Harry Mueller wasn’t born in the Texas Hill Country, and he didn’t really get here as fast as he could. But the German-born pastry chef from Houston eventually was drawn to the Hill Country, and now welcomes other non-natives to visit and retire here. This is his remarkable story.

Although he grew up on the beautiful North Sea resort island of Norderney, life was made difficult by the Great Depression and World War II. Harry became "very interested in food" during those lean years during and after the war, and his part-time jobs as a teen-ager at a bakery and a butcher shop (where his pay was often just a bowl of bones or some scraps of food) heightened his interest.

Mueller served three years in the German Army during the fifties, but his interests led him to the Stuttgart Culinary Institute, where he became a licensed baker. He learned his trade well, and soon was working at fine hotels and restaurants all around Europe. At the Royal Grand Hotel in Stockholm, he often prepared banquets for the Swedish king.

In the meantime, he was captivated by American movies showing "swimming pools and Cadillacs," and decided that America was the place to pursue his dreams. It’s a decision that he has never regretted.

"I love the American Way," he says now. "This is the greatest country in the world. Nobody stops you from being successful."

Mueller arrived in Houston with $90 and a contract to work as a pastry chef at the Warwick Hotel (for 75 cents an hour) in January of 1965. He had a free room at the hotel for his first week at work, then got a small apartment within walking distance. It was six months before he got a raise and was able to afford a car. He took classes at the University of Houston, and eventually earned degrees in hotel administration and accounting. In October of 1965, he went back to Germany and married his wife Ursula.

It wasn’t long before Mueller’s artistic baking, ice sculptures and great food won him a reputation in Houston. He served a ...

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