A Winter Week in Austria

Where we stayed, what we ate, and more.

We spent last week in Leogang, a small village in the Salzburger Land region of Austria. It was Hugo’s winter break, a week given to most German schoolchildren at the end of January and/or beginning of February. We had planned to put the boys in ski school and go skiing ourselves, but after too many reports of friends and acquaintances getting Covid on the slopes over the past six weeks, we felt we couldn’t take the risk. I didn’t mind that much—I like skiing well enough, but I’m hardly a winter sports enthusiast—but Max, who is a passionate skier and already chagrined about having missed the past two years of skiing, didn’t want to skip seeing the mountains entirely. So we decided to make the trip anyway, thinking we’d just spend the week hiking around in the snow, building snowmen and enjoying some of the clean mountain air.

Leogang is a very picturesque little village with a smattering of traditional old mountain houses, but it also boasts a 4-star spa hotel and the Kirchenwirt hotel, whose restaurant and wine cellar is acclaimed. We stayed in a family apartment at Ansitz Wirtsgut, a more affordable extension of the Kirchenwirt hotel. The boys’ room had the coziest little wooden bunkbed that we all took turns sleeping in. The apartment had gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains. (My only quibbles about the apartment, which was good value and very pretty, was that the living space was quite small, though good enough for us since our kids are still so little, and the two-burner stove was a bit of a challenge.) There was a good grocery store, a pharmacy, a bank and a bakery all within a few minutes’ walk. Most importantly, we were mere steps from the button lift. The hill was small and great for beginner skiers. And there was hardly anyone around. (The larger slopes that lead to the Saalbach-Hinterglemm ski area, a short drive away, were much, much busier.)

After a couple days in Austria, with the snow coming down thickly, Max and Hugo found they couldn’t resist anymore. They rented equipment for 24 hours and promptly went night-skiing in a blustering snowstorm. It looked magical, they had the slope largely to themselves and the snow was soft and perfect.

The rest of the week we spent taking hikes in the snow, building snowmen, watching Frozen II, of course, and eating delicious meals in local restaurants. Two were especially noteworthy, so if you ever end up in the area, make sure to bookmark them.

The first was Restaurant Bachmühle (which is also a 3-star hotel). Austrian mountain decor can sometimes veer into the kitsch, but this restaurant was so authentic and cozy that it was like being in someone’s home. The cooking was delicious, quite traditional but incredibly well-executed. Standouts included the Fritattensuppe, a clear beef broth with thin strips of a crêpe-like pancake and snipped chives, Kasnocken, small homemade noodles sauced with molten, fragrant Austrian mountain cheese, and Hollerkoch, a warm compote of elderberries and apples served with ice cream for dessert. But besides the delicious food and wonderful atmosphere, the thing that pushed this place into our hearts was the incredibly kind service, especially with the children. We truly felt like we were in the host’s home, in the best possible way.

The second restaurant of note was the Kirchenwirt, which we treated ourselves to on our last night. Kirchenwirt boasts three toques from Gault & Millau and offers sophisticated and expensive multi-course menus, so we initially thought it wouldn’t be right for us. But then we saw that they also have a more approachable à la carte menu with dishes for children and I’m so glad we ended up spending our last evening there. The restaurant is spread out over several rooms on the ground floor of the hotel, which is hundreds of years old. The rooms are rustic but elegant, hung with old family portraits. The tables and booths were well-spaced, so that even when the restaurant filled up, we never felt uncomfortably close to anyone. (Being fully vaccinated is a pre-requisite for any indoor dining in Austria.)

The service was attentive and lovely. Since I don’t have celiac disease, but I am gluten-intolerant, I usually just muddle my way through a menu on my own (a challenge in Austria, where many of the most famous dishes are made with wheat flour) and don’t tell anyone. When I inquired about the ingredients in a particular dish, the waiter gently chided me for not having informed them about my sensitivity…and then proceeded to bring me warm, freshly baked, gluten-free bread within minutes, without my having asked.

Max and the boys stuck to the classics, the famous beef broth with the various semolina or bread or cheese dumplings floating in it and Wiener Schnitzel (with lemon halves tied up in cheesecloth to catch the seeds), while I branched out with a piece of expertly pan-fried pikeperch on a bed of delicately seasoned, tender vegetables (think tiny radishes, cauliflower florets, even some wild broccoli), and tender little Austrian gnocchi called Nidei. This was by far the nicest restaurant we’ve ever dared to take our children to and while there were some stressful moments (for me), there were lots of little details (bread baked on sticks, white grape juice in a carafe for the boys to pretend it was wine or the adorable children’s crockery) that made it so special for all of us.

All in all, it was a beautiful week. We felt cozy and secluded and safe. I’m happy to be home again, especially after a pretty gnarly drive back, but we filled our cups in Austria and I’m so grateful for it. I’m also incredibly inspired in terms of research for Classic German Cooking. This trip was the first time I had the pleasure of eating Salzburger Nockerl, one of Austria’s most famous desserts, and I can’t wait to get to work on it for the book. If you’ve never had Salzburger Nockerl, imagine billowing puffs of creamy meringue piled high into an oven-safe dish, toasted in the oven, atop a thin layer of sour fruit compote…

Among other delights, we also came home with little bottles of toasty, dark green pumpkinseed oil, which is wonderful looped onto puréed pumpkin soup, but also mixed into warm potato salad (German-style, without mayonnaise). Thank you to all who pointed out that it’s also delicious drizzled over vanilla ice cream!

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Things of Note

Cook: Before we left, I made Hetty McKinnon’s Sheet-Pan Fried Rice and it was glorious. I cut a bit of a corner: Since I didn’t have any mushrooms, I left them out and made the “XO” sauce without them, but added some cubed chicken breast to the sauce until it was just briefly cooked, mixed all of this into the rice after the first 15 minutes of baking, then returned it to the oven for the last 10 minutes. I skipped the eggs, but not the minced scallions at the end. It was so delicious, I’ll never fry rice on a stove-top again. Also, I love that the recipe uses those frozen mixed veg that I’m always avoiding. Not anymore!

Read: While we were away, I read Helena Atlee’s wonderfully absorbing book The Land Where Lemons Grow. Atlee investigates the fascinating history of citrus fruit in Italy. I learned so much, about blood oranges in Sicily and insane orange festivals in northern Italy and finally understood the connection between the citrons of Calabria and Lubavitcher Jews. Like I said, fascinating. Also beautifully written. Atlee includes simple recipes (salad with Amalfi lemons, limoncello, etc) with each chapter. I gave it to my mother for Christmas years ago, never having read it myself, and I have to say, it really holds up as a gift!

Do: You may be sick of hearing me beat the drum on this, but this coming Saturday, February 12th, I’ll be teaching an online class on Sachertorte at 177 Milk Street’s cooking school. Sachertorte is arguably one of Austria’s most famous exports and it’s one of my most beloved recipes in Classic German Baking. It can be a little tricky to execute, but I’m confident that if you see how I make it, it’ll be easy for you to do at home. Tickets cost $24.95, but if you use the discount code TORTE22, you’ll get 15% off the ticket price. If you want to attend, but can’t make the 1:00 pm EST (19:00 CET) class, buying the ticket means you’ll get a recording of the class sent to you afterwards. I’m really looking forward to it and thank you so much if you’re planning to attend!