If the Renon Plateau is an open-air pantry, Stephan Zippl teaches us to dine at a leisurely pace to delve into the heart of his extensive herb garden, dressing the dishes in a signature Mother Nature style. In Soprabolzano, the chef of Parkhotel Holzner embraces the concept of perennial sustainability, which goes straight to the point due to the strength of its contents.
How many levels of gustatory complexity separate fine dining from everyday dishes?
Too many, a fleet of skeptics would say, invoking the false myth of menus considered exclusive and off-target for the average person.
Yet, anyone who even just glanced at Stephan Zippl's dining room could easily prove otherwise: among those intrigued, ready to detach themselves from their inseparable devices for 3 hours and enthusiasts completely immersed in the territorial intricacies of dinner, this young South Tyrolean chef's thinking seems to have the ability to guide the guest on the path of true localism - even the die-hard fans of oysters with a mountain view.
Stephan doesn't believe in clichés, but he does believe in facts. And it is a fact that he has earned the double star (red and green) in the gourmet restaurant of a century-old hotel with a small team of only 3 people - himself, his sous chef, and a pastry chef, not a single member more. It is also a fact that, in the midst of the journey, a 100% vegetable course reminds one of a second for its vast range of nuances, or that Wagyu beef born and raised on the slopes of Renon releases an irreplaceable essence of pasture, diversifying the range of beef flavors. Finally, it is a fact that Stephan is able to practice that perennial (not one-time) sustainability that goes straight to the point due to the strength of its contents.
Stephan Zippl's cusine at Parkhotel Holzner
Soprabolzano is a slalom of houses nestled on the Renon Plateau, as accessible by cable car as it is removed from the bustling heat of the city. Right here, where people come for hiking challenges to the Corno at 2260 meters or for leisurely bike rides on shady trails, tourism has been enjoying the fruits of the gourmet basket laid out on the tables of 1908, the restaurant that bears the birthdate of Parkhotel Holzner.
The chef, originally from a small Dolomite village 12 kilometers away, entered here at a young age, full of ambitions nurtured under the wings of mentors such as Stefano Baiocco and Norbert Niederkofler. Add to that the temperament of an athlete (yes, Stephan is also a biathlon champion) and the natural culture of someone who has spent much of his 35 years exploring forests and clearings, and the pieces fall into place on the plate, with products closely related to each other in a hotspot of mountain connections.
The same connections that have kept the Holzner family clinging to the slopes for 12 decades, recreating the architectural echo of a timeless space: the alpine Liberty style, the flowered terrace for a highly saturated good morning, and the sinuous bodies of stairs, towers, and verandas sing the story of the four generations that have orchestrated its rhythms, up to the current management of Wolfgang and his wife Monika.
So, while zero-emission heating races into the future, the symbiosis with the environment experiences a new rhythm in the outdoor park, complete with a child-sized mini-farm and centuries-old trees with a sparkling recognition plaque. But spotting squirrels at breakfast, riding a panoramic train just out of the hotel, and refreshing one's lungs with the balsamic steam jet of the spa are not the only diversions for discerning vacationers staying on the Renon. And thus, in the evening, the choreography of 1908 begins.
The restaurant and the dishes
Stephan Zippl somewhat obliges you to eat slowly to fully experience the breadth of his herb garden, almost as if each flavor twist requires additional time for assimilation. In his dishes, you can see the care with which he has found the right plant in a semi-hidden thicket or worked the fish from head to tail because if the plateau is an open-air pantry, harvesting from it with care becomes a small day-by-day mission.
Intimate and linear, the dining room looks like a bright corridor that embraces the tables without constraints. From the kitchen, although muffled, comes the relaxed tone of a team that enjoys the service, and perhaps this is the best welcome a restaurant can offer. However, the bites gathered around a glass of classic Montris Blanc de Blancs method are no less important, a bubbly character from the region that complements the memory of braised Maccherone on walnuts and Parmigiano with a fresh goat cream, "cleared" immediately by the mini-whole-grain bread sandwich, cardoncello, sorrel, cabbage leaf, and Sichuan pepper mayo. But it's the Mint bomboloni (italian doughnuts) that press the play button, plump lookalikes of krapfen with an intense green makeover, to be savored in slow motion to prolong the "surprise" salty effect.
Then, the leap of the char incites the aperitif's wave; meats just seared immersed in a fresh aromatic lake. "To use every part of the animal, I make a broth from its carcasses, adding onion and lemongrass until it reduces," says the chef. This way, the fish returns to reign in its habitat, with the dry (fried and puffed) skin reversing the trend of liquidity at the end.
Unexpectedly powerful, 100% Aspinger gives voice to an invisible "green people," which goes from silence to the spotlight in just a few minutes of performance. "I usually start with 15 novelties and end up with 10, studying the best connections among those of the moment (baby carrots, beets, salsify, and parsnip on parsley root among the summer essentials, note). We work with the farmer from whom the course takes its name, and the mix changes throughout the year, but it always maintains the basic structure: a cream, a pesto, and a concentrated vegetable sauce that involves roasting the vegetables in 3 steps." To understand the work upstream, just think that each flower is paired with a vegetable, expanding the sensory crown each time.
Notes of chlorophyll also sneak into the spinach dough of the Agnolotti with fresh cheese, fermented apricot, gray cheese, and spiced foam. And if the addition of sweetness in a stuffed pastry is not an absolute novelty, try to imagine the harmony between the fruit's acids and sugars that evolve over time, met with a piquant tone by the graukäse, a lean, crustless cheese with a typical pungent stamp.
Even the plan to eliminate seasonality from a robust mascot like tripe, always on the menu at Parkhotel Holzner, has been successful, as Stephan has extracted it from a cocoon of juicy roughness to dress it in a Mother Nature signature livery. The secret? Braising it patiently for hours, adding shiitake mushrooms and an exact blend of Porto, whiskey, rum, and Madeira, which leaves only a soft residue. After the cut, there's blanching with water and milk, and at the end of the warm months, it's enriched with potatoes, dried pears, raisins, and parsley root. "In winter, the scented oil, the crunchy element, and the foamy part change," so the game starts again.
To reinforce the protein, a native Wagyu that demands maximum attention: no vacuum sealing, pure pan searing, and the right rest before being seared and served on top, along with oat pesto, chanterelles, black cabbage, and summer onion. A life cycle that ends with respect, for both the beef and its open-air home without barriers.
Finally, there's pyrotechnics with fermented strawberries, malt, lemon sage, yeast ice cream, and strawberry ganache. "I like the idea of complicating such a simple fruit: not too much, just enough to make it even better." So, the malt mixes the contrasts on the table with a subtle sour vein. "Others make beer with it; we put it in the dessert."
Address
Parkhotel Holzner- Ristorante 1908
Via del Paese 18- 39054 Soprabolzano, Renon (BZ)
Tel: +39 06 718 8701
