Built 2,275 meters above sea levels, the recently opened AlpiNN restaurant offers a spectacular 180-degree panorama of the Alps and the Dolomites. Conceived by designer Martino Gamper, the restaurant extends from the Mc2 Architects-designed Lumen Museum of Mountain Photography in Bruneck to precipitously cantilever over the mountainside. Moving beyond the classical concept of restaurant, AlpiNN’s simple, wholesome ingredients will make up a menu accessible to everyone and reveals the true flavours of the local mountain cuisine.
Located in a unique setting at Plan de Corones, in the heart of the Dolomites, rightly proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site, AlpiNN enjoy breath-taking views and a welcoming, homely ambiance brimming with local culture, tradition and innovation.The interior design by the local designer of international fame, Martino Gamper, endow the location with an exclusive combination of tradition and innovation, offering the snug, welcoming ambiance of a cozy living room. At AlpiNN, classic sit-down mealtimes have been replaced by the concepts of standing, dining and lounging. In this way, every guest can enjoy the venue’s wonderful views from just about every corner of the restaurant.
Head chef Marco Perez’s alpine-based menu – conceived by the celebrity chef owners Norbert Niederkofler and Paolo Ferretti – works hard to compete with the view as he sends out char nuzzling beetroot and walnut butter, barbecued radicchio and goat cheese, and a carbonara of spelt fusilli.
AlpiNN is a natural home for the revolutionary Cook the Mountain culinary approach, offering as it does the perfect setting, context and time. Cook the Mountain is a veritable cultural concept that takes its cue from mountain cuisine, only to embrace the local social, artistic and economic scenario. This is the reasoning behind the decision to open a restaurant inside a museum dedicated to mountain photography, behind the appointment of homegrown Martino Gamper (at his first complete restaurant design) as the interior designer, and behind the choice of location, close to the Messner Mountain Museum Corones (Reinhold Messner’s museum dedicated to traditional mountaineering, situated in a stunning building by Zaha Hadid).
The particular point of Plan de Corones occupied by AlpiNN captures the essence of the mountains, in all its cultural nuances. Indeed, AlpiNN’s close bond with its surroundings is highlighted not just through Norbert Niederkofler’s menus, but also through its vocation for all that is mountain related.
Cook the Mountain has become Norbert’s way of life; an opportunity for everyone to experience the mountains and its cuisine through a combination of ethics and conviviality, environmental sustainability and local development. Cook the Mountain explores the cultural and social values that unite mountain enthusiasts across the globe, who regard the mountains as a resource, a passion, a challenge and a worldwide heritage to be protected and supported. By creating a link between mountain culture and traditions and the world’s cuisine and gastronomy, it is possible to promote sustainable growth across the planet and rede- fine its economic and social development by exploring the elements shared by the concepts of production, product, territory and consumption.
The AlpiNN menus are centered on all that nature has to offer, with a particular focus on the seasons and the local produce. Every dish represent the mountains, the hard toil of the local farmers and breeders, the quality of their products, their care and dedication, and the traditions handed down through the ages. People, and human relations in general, are the real added value of this project; all those who work with determination and passion to protect the local territory and enhance its products. AlpiNN sets out to give voice to these “mountain artisans” and showcase their authentic values.