Chef Alessandro Gilmozzi from Val di Fiemme says the food of the Italian Alps can be called “mountain cuisine.” It comes from the tough but beautiful life in the high mountains, where his family has cooked for generations in the Dolomites.
This cuisine uses basic, natural methods like cooking over fire and fermenting foods. The dishes include wild herbs, fish from mountain streams, game meat, and cheese made in malghe, the small seasonal dairy farms on the hills. The food is also inspired by the Ladin people, who have their own language, and by Austrian traditions.
Special Mountain Dishes
Each town hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics has its own unique food:
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Cortina d’Ampezzo – Famous for casunziei all’Ampezzana, half-moon ravioli filled with beets or turnips, served with butter and poppy seeds.
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Livigno – Known for manfrigole, thin buckwheat crêpes filled with cheese and air-dried beef.
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Bormio – Popular for pizzoccheri, a hearty buckwheat pasta cooked with cheese, potatoes, and greens.
Here are five great places to try this mountain cuisine:
1. Chalet Gerard (Selva di Val Gardena)
Helga Mussner has cooked here since her husband, a former Olympic skier, opened the lodge in 1964. Even after hiring a new head chef, she still comes daily to make fresh apple strudel. The restaurant serves cozy dishes like rye-flour ravioli and Italian-style goulash.
2. Al Peršéf (Livigno)
This small 20-seat restaurant is inside Hotel Sporting. Its name means “manger,” inspired by the nearby mountain pastures. Chef Attilio Galli mixes local ingredients—like rabbit, wild hay, and thistle—with light Japanese touches. One menu includes a traditional milk-and-rice dish flavoured with spruce.
3. El Brite de Larieto / SanBrite (Cortina d’Ampezzo)
Chef Riccardo Gaspari and his wife Ludovica run two restaurants:
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El Brite de Larieto – A rustic family agriturismo offering dishes like canederli (bread dumplings) and warm cheese fondue made from their own farm.
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SanBrite – A more modern, refined restaurant that earned a Michelin star, serving creative dishes like spaghetti cooked in mountain pine–infused oil.
4. Fana Ladina (San Vigilio di Marebbe)
This 50-year-old restaurant is inside a 17th-century farmhouse. Staff wear traditional Ladin clothing. Chef Alma Willet focuses on Ladin food—hearty dishes such as savory doughnuts with ragù and fried potato dough served with cranberries and sauerkraut.
5. El Molin (Cavalese)
Run by Chef Alessandro Gilmozzi, this Michelin-starred restaurant sits inside a 17th-century millhouse. His tasting menu uses wild mountain plants like pine buds, calendula, and juniper, along with age-old methods of drying and preserving food.
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