Hospitality culture

The hosts and hoteliers of the holiday region - full of flavor - are happy to make use of the culinary wealth that opens before their doors. And they season it with the only ingredient that cannot be bought: love! For the products, the old recipes, their land and for the people who come to visit them.

The day is still young and gentle cool when Maria, the good soul of the Turmwirt in Gufidaun, is already standing in the beds of the neighboring farm and picking herbs and vegetables for the upcoming day. "It really is a lot of work, it would be easier to buy everything at the market," says the young woman as she puts everything in her wheelbarrow and smiles. "But you can feel the difference." And that's what counts. Because the Turmwirt is not only a fine restaurant where tourists are happy and satisfied after a traditional yet creatively interpreted and tasty South Tyrolean meal, but the entire village gathers here. "At lunch, after mass, we go to the Turmwirt, that's obvious," explains a local man. "And in the evening we go to the bar for a nightcap." There is something enchanting about the atmosphere outside, in front of the high stone wall of Summersberg Castle. "And, the neighbor raises sheep," Maria says, pointing to three piles of wool in the pasture, "I don't even have to go to the butcher."

No matter where you stop, in the mountain huts, the taverns or the fine restaurants, everywhere you go, you'll encounter the high quality of good ingredients, prepared with the joy of experimentation. Mountain herbs find excellent conditions in the Mediterranean-alpine climate zone to develop their flavor, the famous sheeps Villnösser Brillenschaf graze on the alpine meadows, vegetables thrive magnificently and are grown on farms like the Aspingerhof in Barbian for the top restaurants in South Tyrol. Chanterelles and porcini mushrooms grow in the nearby forests and want to be found. And last but not least, there are the Eisacktal wines, which dance at the forefront of international connoisseurs and gourmets and win considerable prizes.

Good things from the farm

Sepp's alte Rebe is also such a wine, only it never makes it to the judges, because it is always finished already before. Enjoyed by guests from Hotel Spitalerhof, which has been located on the Säben mountain in Klausen for 63 years. The family Oberpertinger runs the hotel business at a high level. They took advantage of the pandemic break to renovate the hotel: now you can even sleep in a wine barrel! While Michael mainly takes care of the wine, the Oechsle grade and the barrique barrels, his wife Claudia runs the kitchen. Today, after an excellent beef tartare, the second course are ravioli filled with local cheese aged in an old bunker with Sylvaner bacon, buckwheat and fried leeks. Almost stylish on the plate lays the flat iron beef steak with three kinds of textures of corn, barberry and black garlic. Next door, in the wine room, hotel guests and visitors sit comfortably at one of Michael's weekly tastings. The winemaker is great at telling stories, and lots of happy laughter comes from the hallway.

Culinary at the top

Quite a bit further up the mountain on an extensive elevated terrace lies the village Villanders. Here, chef Tomek Kinder enchants his guests at Ansitz Steinbock with excellent cuisine à la carte or with a menu in the fine dining restaurant. Seemingly simple as bread with chive oil suddenly create palatal indulgance. We will remember the char tartare with asparagus and mustard ice cream for days to come, as well as the interpretation of the onion roast and the divine dessert, the coffee mousse with marinated nectarines and ice cream. Two sommeliers take care of the wine accompaniment: they enter the 800-year-old Gothic vaulted cellar and find many rarities among the excellent selection.

And for those who do not like wine?

Not lost in the Eisacktal Valley either! In a cozy side street of Klausen, Norbert and Helga Andergassen have fulfilled a dream with the restaurant Gasslbräu. She is responsible for the refined combination of South Tyrolean and Italian dishes and he, as Italy's first beer sommelier, for the drinks. In addition to classic beers, one or the other unusual seasonal brew can also be found. In summer, a beer garden atmosphere comes up; a lively and sociable place in the cozy old town alleys of Klausen. Well protected by the Säben Monastery, which is enthroned high up on a rock above the town.

Text: Sylvia Pollex
Photos: Thomas Rötting, Tobias Kaser, Caroline Renzler_Silbersalz/COR 4
Publication: 2023