Stefan Stiller

Stefan Stiller is a German chef and restaurateur. He is the chef-owner of Taian Table, a fine dining restaurant in Shanghai, China that holds two Michelin Stars. He is also president of Bocuse d'Or Team China and Asia Pacific.

Stiller began his culinary career in 1983 with a 2.5-year apprenticeship at Restaurant Endtenfang at the Hotel Fürstenhof, in his hometown of Celle, Germany. Before joining mandatory army service, Stiller staged for several months at Restaurant Goldener Pflug in Cologne, the second restaurant in Germany to receive 3 Michelin stars.

Following 2 years of army service, Stiller went back to the professional kitchen, joining the 2-Michelin-starred restaurant Schweizer Stuben in Wertheim-Bettingen. In 1989, he returned to his hometown Celle and became owner and chef of Restaurant l'Auberge.

In 1998, Stiller moved to Deidesheim, a wine town in Southern Germany, and took over as chef-de-cuisine at the 1-Michelin-starred Restaurant Schwarzer Hahn in the Hotel Deidesheimer Hof.

While working at Hotel Deidesheimer Hof, Stiller noticed a closed building in the winery across the street. This was Gasthaus zur Kanne, a historic property built in 1374, and home to the oldest restaurant in the area, which opened in 1532. A year later, Stiller opened his own fine dining restaurant in this building, named Restaurant Grand Cru, and received a Michelin star just a few months after opening.

In 2004, Stiller moved to Shanghai, China with his family, and became executive chef first at Club Shanghai, and then at Mimosa Supperclub from 2005 to 2007.

In 2008, Stiller launched his own project, Stiller's Restaurant and Cooking School. Aside from an 80-seat, upscale bistro-style restaurant and a rooftop bar, Stiller's was also a cooking school, where Stiller personally gave cooking lessons to the public.

In 2012, Stiller became partner of La Cocotte Restaurant in Hangzhou, China, a new concept restaurant for Staub cocottes, where he helped develop the restaurant concept and manage the project. In 2015, Stiller and his wife, Yoshi, opened EAST Eatery, a modern Asian restaurant in Shanghai's Tianzifang.

In 2016, Stiller opened the Taian Table concept in a small space on Tai'an Road in Shanghai, which received a Michelin star 5 months after opening. Due to permit issues, the restaurant moved to Zhenning Road in December 2016.

Stiller is currently president of Bocuse d’Or Team China And Contest President for the Asia Pacific Final

Stiller came into this role by happenstance. During the preparation for a Bocuse d'Or press conference in 2009, which would be held at his Shanghai restaurant Stiller's, he discovered that there was no candidate for China in the Asia-Pacific regional selection. Thus, he took it upon himself to recruit and train a candidate.

Under Stiller's guidance, Team China placed second in that year's Asia-Pacific Continental Selection, and qualified for the Finale in Lyon, France in 2011. In subsequent years, Team China qualified for the world finale another 3 times, in 2013, 2017, and 2019.

In 2018, Stiller organized the Bocuse d'Or Asia-Pacific Continental Selection in Guangzhou, China as Contest President.