Kati Wilhelm's secret to success as a restaurateur

Everyone knows Kati Wilhelm from the biathlon. Today she runs with dedication her personal and cozy restaurant "Heimatlon" and is the proud owner of a Valoriani wood-fired oven. She was kind enough to answer 5 questions for us and revealed a delicious recipe. Read for yourself:

1. What made you decide to open a restaurant?

I myself like to go out to eat, like somewhere cozy to eat a snack and drink, preferably in good weather still outside on a sunny terrace. After I came back to Thuringia, to my home, I thought my impressions gained from my time of "traveling around" as a biathlete to bring in here and create a place where tourists but also locals can experience exactly this feel good and switch off from work, as I always enjoy or have enjoyed so. That I was entering a completely new profession, I saw, of course, as a challenge, but I was very excited about it.

2. What makes your oven special for you and what is your favorite dish?

That there is now a wood-fired oven in my restaurant was more of a coincidence. And my plan was not to offer the classic pizza. It was important to me to create a special experience for the guests and with the idea of the open kitchen and the wood-fired oven, we have definitely succeeded. Here, however, our own creations are made the Urfladen, topped with seasonal and regional ingredients partly rather classic and down-to-earth but also sometimes more unusual creations but always with special sophistication, through our generally homemade ingredients.
The wood-burning oven naturally creates a very special ambience. He radiates coziness and in the truest sense of the word, warmth. The guest can watch how his food is prepared. He sees the hand movements of the cook and learns to appreciate his work even more.
The open fire and the stone floor give the food a completely different aroma and a higher quality than in an oven. The dough becomes crispier and fluffier. But we also prepare steaks and other meat dishes in our oven.
I also like to invite school classes or kindergarten groups to bake pizza with me or cookies at Christmas time.

3. What is your tip for hobby cooks who have a wood-burning oven?

As an amateur chef, you should plan for many guests if possible or pre-bake right away for a longer period of time, because once the oven has reached its temp. you can work with it for several hours. In the beginning, you should just try a little to find out the best possible time and temperature for the product in question.

4. Where or for whom would you like to cook?

I love to cook for my family and friends, because what could be better than enjoying what you have prepared with the people you love to spend time with. Besides, cooking on the wood stove is also a super event as a party with friends and family.
In my restaurant I leave the cooking to the professionals, they are used to deliver high quality even under time pressure.

5. tell us your favorite recipe that we can publish in our blog?

Steinbacher Urfladen

Urfladen dough:

• 200g wheat flour
• 100g rye flour
• 100ml water
• 100ml milk
• 1pck dry yeast
• 20g sugar
• 15g salt
• 25ml balsamic vinegar
• 50ml sunfloweroil

For the dough, mix the flours, sugar and salt and knead with the other ingredients to form a soft dough. Then let the tef rise for 90 minutes at 26 degrees, portine, roll out and top as desired.

For the topping, just look in the fridge and get creative. The base is always sour cream and gouda.
Kati recommends on it:

• roasted green asparagus, beef ham and red onion
• shredded vegetables and caramelized sunflower seeds and green seasoning

You can find more ideas and recipes in Kati's "The Heimatlon Cookbook".