Chef Levin Grüten tells the story of his mountain on the move, with scratchy peaks and a horizon ready to trespass as much in the Far East as in Northern Europe.
Hotel Haller- Restaurant AO
In the age of the sovereign image, fine dining evokes more the idea of the chef than the banner. It´s up to him to appear, lead the games and as is often the case, flaunt the awards he has received with ill-concealed pride. Levin Grüten seems to be an exception: in his case, the restaurant is a family affair, reinforcing an already united team that in success has seen the natural extension of its mountain horizon marked by the rows of vineyards; a widespread "we" as a joining link between dish and individual. Thus, at Hotel Haller, no one talks about himself, and everyone talks about everyone.
Levin Grüten
Pichler family © FlipFlop Collective
You won´t find saunas, air conditioning in the rooms or fancy sea fish on the menu; instead, you wake up among the vineyards, breathe in wood everywhere - from the suites to the masonry heater of AO fine dining restaurant, subtly veined with modernity- and you frame the humble brown trout from another angle.
© FlipFlop Collective
But what makes the difference in this hotel that grew out of a rustic farmhouse and came to build a kitchen with a high territorial coefficient, is the human factor: a family tree firmly planted in the hillside that watches over Bressanone from above, where people support each other, whether to welcome the newcomer or to cultivate the garden. Hospitality is the soundtrack to an experience that transcends the food and connects people.
© FlipFlop Collective
L´Hotel Haller and the Pichler family
A farmstead, two valiant restaurateurs and merry droves of gourmands who come from all over to challenge each other to spoonfuls of South Tyrolean goodness. Three generations ago, the story of the Haller began, led by Maria and Anton Pichler. They are the grandparents of Teresa, current manager and sommelier, who packed her bags at a very young age to explore the hospitality scene from Switzerland to Australia. Having returned with more experiences than her age, she joined her parents in inventing an atypical format for the area´s hotel industry. It´s about reversing gears and swerving toward total ethics, embracing modernity.
© Tim Schardt
While Teresa’s father Hans continues his work in the vineyard to produce excellent Kerner and Sylvaner, the old building mutates into a hotel nestled among the wind-blown grape clusters, with 18 suites overlooking the peaks and an elegant masonry heater made of stone pine wood, where even the lamps reflect the cycles of nature, incorporating vine leaves that have fallen to the ground once they have dried thanks to the talent of designer Jasmine Castegnaro.
Creativity blooms in the kitchen as well: reaping the rewards is Teresa’s brother Simon, immediately joined by Teresa´s boyfriend Levin. And the circle closes like a propitiatory rite for AO, the fulcrum of a dynamic research that knows no spatial limits. Yes, because Levin Grüten´s is a mountain on the move, with scratching peaks and a horizon ready to trespass as much in the Far East as in Northern Europe: great Alpine products traveling on global tracks that rewrite geography.
@FliFlopCollectiveThe kitchen
"We have such an access to techniques from all over the world that we sometimes risk forgetting where we come from. We should look down more often: the earth shows us the way." Levin has a firm tone and the awareness of someone who doesn't lose his compass among stills and contamination.
© Tim Schardt
His dishes bear the imprint of a thousand foreign marches led back to the Tyrolean path. The Belgium of his origins, the basics of pastry making, Asia as the crow flies, the internship at Noma. He goes to Australia and discovers a New World of fish there. But upon arriving in Bressanone, after meeting Teresa, he starts using only freshwater fish and making miso with barley instead of soy.
@Tim Schardt
"We reason about the end result, not the individual element. The courses have a definite character that, however, is reconciled with their liquid ´shoulder´. Proposing creations that are too spicy or intrusive would complicate the pairing and risk driving customers away from the glass. Instead, we want pleasure to be in proportion to the entertainment." Whatever vegetables arrive in the kitchen come straight from the home garden, which is managed by Levin and Hans Pichler, or from the fields of trusted and local farmers. It´s plants, seeds, and roots that volumize the protein with unusual delicacy: a green game that is light and never hegemonic, nonetheless constant.
Dishes
You eat in a sort of "minimal masonry heater," where basic elegance gives way to the quaint furnishings of yesteryear. The work of synthesis also invests the menu, with dishes with streamlined captioning and only one "fixed" tasting menu in 5 courses at 95€ (in our case, Winterblues), subject to a possible daily variation to 4 courses.
In the glass swirl not only estate wines, but also several treats for aficionados, including the Viel Anders "Röck" 2020, macerated on the skins from Gewürztraminer and Sylvaner grapes that is striking for its breadth of aromas and sumptuous fruit (we tasted it along with the beef tongue, which we´ll return to in a few lines).
Levin begins with a polite handshake of vegetables side-by-side. A lively Tartelletta with cream of chickpea, pumpkin seeds and carrots stands out on the wooden table, while the basket of oats stuffed with celery in different textures (cream, fried and baked) breaks down the vegetable sensation into its accomplished triad.
After a refreshing chestnut cream and sourdough bread with mountain butter, to start the party is the Trota Marinata (Marinated Trout): on paper it is an appetizer, however it impresses the mouth as a dish that could easily be served as a main course. Raw like a tartare, the river fish communicates at a distance with its own caviar placed on top, interspersed with a flurry of products to continually stimulate: spelt salad to assist the bite, fried kale as a mouthwatering plus, and a barbecue dashi made from the animal´s bones cooked on the coals, to which bergamot and juniper join in a swoop. The latter comes when you least expect it: the alcoholic note that draws out the green ones, as if it were a cuckoo with a chime.
@Tim Schardt
Aiming straight for the belly is the beef tongue with beer sauce, thinly sliced horseradish majo, sesame seeds and sweet and sour onion. "A beef cut strongly associated with these areas, but now rare to find in restaurants because it’s ´small´ and more difficult to introduce to the customer," Levin explains. "We are rehabilitating it from a ´nose to tail´ perspective, starting with gentle cooking for 4 hours. Then we make a reduction of beer, mixed vegetables and Sirop de Liège: the plum, pear and date syrup that in Belgium is served with cheese." A magmatic fruit-lupple partnership that caresses the buttery meat and lets the pungent hints of horseradish gently deflate it.
@Tim Schardt
Instead, the Raviolino del plin with Genussjäger cheese, celery, black garlic, and chives goes on the bold side. "We use dairy products from Hubert Stockner´s Genussbunker," Levin confirms, "because they have a mind-blowing intensity and spur research into pairings." Processed into fondue, the semi-hard cow´s milk cheese (whose earthy aromas, due to aging for at least 7 months in a former wartime bunker, stand out clearly), gradually loses excess oiliness, keeping intact the soft finish, reminiscent of home-fermented black garlic. Veiling the ravioli´s roundness is a very fine cream, composed of roasted celery with pumpkin miso. These are all pro-sapidity home fermentations with no added sodium. On top, a thick shower of crunchy celery, which against all odds winks at guanciale.
@Tim Schardt
Modest only in appearance, the salmon trout with miso, parsley, millet and black garlic returns to the table with queenly sumptuousness. The spark ignites thanks to the marinating in miso barley and spelt, which Levin lets ferment slowly for 4 months triggering a wide range of umami nuances. Roasted meats on the spot, the mashed potatoes refreshed by parsley, and scarpetta on hand to scrape up the creamy bottom.
@Tim Schardt
And here we come to the pre-dessert, a Tarte with yuzu cream, yuzu meringue and caramelized white chocolate. Tactical citrus in view of a dessert with a prosperous body. It is the Hazelnut Soufflé with chestnut ice cream and whole praline walnuts: soft but rich, it holds a caramel drizzle that reinforces the chaud-froid effect. French by name, local in practice.
@Tim Schardt
Address
Ristorante AO- Haller Suites&Restaurant
Via dei vigneti 68, I-39042 Bressanone (BZ)
Tel. +39 0472 834601
