A visit to Pramol Alto, an Alpine restaurant that invites diners to slow down
Pramol Alto’s seasonal set menu speaks of the team’s varied backgrounds that they draw upon to create vibrant dishes made from fresh local ingredients.
South Tyrol’s Pramol Alto was only meant to be temporary. Two of the restaurant’s four key players had their eyes set on a farm restoration project further down the hill. But they soon realised that there was something special about the Alto spot, with its dramatic views onto Bolzano on the one side and the jutting rock face of the Dolomites on the other. “We started here and loved it so much – and so did the diners,” says chef and co-founder Jakob Zeller. Originally from nearby Merano, Zeller has spent much of his career in kitchens around Europe.
Pramol Alto might only be about 800 metres above sea level – on the edge of the snowline – but the northern Italian location feels like another world. That probably has something to do with the cosmopolitan restaurateurs who are mixing their experiences and cultures with the Alpine traditions surrounding them. As well as Zeller, the kitchen is headed by his Singaporean partner, Ethel Hoon, also a chef; the couple met a decade ago working at the now-closed two-Michelin-star restaurant Fäviken in Sweden. For Pramol Alto they have been joined by another couple, Julia Heifer and Core Kurtenbach – friends from Berlin, a chef and sommelier respectively – who moved here for the project.
The result is a refreshing mix of styles that works because “we all have a starting point that we agree on,” says Hoon. This means working closely with local producers, including several vegetable growers and a bus mechanic who doubles as a small-scale Arctic char farmer, and respecting the seasons. “We have the same ideas and values without being pretentious about it,” says Hoon.
Before Pramol Alto, the four worked together at a Chinese-Singaporean pop-up in the Ottmanngut guesthouse in Merano. Those influences also make an appearance on the current menu. For example, Pramol Alto recently did a play on the meat and chestnut-dominated food that features in late autumn in the region, adding a Chinese-style pork rib glazed with reduced birch syrup. It sat comfortably alongside homemade deer and pork sausages served with fermented berries and pickled pine shoots and a take on a Mont Blanc cake that came with fresh pears and sorrel ice cream.
Other plates include sweetcorn tempura with ricotta salata cheese and lamb with nettle polenta. “There are a lot of pieces there,” says Zeller. “But it gives us a unique handwriting when it comes to food.” Pramol Alto is ambitious. There are still plans to use the farm to grow produce and potentially house a low-key wine and food kiosk. And the restaurant – described by Hoon as a quirky space with its terrazzo, linoleum and 1970s veneer benches – is set to get a refresh from London-based South Tyrolean designer (and friend) Martino Gamper.
Hoon and Zeller are keen to point out that Pramol Alto isn’t a spot for hipsters from Berlin or Copenhagen to drop in on (despite the homemade, non-alcoholic, fermented drinks on the menu). Instead, it is about the locals, including the valley’s hunting club. “We’re not a UFO that landed here and doesn’t interact with the community,” says Zeller. “That’s really important for us.”
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The Pramol Alto team’s South Tyrol tips
Stay: Pension Leuchtenburg
Located on Lake Caldaro, this beautiful 12-room hotel has access to the lake for swimming or paddle-boating. Try the great natural wines too.
Eat: Patauner
A favourite gasthaus (comfy, cosy rooms and restaurant). Solid cooking, well-sourced seasonal produce and top regional wines.
Drink: Pranzegg Winery
Martin and Marion Gojer have a beautiful winery in the Bolzano valley. They farm biodynamically and produce wines that are unique to the region: lively, fresh and with the potential to age well.
Visit: Ottmanngut
An 11-room boutique hotel in Merano, run by Martin Kirchlechner, who is a friend of the restaurateurs. A historical hotel with a lush garden, great breakfast, beautiful rooms and a really good library.
Stay: Leadner Alm
A mountain hut in Vöran run by a young team. The food is typical of what you would find in most Alpine restaurants but details make all the difference: homemade sourdough bread; Batzen beer on tap; fresh, colourful salads; and a grilled Angus steak to rival anything you can find elsewhere.
Pramol Alto’s simple chestnut cake
Ideally, it’s chestnut season and you have got your hands on some fresh ones. The Pramol team boil them until cooked, then scoop out the chestnut flesh and pass it through a moulin for the fluffiest, creamiest, homemade chestnut flour. Alternatively, you can easily buy the flour ready-made.
Ingredients
10 eggs
300g sugar
400g chestnuts, ground (or chestnut flour)
Whipped cream and pieces of ripe conference pear, to garnish
Method
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
- Whisk the egg whites with 150g of sugar until stiff peaks have formed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is creamy and light. Add the ground chestnuts (or flour) and mix until combined.
- Fold in a third of the egg-white mixture into the egg-yolk and chestnut mixture and mix well.
- Pour batter into a cake mould of your choice. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, then test with a cake tester.
- Pramol Alto serves the cake with whipped cream and pieces of ripe conference pear.
