Henning Dulk spent his childhood in Berlin and lived near Düsseldorf as a teenager. He decided early on to become a veterinarian. However, he was expelled from high school for slapping a teacher after being disciplined. After graduating from boarding school, he studied veterinary medicine in Hanover. He worked as an assistant at a veterinary clinic in Dortmund. During this time, he married. With the goal of opening his own practice, he subsequently took on vacation replacements – before opening his own practice. He was ahead of others in dental cleaning and blood testing. Health problems made his career more difficult. In 2006, he sold his practice and retired. He lives with his wife on a farm in Müllenbach, built around 1780, which he bought in 1994 as a “junk property” and then renovated.
In the fourth episode of the current season, last Monday (September 22, 2008), Christian Rach stopped by the Dringshof restaurant in the Eifel village of Müllenbach. The owners are Marianne and Hans-Henning Dulk, who contacted the production company in November 2007. Their motivation was based on the expected marketing effect. The Dulk couple were not at all satisfied with the occupancy of their restaurant, which they opened in 2006. They had originally expected more from their concept of a somewhat more sophisticated restaurant. They know the area very well, although they previously ran a successful veterinary practice in Düsseldorf city center for thirty years. “We were simply fed up with the poshness,” says Hans-Henning Dulk about the decision to sell the practice and retire permanently to the Eifel, where the couple has owned a holiday home for many years.
They invested half a million euros in the new building, which also incorporated a demolished half-timbered house from the region. Although the house is located in a village of 500 inhabitants, a busy federal highway runs right past it, and the Nürburgring is only one and a half kilometers away. These were actually quite good conditions for the two career changers, who had always had extensive contact with the industry. Moreover, the foundation was right: “We were hard-working service providers for thirty years. An entrepreneurial spirit is definitely there.” Based on a market analysis in the region, they wanted to offer more than the usual schnitzel and chips fare and hired an ambitious young chef. The ambiance was enhanced with high-quality textiles. However, success was elusive. Only on weekends did the footfall improve, when short-term vacationers from the Rhineland cities found their way to the remote area.
After preliminary discussions, Christian Rach and his four-person team arrived in March 2008. Over the next five days, based on the restaurant tester’s recommendation, the concept was changed to more down-to-earth cuisine. The decor was also refined to position the restaurant in the direction of “country cuisine.” In retrospect, the Dulks are already satisfied with the Hamburg professional’s advice. “The idea of enhancing the outdoor advertising with straw bales has already brought us new guests,” Dulk notes. The people from the Eifel region have not become regular visitors, and after the broadcast of the program, the Dulks fear the opposite effect. Because the actually realistic assessment of the tradition-loving locals came across on screen as more of a nasty resentment.
“Rach has done us a disservice, even though he had advised us to reach out more to these guests instead of focusing on the clientele at the nearby Nürburgring.” The local press in particular has been noticeably reserved so far. So the desired marketing effect has failed to materialize, at least locally. Perhaps, however, this or every fan of the show will one day be drawn to the Eifel region to visit the original location. However, the Hans-Henning Dulk are proud of one thing: “The cleaning operation that is usually required on the show was not necessary for us. As a veterinarian, no one needs to explain to me how important hygiene is.” They have since expanded the menu again, as the previously established regular audience was slightly disappointed after the changeover. They solved the problem with a rotating additional menu entitled “The Cook Recommends.”
Ultimately, the Dulks see both advantages and disadvantages in the whole operation. On the plus side, there are the partly good suggestions from Christian Rach and, of course, the filming itself, during which the star chef proved to be in control of the situation. During production, Rach really seems to be in charge, controlling every image and every scene and not allowing himself to be played with by an editor or production manager. The Dulks were not so impressed by the film crew’s constant efforts to stir up strong emotions. He himself bit his tongue several times during filming and also warned his colleague. At one point, however, she got worked up into a rage, which of course was promptly broadcast. The Dulks are really angry, however, about the anti-Eifel sentiment that was emphasized. Mr. Dulk announced that they would file a serious complaint again when the time came.
http://dirk-baranek.de/textarchiv/besuch-vom-restaurant-tester/
Marianne and Hans-Henning have fulfilled a dream: Instead of retiring, the veterinarian and his wife decided to open an upscale restaurant in a village in the Eifel region. “I worked in service during my studies,” Hans-Henning confidently explains when asked about any experience in the restaurant industry. Despite lacking basic knowledge, the Düsseldorf couple built a house near the Nürburgring and integrated their “Restaurant Dringshof” into it. The new building stands directly on a main road and appears plain and boring from the outside, but has been given an old-world, rustic feel inside.
The menu, however, is a bit more sophisticated: shrimp skewers with coconut rice or fried zander on crayfish ragout in Noilly Prat sauce. This is no easy task for the young, inexperienced Eifel chef Eva, especially since she has already failed at simpler dishes. It can happen that the rump steak ends up raw inside and out on the guest’s plate. In general, the Eifel residents are not so impressed by the fine dishes at the “Dringshof” and prefer to go to the competition. Thus, two years after opening, the restaurant is on the verge of closure. In their desperation, the unsuccessful Eifel innkeepers turned to Christian Rach.
The Hamburg-starred chef and gastronomy expert inspects everything on site and tests the food. His venison dish is also served raw and thus inedible. But the poorly prepared dishes aren’t the only reason for the “Dringshof’s miserable situation.” “As a Düsseldorf resident, you appreciate fine dining, but the rural Eifel population prefers hearty, home-style food,” explains Christian Rach, not only examining the menu but also thoroughly shaking up the chef, the owners, and the entire ambience. (Text: RTL) German TV premiere Mon. 22.09.2008 RTL
https://www.fernsehserien.de/rach-der-restauranttester/folgen/3×04-dringshof-in-muellenbach-315658
53520 Müllenbach