Mey Hofmann
Founder of Barcelona's Hofmann school and restaurant — the city's great fine-dining nursery — whose Michelin star her family has kept since 2004.
- Restaurants
- 1
- Born
- 1946 · Barcelona
Mey Hofmann (1946–2016) founded Barcelona's Hofmann hospitality school in 1983 and the Hofmann restaurant in 1992; the restaurant earned a Michelin star in 2004 and has never lost it. More than 20,000 students passed through her school, including chefs who went on to their own stars. Her daughter Silvia Hofmann leads the restaurant today with executive chef Diego Grimberg.
Biography
Early years
Mey Hofmann was born in Barcelona in 1946, the daughter of a German engineer from Baden-Württemberg and a Catalan concert pianist. In 1983 she founded the Hofmann hospitality school on Carrer de la Plateria in La Ribera — the project that would make her the most influential culinary educator in the city, with more than 20,000 students passing through.
Career
The Hofmann restaurant followed in 1992, run in tandem with the school as its finishing kitchen. In 2004 it earned a Michelin star that the house has held ever since. She kept building: the Hofmann pastry shop in 2008, a tasting space in 2012, Tasca Hofmann in 2014 and a bistrot in 2016. Her alumni read like a map of Barcelona fine dining — Sergio and Javier Torres, Jordi Esteve of Nectari and Aitor Zabala among them. She died in Barcelona on 3 May 2016, months after a third cancer diagnosis; her daughter Silvia Hofmann has led the restaurant since, with Diego Grimberg as executive chef.
Philosophy
Hofmann's kitchen is a teaching kitchen in the fullest sense: classical technique drilled until it disappears, then pointed at contemporary plates. The Repsol Guide's note that Silvia 'faithfully preserves the essence and philosophy her mother established' is the house's own measure of success — tradition and avant-garde in deliberate balance, and pastry treated as seriously as savoury.
Restaurants
Mey Hofmann in our guides
Editorial guides featuring Mey Hofmann’s restaurants.
Accolades
- ·Founded the Hofmann hospitality school (1983) — more than 20,000 alumni
- ·Hofmann restaurant has held its Michelin star continuously since 2004
- ·Alumni include Sergio and Javier Torres, Jordi Esteve (Nectari) and Aitor Zabala
Frequently asked
Who was Mey Hofmann?
Barcelona's great culinary educator: she founded the Hofmann hospitality school in La Ribera in 1983 and the Hofmann restaurant in 1992, which earned a Michelin star in 2004. More than 20,000 students trained under her before her death in May 2016.
Is Hofmann still Michelin-starred?
Yes — the restaurant has held its star continuously since 2004, and Michelin's own page currently lists it at one star. Since Mey Hofmann's death in 2016 her daughter Silvia has led the house, with Diego Grimberg as executive chef.
Which famous chefs trained at Hofmann?
The school's alumni include Sergio and Javier Torres (Cocina Hermanos Torres), Jordi Esteve of Nectari and Aitor Zabala — the Michelin Guide itself calls Hofmann a nursery for starred chefs.