Arno Schmidt (chef)

Arno Schmidt (born c. 1935 in Salzburg) is an Austrian chef and food critic and writer. With a background working for hotels such as the Grand Royal Hotel in Stockholm and the Hotel Victoria in Zermatt, Switzerland, arrived in New York City in 1959 and worked for the Regency Hotel before becoming the executive chef of the prestigious Waldorf Astoria New York from 1969 to 1979. He then worked as a Food and Beverage Director at the Helmsley Hotel and at the Plaza Hotel from 1984 to 1986. In 2003 he published Chef's Book of Formulas, Yields and Sizes. Between 2008 and 2011 he was the Big Apple Chapter President for the American Culinary Federation. Phyllis Hanes, food critic of The Christian Science Monitor, called Schmidt "one of the very best chefs in the country".