Chef Mel's Bio

Chef Mel G. Mimm   started cooking at The Alpenhof Restaurant early in the millennium with  original Chef Manfred and his protégé, Chef Lexi.  She was the much needed weekend hero, who had to learn from the head German Chef how to create and prepare all the Old World favorite foods of Europe which are still being enjoyed in this country and have been traditionally for years.  These hand me down recipes are becoming fewer and farther between and through time “The Art” is    being lost. 




The Alpenhof Restaurant is still cooking like the century old recipes from the Frauen of Germany  requiring the skills which only the most talented of chefs can prepare.

Chef Mel, born in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County, is the product of Grandmother (nee) Stormfeltz and Grandfather Ibach who’s family arrived in our area in the early 1700s from Düsseldorf, Germany.  We have been fortunate to have that very descendant cooking for us right here at The Alpenhof! 
Starting out her career at the “Good and Plenty” in Lancaster, in the heart of German food country, Chef Mel moved on to the “Canal Street Pub”, the “Lincoln Plaza”, then to “Widow Finnie’s & Pretzel City” as Executive Chef and General Manager enabling her to learn the different styles of cooking and to further her expanding career.  When the restaurant sold, she lent her skills to the “Suburban Tavern” where she learned Greek Cooking, then eventually to The Alpenhof, acquiring her magick in German Fare.  A family move took her to “Harry’s” in Chester County. 
In all, Chef Mel  has become proficient in Gourmet, Mediterranean, Greek, Pa Dutch, Italian, Vegan, Cuban and German cooking!  When The Alpenhof needed to replace their retired chefs, one call to Chef Mel and she left her lucrative job to return to her favorite place to ply her culinary talents, The Alpenhof Restaurant, where each day she joyfully carries on the executives demands of the Old Worlds’ palates.