Sascha Kurgan moves to Ole Liese

PANKER. The Ole Liese Hotel & Restaurant at Gut Panker is revamping its cuisine: from February 2026, Sascha Kurgan will take over as head chef and will be responsible for the restaurant's culinary direction. He was previously head chef at the Michelin-starred SKYKITCHEN restaurant in Berlin. The focus is on cuisine that combines craftsmanship, regionality and fine flavours – Nordic, honest, traditional and at the same time contemporary. The culinary leitmotif: Sunday cooking. Every day.

For Sascha Kurgan, good cuisine is not a big spectacle, but an expression of care, respect for the product and attention to detail. His dishes are clearly composed, seasonal and precisely crafted. The focus is on regional ingredients, refined yet always down-to-earth: "I cook the way you would want to spend a special Sunday: with the best ingredients, time, attention and a desire to enjoy," says Kurgan. "The Hotel & Restaurant Ole Liese offers the ideal setting for this, warm and full of character."

Sascha Kurgan brings an impressive Michelin-starred CV to Gut Panker. Before his time at SKYKITCHEN in Berlin, where he earned a Michelin star, he worked at Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin and at Restaurant Vendôme at the Althoff Grandhotel Schloss Bensberg, among others. Sascha Kurgan is succeeding Johannes Sommer, who became head chef at Gut Panker at the end of 2024.

Culinary development with an eye to the future

Between April and June 2026, the kitchen at Ole Liese will undergo extensive technical modernisation and be brought up to the latest standards. During this phase, the hotel will welcome its guests with a reduced menu in the newly opened Guts-Café in the night watchman's house. The signature style of the new kitchen management will also be evident there: honest dishes, seasonal in character, with regional roots. With its new culinary direction, the Hotel & Restaurant Ole Liese is underlining its claim to be a place for timeless moments of enjoyment – characterised by craftsmanship, attitude and a deep understanding of good cuisine.