Vorarlberg, the mountainous state in western Austria, has an abundance of steep peaks and dramatic valleys along with pristine lakes. There are also extensive rural regions with lush pastures, which give rise to some of the finest produce in the country, with milk and cheese particularly noteworthy.
LLM contributor Baldwin Ho headed to the area to examine the best restaurants to sample the local cuisine, from the state capital of Bregenz to the scenic village of Lech in the Alps. Here are the highlights.
Bregenz
Being a cultural capital of the region, Bregenz is blessed with numerous renowned arts institutions such as the Vorarlberg Museum and Kunsthaus Bregenz along with Bregenzer Festspiele, which hosts the world-famous opera performances on a floating stage by the shores of Lake Constance.
Dining options have evolved around these cultural icons. You have Buehnedrei, mere steps away from the operatic stage, offering elevated Austrian comfort food. Expect to see dishes like wild mushroom ragout served with classic Austrian bread dumplings. You won’t be surprised to find the best bread dumplings in Vorarlberg as it often requires an abundance of milk, cheese and butter. You have KUB Café next to the Kunsthaus serving quick bites like a Caesar salad topped with local cheese.
They also have a very entrepreneurial hospitality industry. Young restaurateurs, Stefan Köb and Lukas Buttazoni took over the former ferry ticketing office and turned it into one of the most popular restaurants in town in Pier 69. The classics are all delivered with consummate ease such as beef goulash with hearty butterspätzle.
If you want elevated dining in a relaxed environment, there is Petrus Brasserie. It has a gloriously popular outdoor terrace space overlooking a quaint, cobble-stoned square. The refined restaurant serves up elegant French, Belgian, Austrian and European dishes with a particularly strong focus on seafood.
Their Pléiade Poget n°2 oysters will get you salivating with the aromatic diversity of the sea. Their signature bouillabaisse will leave you questioning how they’ve achieved such an umami whirlwind from just prawns, fish and mussels. Unfortunately, they don’t offer an English menu, so I would advise brushing up on your German beforehand or having your Google translate on standby.
Lech
The picturesque village of Lech is approximately 1.5 hours away from Bregenz. It is one of the more sophisticated yet family-friendly resort towns in the Alps. It was famously where the late Princess Diana would take the young princes to learn how to ski in the 1990s and they stayed at the family-run, five-star superior Hotel Arlberg Lech. Here, you’ll discover the diversity of their culinary offering even for a village with just over 1,600 inhabitants.
They have three restaurant offerings. The original restaurant, The Stube, is an institution in Austria offering classic fondue and alpine cuisine. If you are looking for fine dining, they offer elevated Italian cuisine at the fine dining restaurant La Fenice, where the five to eight course degustation menu truly shows off executive chef Patrick Tober’s culinary skills.
Sourcing local ingredients, where possible, you’ll find the likes of guinea fowl served with spinach, mushrooms and green strawberries. They do have rare inclusions on the menu that are not Italian such as the iconic, Viennese Schnitzel. You wouldn’t normally associate such a dish with a fine dining restaurant but it is served with the lightest of breadcrumbs and the veal is so thin and tender, it is a masterful execution of arguably Austria’s most popular dish.
Finally, there’s a half-board restaurant where most of the guests dine for dinner and breakfast. It is advertised as a classic European dining restaurant, however, you will see some distinctly Asian influences such as onsen egg with spinach, nettle and bacon crumble as well as sticky rice dessert with mango and coconut.
The hotel might have opened back in 1956 but they constantly seek to innovate and improve their offerings. If you get a chance, do visit their historic wine cellar which has a wide selection of European wines and occasionally hosts wine tasting events.
Almost all of the hotel restaurants in the region have scenic views of the Alps. One to consider is lunch on the terrace of Hotel Berghof. It is on a gentle slope slightly above the town centre, so you can enjoy a marvellous overview of Lech alongside the freshest of steak tartare served with a quail egg. The vegan food scene is also gaining prominence in the likes of Lech and you’ll find the most scrumptious of vegan burgers at Hotel Berghof.
Factbox
For more information on Vorarlberg, visit vorarlberg.travel.
