Chef Walter Staib to be honored as the Distinguished German-American of the Year

Chef Walter Staib will be honored by the German-American Heritage Foundation of the USA® as the 2012 Distinguished German-American of the Year™. The Awards and Fundraising Gala will be held on Saturday evening, December 15, 2012 at the German Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.

Each year since 1987, the German-American Heritage Foundation of the USA® has presented this award to provide national recognition for outstanding leadership and achievement by Americans of German-speaking ancestry in business, the arts, education, science, politics and society.

Chef Staib, the proprietor and world renowned chef, is credited for re-establishing the historic City Tavern.  The City Tavern is a replica of the 18th century building which is located at Second and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia, PA. The City Tavern restaurant was originally established in 1773 and was the social and economic center of the young City of Philadelphia.  The Tavern was frequented by many of our colonial forefathers who met in Philadelphia for the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the First Continental Congress. John Adams called it “the most genteel tavern in America.”  The Tavern was reconstructed in the 1970’s, and reopened in 1976 for the Bicentennial Celebrations.

Walter-Staib-Emmy-AwardChef Walter Staib is a third generation restaurateur with over 40 years experience. He has been awarded a fourth Emmy Award for the PBS TV show: “A Taste of History.”  He visits historic places and cooks a variety of entrees using authentic 18th century recipes. Thus, he brings his viewers culinary specialties from George Washington’s Mount Vernon, John Adam’s Peacefield, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, James Madison’s Montpelier and James Monroe’s Ash Lawn-Highlands.  Chef Staib narrates each recipe as he demonstrates it.  While working with live fire, cast iron “Dutchy” pots and authentic ingredients, Chef Staib talks to viewers as if they were in the room next to the roaring fire.

Chef Staib is author of four cookbooks, namely City Tavern Cookbook (1999), City Tavern Baking & Dessert Cookbook (2003), Black Forest Cuisine (2006) and City Tavern: Recipes from the Birthplace of American Cuisine (2009).   In 2011 the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania awarded him the Contemporary Pioneer Award; he was awarded the Top Philadelphia Chef in the Conde Nast Cadillac Culinary Challenge and the Silver Medal by the American Culinary Federation to name just a few.  German president Dr. Horst Köhler conferred the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in May 2007.

In 1989 he founded Concepts by Staib, Ltd. which is a globally operating restaurant management and hospitality consulting firm with clients worldwide.

The German-American Heritage Foundation of the USA® (GAHF) was founded in 1977 and chartered in 1978 as the United German-American Committee of the USA, Inc. (UGAC) which is an independent, tax exempt educational not-for-profit organization.  In March 2010, the GAHF opened the German-American Heritage Museum of the USA™ in Washington, DC.

Tickets for the Gala will be $150.00 per person, which includes a cocktail reception, dinner and dancing.

For more information please contact GAHF national headquarters in Washington, DC at 202- 467-5000 or visit www.gahmusa.org.

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