Chef Walter Staib is the highly acclaimed chef and proprietor of Philadelphia’s celebrated City Tavern restaurant. He is the author of three cookbooks: Black Forest Cuisine, City Tavern Cookbook, and City Tavern Baking & Dessert Cookbook.

Walter Staib is a world-class chef, innovative restaurateur, and businessman. A native of Pforzheim, Germany, he has spent more than four decades in the restaurant business, serving as chef/consultant to more than 300 fine restaurants and hotels around the world. Awarded the management contract for City Tavern in 1994 by Congress, he’s made it his mission to elevate the restaurant’s status to that of a living culinary museum, providing guest with an interpretive experience inspired by the customs and foods of eighteenth-century America.

Staib’s many awards include the prestigious Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricole de la République Française in recognition of his dedication to the advancement of the restaurant industry and the image of France around the world; the Silver Plate, the hospitality and restaurant industry’s highest honor; and the 29th Annual Restaurateur of Distinction Award-The Ivy-for meeting the highest standards of quality in food, hospitality, and service.

The first inductee into the Caribbean Culinary Hall of Fame in recognition of his pioneering establishment of the Caribbean Culinary Federation, Staib is recognized as Commandeur by the Association International des Maîtres Conseils en Gastronomie Française. He was appointed Ambassador to the Culinary Institute of America, and is the first Culinary Ambassador to the City of Philadelphia. Staib was named the 1999 Restaurateur of the Year by the Philadelphia-Delaware Valley Restaurant Association.

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