Johannes King is a renowned chef in Germany who owns the Dorint Söl'ring Sylt hotel and restaurant. He has earned numerous accolades including being named Chef of the Year in 2013 and holding two Michelin stars for his restaurant. King focuses on using locally sourced ingredients from the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, where 75% of the food used in his restaurant comes from. In addition to cooking, King also farms vegetables and fruits and goes fishing to supply his restaurant. He is praised for his leadership skills and for treating his employees well.

1. Dorint Söl‘ring Hof
Farmer
Chef with passion
2 Michelin Stars
Chef of the year 2013
FEINHEIMISCH
JOHANNES KING
The most outstanding leader I‘ve ever worked with:
an appraisal

2. He‘s the King...
Johannes King, Chef of the year 2013
(appointed by Feinschmecker Magazin) /
Pioneer of the FEINHEIMISCH Movement /
Fisherman / Farmer / Father / And more...
He sees stars...
Altogether 2 of them:
The Dorint Söl‘ring Sylt maintains a
restaurant with capacity for 60 guests,
holding 2 Michelin Stars
For 2 years, he was my teacher and
mentor. An outstanding experience.
Sylt island crab, claw and tartare
served on pea mousseline with mint

3. Wild herbs
Even the herbs are gathered
on the island: milfoil,
portulaca, chickweed and
more. They are used for
fine salads or for more
virtuosic creations like the
iced garden herbs with
raspberries pictured below.
Farmville 2.0
Fisherman’s friend
Since 2010, King is cultivating
his own vegetables and fruits.
This was a very important step
on his pioneer ladder called
FEINHEIMISCH: he‘s an
important supporter of this
movement praising products
made in Schleswig-Holstein.
Mackerels, Codfish, Crabs…
Within the season of these
north sea dwellers, King
himself goes fishing. He’s
supported by his second man,
Rainer the caretaker.

4. 75% of the food used in the restaurant
are produced in Schleswig-Holstein,
which means they are FEINHEIMISCH.
The vegetables of King’s farm are yet
enough to account for half of the supply.

5. In 2012, his new innovative concept was established: das Lädchen.
It literally means: the small shop. Inside, customers find a broad
assortment of goods. Self-made sauces, the prunier caviar selection,
best wines and all kind of exceptional things enlightening a gourmet’s
heart.
Beside the shopping possibility, the core of the Lädchen is a home
delivery service. The residents can order a 5-course haute-cuisine
menu à la King served on Hering porcelain at their home.

6. An outstanding business man who’s got
the
heart at the right place…
In contrary to the widespread believe that the haute-cuisine
has a fierce tone and all head chefs are cholerics or alcoholics
(or even both), King has a very cheerful character. Within
the 2 years I spent working at his restaurant I have never
heard him shouting and I have never witnessed him being
unfair to an employee.
King is a workaholic. Even on his one day off, he comes
around to maybe bring some of the plums he collected in the
morning on his farm, because they looked so delicious.
Always one step ahead. While other restaurants on the
island are fighting for their stars, King stays calm and
makes sure that he’s always involved in long-term
sustainable projects. This quality lastly accounted for his
nomination as chef of the year 2013 by “der Feinschmecker”,
one of the most influential magazines of the scene.

7. The master…
…and his apprentice

8. It’s good to see
that you and me
have some similarity…
King is an ideal to me. I have a lot of respect to the quality
and quantity of his work.
In some of his characteristics and the way he works, I can
find similarities:
I enjoy being involved in a variety of projects over a certain
period of time. This is challenging on the one hand and
has an interesting outcome due to synergies on the other
hand. Although it requires above-average hours of work and efforts,
I’m looking forward to do it.
King’s employees like and respect him for his fair manner.
At the moment I’m supervising 25 employees and I always
make an effort to be straight and fair. This is much more difficult
as I imagined, but I know how it felt when I was the employee once.
This is my motivation to keep improving my leadership skills.
Last and most importantly, King does what he really wants to do.
He’s a chef to the core and realizes his dreams in a very
profitable way, without losing his authenticity. After university
I will start my own project where I can play to my strengths.
Creating and working closely with customers.

9. What a difference a day makes…
As can be deducted from the previous description, King
is an admirable person to me. Nevertheless, there are
some aspects of the way he works that I do not agree with.
King is the man in the spotlight. Every magazine article or
TV reporting gives the impression that he does everything
himself while in reality there are some great persons
strengthening his back who aren’t mentioned. I’ve seen one
of them breaking due to simple lack of recognition of his
contribution. This is where I see a difference: if an employee
contributes an enormous engagement to one of my projects
I don’t want to take credit for it all alone. Rather he shall win
laurels for it and thus continue to be motivated.
Further, King is a person who completely merged his whole
life with his work. I believe that working is the way, not the
goal. At the end of the day, there has to be something beyond
work that fulfills me.

10. I spent 2 years working at the Söl’ring Hof. King taught me a multitude of skills and knowledge whereof I will make
use for my entire career. This experience shaped my character in a special way and thus contributed to the person I
am today.
Johannes King is one of the most impressing personalities I have ever met. A great chef, an outstanding leader and an
ideal to many persons.
To cut a long story in a short…
…he’s the King.