Host Marcel Biró

Marcel Biró was born in the former East Germany in 1973. He began cooking with his chef/restaurateur father at the age of six and entered culinary school at the age of 15. By 21, Marcel was a European certified chef instructor, teaching aspiring chefs by day and cooking in Michelin-starred restaurants by night. At 24, he became one of the youngest chefs in European history to attain the title Master Chef de Cuisine. At the age of 32, Marcel was appointed Ambassador of German Cuisine by the CMA on behalf of the German Federal Government.

Acclaimed for winning several coveted European awards and for his dedication to demystifying classic cuisine, Marcel worked in France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Hungary, Italy, and Lichtenstein before coming to the US in 1999. He has cooked at several internationally acclaimed restaurants including Emile Jung's three-star Michelin Au Crocodile, toured Europe with Olympia Master Chef François Geiger, and was chef to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Says Marcel, "My East German roots left an indelible mark on my career. It was in the challenges of creating unique dishes with limited products and equipment that my creativity was born. It was in working with only the produce we could grow ourselves that I developed an appreciation for seasonal cooking. And it was in experiencing food as a precious commodity that I learned to respect and conserve it, and why today, 15 years after reunification, I still love experimenting with a wealth of exotic ingredients. For me, the ability to work with food is a privilege never to be taken for granted."

As with his restaurants, culinary schools, and cookbooks, Marcel's mission for The Kitchens of Biró is to demystify, preserve, and promote classic European culinary technique and to inspire individuals to achieve their personal best in the kitchen.