Lisa Kalhöfer
Anyone who asks Lisa Kalhöfer to describe the cuisine at the Flair Hotel Werbetal in Waldeck will get a quick answer. One of three words: ‘Regional, home-style, down-to-earth.’
For the chef, this says everything about what convinces guests to return again and again and what makes the Gerlach family’s cuisine one of the best far beyond the Waldeck region.
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Regional, sustainable, award-winning
However, she adds a fourth argument to the recipe for success: ‘As far as possible, we prepare our dishes using fresh produce from our own farm and from the region.’ And all of this at a very high level in terms of flavour and craftsmanship – an award-winning level, you could even say. Reason enough for the Flair Hotel Cooperation to present Lisa Kalhöfer with the Flair Chef of the Year 2025 award.
For the daughter of the Gerlach couple who run the hotel, this is confirmation that she took a new, but one hundred per cent correct turn at the crossroads of her career a few years ago. Because the path to the kitchen at her parents’ Flair Hotel Werbetal, which is run by the seventh and eighth generations and is certified with the DEHOGA Environmental Check Gold, was not a direct one. It was only after training as a hotel manageress in a four-star hotel in Hanover, three years on a cruise ship and studying business administration for the hotel and catering industry in Heidelberg that she returned home to the beautiful Edersee.
In the middle of the coronavirus period, when some employees left the company completely and staff were hard to find. ‘Out of necessity, I decided to train as a chef myself.’ This took place in the hotel at home. A former chef, who helped out in the kitchen once or twice a week as a pensioner, was happy to pass on his professional experience, knowledge and skills to Lisa Kalhöfer. Today, she says: ‘It was exactly the right decision.’ Not least because it enabled her to find and inspire new trainees – who are now being trained by her.
Most of what Lisa Kalhöfer serves her guests is produced in the Waldecker Land region. Her husband is a farmer and direct marketer who keeps free-range chickens and grows crops and vegetables. Christian Gerlach, the chef of the house, supplies the restaurant kitchen with beef from his own herd of certified organic cattle. Beef from his own herd (the calves are reared on the pasture by their mothers), eggs, flour, muesli, herbs, vegetables and much more is provided.
The traditional, hearty dishes of their homeland can be prepared from it, as can vegetarian and vegan dishes. And also Asian dishes, which give the menu at the Flair Hotel Werbetal an international flavour.
Another flavour is seasonal. Lisa Kalhöfer can really score points with this in her kitchen. The Hutewald pig is slaughtered in autumn. Raised in the neighbouring village, of course, including feeding in the autumn forest. The trout come from the Edersee dam fishery and are served every Friday at the Müllerin-style trout day. The classic for the Advent season: goose dinner. These animals are also reared in a species-appropriate manner just a few kilometres away.
And what does the chef herself like to conjure up on her plate? Beef roulades or schnitzel au gratin with leek, bacon and sour cream. Also popular with hotel and restaurant guests as a hearty finale after a tour through Waldecker Land with its award-winning hiking trails and cycle paths around Lake Edersee. Traditional Hessian dishes such as beef with horseradish or Ahle sausage are always very popular. Just like the many dishes prepared in the regional style with sour cream. That’s why Lisa Kalhöfer is an ambassador in her kitchen.
