Bio- Chef Anna Schumacher

Bio - Chef Anna Schumacher

My name is Anna Schumacher, born in Poland to a German mother and a French father, my mother is a politician, my father is an artist and I am a Chef qualified to an executive level.

I was raised by my grandfather after my parents divorced. My grandfather Joseph had a huge impact on my life, he was a highly-regarded Chef in Paris during WWII and I had the good fortune to taste his most exquisite creations from a very young age. At the age of 4 much to my mother’s disgust I terrorised the kitchen, burning sugar to get to make Carmel, making potato dumplings on the floor… every time she would return from work there would be no pot left to make dinner. I always made an incredible mess but Joseph always supported my efforts and cleaned up all around me, he made a impact on my life - from teaching me how to organise my own vegetable & fruit garden in spring to showing me how to preserve food for the winter in a very specific way that now days is highly recognised as an exceptional skill that not many possess. Unfortunately, Joseph passed away when I was 14 but I will always cherish the time I had and never forget the memories. We shared the same passion and therefore it was an easy choice for me to study culinary arts when I finished school. I finished college in 2002 and decided to move to Ireland for work to further my career in the industry I love.

During my youth, I very much enjoyed sports, by the age of 17 I had already won two silver medals the category of bench press by lifting 80 kg. Also, I enjoy swimming and cycling a lot because it burns off the stress and calories of a busy day. I am highly competitive on the sports field and this is an attribute I have brought into the kitchen, constantly I strive to improve everything I do in life, nobody would ever accuse me of being complacent.

I spent three years travelling around Asia & Europe to sample a mix of cuisines, culture & traditions. Bali, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Turkey and Malaysia have all been on my destination list. Sometimes I walked for hours in Asian night markets, tasting their produce, and watching their cooking skills. In Europe I visited Spain, France and Italy – finally I settled for some time in both Germany and Switzerland where I worked behind the bar mixing cocktails but I made sure to sneak up into the kitchen whenever I had the opportunity. Today I live in Dublin with my two beautiful daughters Laura and Sophie, hopefully some day they will speak as fondly about my cooking as I do about Josephs.

As a young woman I still struggle even now to be taken seriously in a male dominated profession, earning the respect of co-workers takes longer and double standards still exist. For this reason I prefer to be a nomad and concentrate on developing restaurants and staff to reach their full potential, when I am done I move on to the next challenge.

People get consumed by numbers and often forget passion, this is not the case for me, the direction I take in life must excite me to keep me interested. Growing, smelling, touching, cooking and finally tasting my own food grown in my own garden is what I yearn for most, developing a business that would allow me to do this is what I dream of. Until that day comes I will continue my quest in restaurant and food development and styling.

Last year as a project I helped an owner revamp an existing restaurant by focusing my time into all elements of the business in order reach the standards I would deem acceptable. Today I am working on a new exiting project in Co. Laois. A Spectacular new Mediterranean restaurant in Killenard with passion for food & customer service, twisted with extremely unique sense of food styling, visual satisfaction & flavourful experience. Also I have contributed articles to The Hotel & Restaurant Magazine Ireland where I write about different subjects within the industry.

My goal is to bring love and passion back to the industry to take away the struggle that comes with the Michelin guide rat race, I’m very determinant to find a way to award such a talent without creating negativity within the industry between the professionals.