part of a coach tour between Schleswig, Friedrichstadt and St. Peter-Ording. The event is being organised by Romantik Hotel Waldschlösschen, a founding member of the SHGF, the Holländische Stuben and the StrandGut Resort, which will be providing a four-course menu made predominantly from local produce.

This season, too, the SHGF is proving its appeal to the leading figures of the national and international culinary scene. A total of 20 guest chefs from Germany, Denmark and France are travelling to the north. ***+*Marco Müller, currently Germany’s highest-rated chef and a crowd favourite, will be appearing on 25 October at the Michelin-starred Orangerie at the Maritim Seehotel (Timmendorfer Strand). Also eagerly anticipated are: *Marcello Fabbri (Restaurant The First, Weimarer Land), *Felix Gabel (Restaurant KAI3, Sylt), **Tony Hohlfeld (Jante, Hanover), the multi-talented Nelson Müller (Diepeschrather Mühle, Bergisch Gladbach), Thomas Martin (Jacobs Restaurant, Hamburg), *+*Maurizio Oster (Restaurant ZEIK, Hamburg) and *Ronny Siewert (Restaurant Friedrich Franz, Grand Hotel Heiligendamm).

Making their festival debut in the 40th season: *Thomas Elstermeyer (Restaurant IKO, Osnabrück), Germany’s youngest two-star chef Yannick Noack (Fährhaus Koblenz), *Cédric Staudenmayer (Restaurant Cédric, Weinstadt), *Benjamin Unger (Hotel Blauer Engel, Aue-Bad Schlema) and *Christopher Wilbrand (Hotel Restaurant Zur Post, Odenthal). The Danes *Bjarke Jeppesen and *Peter Rødsgaard (Restaurant Syttende, Sønderborg) are also making their debut at the SHGF. *René Mammen (Substans, Aarhus) is delighted to be taking part in the guest chefs’ line-up once again, as is Hamburg-born *+*David Görne (G.a., Normandy), who has made France his adopted home.

Further culinary events will enrich the 40th season: following the successful premiere in November 2025, the second Charity Dinner will take place on 1 November 2026, this time at the Hotel Cap Polonio (Pinneberg). Head chef Marc Ostermann will be cooking a four-course menu using regional produce, together with *Lasse Knickrehm (Ahlmanns, Kiel), Matthias Gfrörer (Gutsküche, Tangstedt) and Markus Friederici (StrandGut Resort, St Peter-Ording). The proceeds will go to the Schleswig-Holstein Child Protection Association.

On 26 November 2026, the Romantik Hotel Friederikenhof (Lübeck-Oberbüssau) will host a guided coffee tasting in collaboration with barista Joachim Kühne, head of the J.J. Darboven Coffee Academy, a long-standing partner of the SHGF. During the event, head chef Patrick Borchardt will showcase the culinary versatility of coffee beans. Valentina Marrone from the Piedmontese family-run winery Agricola Gian Piero Marrone will provide the wine pairings. Further special events are planned for 2027. On 9 January, the VITALIA Seehotel (Bad Segeberg) is hosting a ‘Wine & Dine’ event under the theme ‘Argentina meets Germany’. Director Guido Eschholz and Jörn Goldschmidt from SHGF partner Mack & Schühle will present selected wines from both countries of origin in a direct comparison of grape varieties to accompany a four-course menu by head chef Andreas Schmidt.

The anniversary season will be rounded off in style on 28 March 2027 by Taro Bünemann in the Orangery of the Maritim Seehotel on the Baltic Sea. For the fifth year running, the head pâtissier will present original dishes that bring Japan and Germany together in desserts. A delightful finale to 40 years of the Schleswig-Holstein Gourmet Festival. Even after four decades, the Schleswig-Holstein Gourmet Festival remains true to its founding principle: to bring together outstanding chefs with hosts in the north, to showcase regional produce and to offer guests unforgettable culinary experiences. The anniversary season promises culinary delights of the highest standard – from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea.