FROM AUSTRIA WITH LOVE
MiNDFOOD travelled to Austria’s glorious Alberg region to capture this season’s hottest fashion.
Austria’s Arlberg region is a dream destination for skiers and snowboarders and hits the spot for lovers of gourmet food, wine, art and culture. MiNDFOOD travelled to this glorious spot to shoot this season’s fashion to warm up autumn days with the rich colour palette of earthy shades, from creamy caramels, deep browns, terracottas, gorgeous greens through to burnt oranges and rich sienna hues. They blend to highlight everything from tailored styles to fluffy knits and frilly feminine dresses.
THE HOSPIZ MAKES YOU FEEL AT HOME.
We start our Arlberg adventure in St. Christoph, which at 1800 metres is the highest village in the Arlberg – and the most surprising. Driving through, if you blinked, you’d miss it, but there is a lot more there than you can imagine. We are staying at the Arlberg Hospiz Hotel, which dates back to 1386 when it was built as a mountain refuge for travellers coming over the pass. It has grown to include rooms and suites, a beautiful spa, 17 luxury chalets and a world-class cultural centre with a concert hall, music studio and exhibition hall.
From the moment you pull up at the front door, the Hospiz throws its arms around you and makes you feel at home. That is mostly due to the Werner family, who have transformed the Hospiz into the heart and soul of St. Christoph since Arnold Ganahl bought it in 1955. Sadly, it burned down two years later but was rebuilt and reopened in 1959.
The property has been in the family for three generations, with Arnold, then Adi and now Florian Werner at the helm. Everywhere within its walls you see evidence of the love that this family has poured into their beloved Hospiz, and undoubtedly, if buildings could talk, the feeling would be mutual. From the family photos on the walls around the hallways, atop the grand piano in the lounge, and the Werner family tree on a wall on the way to the Spa, the Werner DNA is deeply entrenched. Guests of the Hospiz can even have a drink with the family at the scheduled welcome drinks on a Friday night. We meet Adi, Florian, Florian’s wife Ursula and son Thaddeus at the drinks.
Florian Werner is a lover of art, and was the force behind the development of the spectacular arlberg1800 Contemporary Art and Concert Hall added to the Hospiz in 2015. Built underground, the concert hall – with its stunning timber interior – and the art galleries are exquisite. Artists are invited to come and participate in the Artist in Residence programme, letting their creative juices flow in the studio. They are encouraged to leave a piece behind, with a recent artist, Guadalupe Valdés from Chile, leaving a magnificent piece she did in the summer. The music studio is also outstanding, with five pianos in the space allowing musicians to learn from the maestro. There are two concerts a week during winter.
Also part of this new centre are the superb luxury chalets, named after musicians from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Beethoven to Glenn Miller, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong. The suites are truly spectacular, with each one reflecting the taste of its owners in a contemporary alpine style.
A stay at the Hospiz must include a visit to the Hospiz Alm Restaurant at the base of the St. Christoph ski area. Lunch is a boisterous and very tasty affair with skiers choosing to sit outside on the sunny terrace or inside in the traditional Tyrolean setting. Don’t miss the chance to go downstairs to the large bottle wine cellar. This place is extraordinary, with a private collection of 3,000 big bottles of Bordeaux wines, the walls dotted with bottles that have been pre-purchased for a future celebration – from Oliver and Arlo Werner’s 18th birthday from their grandparents, and for Neil Werner’s retirement from his mates. Adi Werner started the cellar, which is housed in an old atomic bunker, when he started collecting Bordeaux reds in the 1970s. Shipping these reds was unheard of at the time but now more than 35 châteaux provide wine directly. The oldest bottle dates back to 1862 and the most expensive – the 15-litre Château d’Yquem – is valued at 75,000 euros. While Adi Werner wouldn’t open that bottle for us, we did have a beer with him later on upstairs.
There are five villages, St. Anton, St. Christoph and Stuben on the Tyrolean side of the Alps, and Zürs and Lech on the Arlberg side. The villages have unique personalities, but all have welcoming accommodation, excellent restaurants and fine wine – and are within easy reach of world-class skiing.
We explored as much as we could, yahooing on the scenic slopes of St. Christoph and down to St. Anton, stopping for lunch and drinks at the fabulous Gampen, and the higher-end Himmeleck, which offers delicious regional specialties. We had a quick dessert stop at Verwallstube, which is the highest-hatted restaurant in the Alps. Chef Manfred Fahrner has three Gault Millau toques (hats) and offers fine dining at 2,085 metres. Are white truffles your thing? The Verwallstube goes through 6kg of these each winter.
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
Scenes from a movie called Chalet Girl were also filmed at the Museum in St. Anton, which is now a restaurant. The quality of the food is incredible, as is the service, and between courses we visit the museum section upstairs.
On our last few nights in the Arlberg, we explore the town of Lech and visit James Turrell’s Skyspace, a gorgeous walk through stunning scenery at Oberlech. We go up a gondola at night for a fondue dinner at the Rüfikopf, up among the stars. Between mouthfuls, we look down over the town as groomers get busy on the slopes opposite, their headlights like pinpricks in the velvety light. We stroll around the beautiful fairy-talelike town. There is a stunning church that cries out to be photographed against the spectacular white backdrop and a beautiful old timber bridge, where we find our next form of transport.
We climb aboard a horse-drawn sleigh for a ride to the village of Zug. Knees under blankets, it is a tranquil experience only complemented by the jingling of the bridles and the rhythmic clippity-clop of the horses’ hooves. We jangle past families cross-country skiing, jingle through forests and are mesmerised looking up at the milky-white peaks all around us.
It is a heavenly experience in what is a heavenly place.
VISIT MiNDFOOD.COM
Austria has some of the most magnificent mountains in the world, which feature in our list of the world’s must-visit mountains. mindfood.com/visit-mountains