A passion for cooking born from childhood, that of Norbert Niederkofler. The new three-Michelin-starred chef built his success by training both in Italy and abroad, with important experiences in London, Zurich, Milan and in the kitchens of Eckart Witzigmann (the first German chef with three Michelin stars) in Munich and David Bouley in New York. A thirty-year career that began in the small family hotel in South Tyrol and has now seen him play a leading role in the kitchen of the restaurant St. Hubertus of theHotel & Spa Rosa Alpina of San Cassiano in Alta Badia.
St. Hubertus, from pizzeria to Michelin star
The St. Hubertus was founded in 1996 as the hotel's pizzeria, with only 11 tables. Despite the arrival of the first Michelin star in 2000, the owner's idea was to create an important restaurant, to bring the Hotel Rosa Alpina into the Relais & Chateaux. Thus began, in 2001, a renovation that eliminated the pizzeria to make way for the more sophisticated cuisine of Chef Niederkofler, thanks to which in 2007 the St. Hubertus received its second star from the French guide. And now the consecration, which projects the St. Hubertus into the elite of Italian haute cuisine.
Cook the mountain, the Ladin chef's philosophy
A love of nature plays a fundamental role in Niederkofler's life: not only because he loves to immerse himself in it when, away from the kitchen, he practises downhill skiing and cycling, but because his culinary philosophy is based on it. A respect for nature deepened during his American experience, at the age of only 24. The chef's aim is to enhance the mountain territory through the use of local products: this is how he does it, and allogeneic products disappear from his cuisine to make way for indigenous products. Game, freshwater fish, Grau Kase and hay replace foie gras and seafood, great classics of Italian cuisine. The butter is churned in-house from cream, which comes every morning from Sterzing.
Norbert Niederkofler: a shower of stars in the Dolomites
A simple cuisine, based on a fundamental principle: dishes should have no more than three main ingredients, or more than five flavours. A mix of new and old techniques: the Japanese griddle for game, the takoyaki for dumplings, the use of fermentation, vacuum and nitrogen to enhance the ingredients.
Among the chef's most famous dishes are the trout tartare and the lemon puree and larch smoke, the hay tempura with Graukäse ice cream, i ravioli with nettle, snails and buttermilk with a side dish of the grass on which the snails themselves feed. A simple, sustainable, natural cuisine. A good cuisine!
All information on the official Rosalpina website.
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