Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler — Restaurant in Pustertal - Val Pusteria

An incredible culinary experience emphasizing hyper local ingredients and elevating it with technique, preservation and attention to detail. All the food is either foraged by the chefs or from the local farmers. Furthermore using all parts of the food is emphasized to reduce waste. This concept is well explained by the staff and even by the chef himself when one dines there.

This requires the menu to change depending on the season, however there are three dishes which are able to be ordered ala carte. In addition to the tasting menu, I ordered the gnocchi beets which was delightful. It's got a liquid center and had a lovely surprise of horseradish kick when bitten into to contrast against the sweet beet extract.

As for the current tasting menu, the highlights were the pasta, which tastes like what I imagine eating a fresh pine forest would be like. The sweetbread course and the beef course were insanely tender, with complimentary fermented sides which provides the necessary acidity. Finally, the berries course was crisp and fresh, and had a nice balance of crisp and tartness. One of the desserts with meringue had a beautiful pollen honey that was delicious.

The only course which I thought was meh was the bread and butter. The bread was... just fine and the butter, while fresh was just not spectacular.

The downside is that the philosophy requires the restaurant to be somewhat inaccessible. I opted to rent a car in Italy, which is a hazard itself lol. There is parking available on site. The other downside is that it is difficult/impossible to accommodate vegetarian/gluten free diets.

The location was not hard to find, and is an old villa which they redecorated. I sat in the kitchen and enjoyed watching the staff work. The service was also a classic three Michelin star level attention, however I did include a message in my reservation which was never responded to. This is concerning as what if someone has an allergy etc.

I did have to drive back to a hotel afterwards and so didn't partake in the wine pairing.

I thought the experience was well worth...

From a restaurant of this level, one expects great food and does not expect cheap prices. However, at this place, the balance between price and quality is unfortunately off.

Additionally, the restaurant employs strategies for extra monetization, which negatively impacted our experience.

Food Quality From a Michelin-starred restaurant, you expect certain dishes to leave a lasting impression with their unique flavors. Unfortunately, from the main menu, only the Tyrolean Beef stood out—everything else was forgettable. The Winter Salad was overly sour.

Wine Pairing The wine pairing was interesting, but nothing memorable. I didn’t take a single picture of any wine to look it up later, which might simply be a matter of personal taste.

Additional Monetization Practices The restaurant offers a section called “Our Big Classic”, featuring their signature dishes. However, these are not included in the seasonal menu and come at an additional cost. The strange part is that the most delicious dishes are in Our Big Classic, meaning that for a €320 menu, you still need to pay an extra €35 per dish to truly enjoy the best options.

Another surprising aspect was the way aperitifs were handled. Despite ordering the wine pairing, we had to purchase aperitifs separately. We ordered an Italian sparkling wine by the glass, but the staff brought a full bottle, poured a tiny amount into our glasses, and left. It was unclear how much wine we had actually bought and why the bottle was on the table.

At the end of the dinner, we learned that the restaurant prefers to pour very small amounts of alcohol so that the flavors don’t fade. However, when you order a glass of high-quality sparkling wine, and you receive just a sip at the bottom of the glass, you don’t feel comfortable questioning the staff about whether they can pour more.

Conclusion

Overall, we felt that this place does not justify its price. Despite the staff’s efforts, the “extra monetization” strategies made our experience unpleasant. It was simply...

Our dining experience at Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler was memorable, yet not entirely for the reasons we had hoped. Despite the high expectations set by three Michelin stars and the green star, certain aspects fell short.

Needless to say, this is a beautiful restaurant with a wonderful concept. Chef Niederkofler is a welcoming and approachable host. Three out of nine of the dishes served clearly highlight the excellent craftsmanship of him and his team. However, several of the baked items (with the exception of the excellent bread) were disappointingly stale and clearly not baked fresh. As another reviewer here remarks, the sfogliato dessert pastry served in the current winter menu was dense, overly buttery, and stale -- not crisp and light as one would expect from a sfogliato. The Tyorlean Grey beef, otherwise a fantastic dish, was served cold. The fish, also otherwise a fantastic dish, was served too hot. The acidity of the winter salad was overbearing. A significant lapse in the service occurred when one of our wine pairings was unceremoniously placed on the table without any introduction or explanation. Notably, this lapse was never picked up by anyone. In a three Michelin star restaurant, where the introduction of each wine is an integral part of the dining experience, this was a surprising and disappointing oversight by Sommelier Gerges.

More broadly, our concerns extend to the restaurant's attitude and service orientation. At times, we felt left alone at our table. Despite the fact that we left portions of our meal uneaten, no inquiry was made about our satisfaction. Such moments are opportunities for restaurants to learn and adapt, but they went unseized. Following our visit, we reached out via email to share our feedback constructively, hoping to engage in a dialogue beneficial to both parties. Regrettably, our attempt to communicate has gone unanswered. We believe feedback is pivotal for growth and improvement, especially for establishments of...