Television: Why Tim Raue can only save restaurants with his wife

but also that he tries to convince a desperate man named Jörg somewhere in the far east of Cologne to try meatballs. To be seen in the new season of his RTL format “Raue – Der Restaurantretter” from July 16th every Tuesday at 8.15 p.m. on RTL.

“For me, this is a meatball number par excellence!”, says the star chef after a critical first visit to Jörg’s struggling restaurant in Cologne-Holweide. He would like to see adjustments made to the menu. But the owner stubbornly refuses to include the tasty lumps of meat in the menu. “Even Tim can’t get me to sell meatballs here!” says Jörg. “No way.” Bone of contention: Bulette.

The “restaurant tester” is now the “restaurant savior”

Tim Raue, Berlin’s grand chef, doesn’t have it easy. The format in which Christian Rach used to travel around the country as a “restaurant tester” is now called “The Restaurant Savior” under his aegis. This already illustrates the precarious situation of the establishments in which Raue is supposed to play the culinary fireman. Five new episodes are available to watch.

However, those seeking help do not have it easy with Raue, who has earned an international reputation as a top chef and is therefore – without wanting to offend Cologne-Holweide – conjuring up a certain culture clash.

Raue is also not afraid of making himself unpopular, of speaking frankly (“If there are tasks to be distributed, I won’t do it in a social circle”) and of making snap judgments. “That is far from appetizing,” he tells Jörg shortly after his arrival. The diagnosis follows shortly afterwards. “He’s got a lot on his plate,” Raue says of Jörg. “But he doesn’t want to show any weakness.”

There are only two of them

The top chef is once again supported by his wife Katharina, which is why the show title is actually a little misleading. “In our understanding, it is not ‘the’ restaurant rescuer, but ‘the’ restaurant rescuers,” says Raue in an interview with the German Press Agency. “There are only two of us.” He made that clear to RTL at the beginning. The rescue mission is far too complex for one person alone these days.

“When Christian Rach was very successful with the ‘Restaurant Tester’, Instagram and Facebook played almost no role,” explains Raue. The atmosphere of a restaurant did not play such a big role. That is completely different today. “15-year-olds today have completely different aesthetic standards when they go to a restaurant.”

Aesthetics is Katharina Raue’s hobbyhorse. The former editor-in-chief of the trade magazine for gastronomy and hotel industry, “Rolling Pin”, acts as a trend interpreter and marketing specialist. “I always say: A restaurant today has to look like one that people would like to have their photo taken in it and then post it on Instagram,” she says.

Tim Raue, the locomotive on two legs

What she initiates in the show is comparable to a visit to the hairdresser that a woman makes after a failed relationship, she says. “When something changes visually, it has a big impact on a person. It gives you a new starting point.”

However, the job profile doesn’t end there, which has to do with Tim Raue’s style. “I’m the bull in a china shop. I’m like a train that’s driving through somewhere – and I lay the tracks myself beforehand,” he says. “So it’s good that I have my wife by my side, who can transport and translate many things even better.” She agrees. “Tim believes that everyone shares his speed. And you have to play the role of a level crossing barrier every now and then and say: Now take a quick breath.” That’s her job.

Perhaps this will also provide a solution to the meatball problem.