Take a seat at LUKE’S Wohnzimmer in Bad Hofgastein and you’ll get a taste of the region. Behind the ingredients are people who grow vegetables, raise animals and take pride in their craft. Head chef Bernhard Atzenhofer and host Lukas make time to get to know them. For Bernhard, these personal connections are where good cooking begins.
“Sourcing locally shouldn’t be a trend,” he says. It’s an approach that shapes everyday life in the kitchen at Sendlhofer’s. Long before the first guests arrive, the team is thinking about what’s in season, where it comes from and who produces it.
From his own restaurant to LUKE’S
Before becoming head chef at LUKE’S Wohnzimmer, Bernhard ran his own restaurant. He grew many of the ingredients himself, and much of what he needed came from close to home. Working on a smaller scale meant he could follow every detail, from the garden to the kitchen.
Today, he cooks for more guests and leads a bigger team. The kitchen needs a different rhythm, but his approach to ingredients hasn’t changed. He still wants to know where they come from and who’s behind them. For him, keeping food local starts with looking after those relationships.
Meeting the people behind the produce
Lukas and Bernhard visit producers, talk about their work and choose ingredients in person. At the butcher’s, they select cuts together with the master butcher. Some of the vegetables come from an organic farmer right here in Bad Hofgastein.
Their visits take them to Emil at Biohof Gschwendt and to Josef, the master butcher at Echt Schreckbauer. Back in the kitchen, these ingredients come with a familiar face and an understanding of the work that went into producing them.
For Bernhard, that makes a difference. Visiting a farm and talking about what’s available helps him choose what to cook and how to make the most of it.
Gathering herbs around Bad Hofgastein
Some ingredients are close enough for the team to gather themselves. When the season is right, Bernhard and his crew head out into the meadows and mountains around Bad Hofgastein to collect herbs for the kitchen.
Later, those herbs find their way into dishes at LUKE’S Wohnzimmer. Seeing where they grow and gathering them by hand brings the team closer to the ingredients they work with. It also keeps their cooking connected to the seasons and what’s growing around them.
Good food starts with a good team
In the open kitchen at LUKE’S Wohnzimmer, you can watch the team at work. During the busy winter months, timing matters and everyone needs to know their part. Bernhard keeps a calm head and treats his crew with respect. Each person takes responsibility for what they do.
That care runs through the kitchen, from the way ingredients are handled to the way people work together. For Bernhard, good produce needs a team that knows how to look after it.
Next time you try something new at LUKE’S Wohnzimmer, there might be a farm visit or a morning spent gathering herbs behind it. Ask us where the ingredients come from. We’d love to tell you about the people who bring them to our kitchen.
