The Rhythm of the Peaks.

The Dolomites are not a backdrop. They are a stage in constant movement. Valleys widen, peaks shift in light, and every road writes its own invitation. To come here is to understand that travel is not measured by destinations but by the cadence of motion itself.

Two companions reveal this truth differently on this journey. The BMW X5M offers serenity in ascent, a balance of strength and refinement that turns even the steepest climbs into composure. The BMW M2, by contrast, sharpens the alpine rhythm, agile, immediate, alive on winding passes where every curve is dialogue. Together, they translate the language of the Dolomites, one through presence, the other through precision.

Dine

Atelier Moessmer — Norbert Niederkofler, Brunico

Mountain Lab by Firelight

Atelier Moessmer is more than a restaurant, it is a dialogue with the Dolomites themselves. Set within a historic villa once belonging to a textile dynasty, the house now shelters a culinary atelier where Norbert Niederkofler refines his celebrated “Cook the Mountain” philosophy. Every detail, the restored wood, the warmth of firelight, the quiet rhythm of the rooms speaks of a place where history and present co-exist with rare balance.

The cuisine follows the seasons with near monastic discipline. Roots, herbs, and alpine produce are transformed through fire, smoke, fermentation, and preservation, each technique echoing traditions of survival yet expressed with contemporary precision. The tasting menus unfold like a mountain ascent, slow, layered, revealing depth only possible when nature dictates the pace.

Service mirrors the cooking, discreet but assured, guiding without intrusion. Wines emphasize alpine terroir, extending the sense of place beyond the plate. Dining here is not about abundance or theatre, it is about refinement through restraint, a reminder that the purest luxury is found not in excess, but in clarity.

Cocun — Cellar Restaurant, San Cassiano

Depth in the Cellar

There is a hushed elegance to Cocun, hidden largely underground as if it were carved beneath the mountain itself. Light filters through ancient stone, wood, and wine racks; the atmosphere feels intimate, almost sacred. Here, dining is not about display, but excavation of flavor, texture, and memory.

The menu embraces local terroir with confidence. Cheese, cured meats, wild herbs, and foraged mushrooms speak of the earth, each dish strikes a balance, richness tempered by freshness, smoke softened into finesse. Small plates transform into narratives, the bite of aged cheese against the melt of a reduction, the crunch of grains beneath layered purée. All creating a tapestry of flavor tied to San Cassiano’s elevation and seasons.

Service is quietly assured. In the cellar’s embrace, servers move without prompting, guiding wine pairings from bottles stored in tension between tradition and discovery. The rustic elegance of Cocun lies not in flamboyance, but in its ability to ground luxury in place, making wine, stone, fire, and flavor inseparable companions.

La Stüa de Michil — Simone Cantafio, Corvara in Badia

Wood & Whispers

There is a rarity in La Stüa de Michil that begins before the first course appears. The hush that settles among the restored wood-panelled stube, the soft glow of lamplight embraced by alpine beams, and the sense that every detail from the wine glass to the floorboard has something to say.

Here, Chef Simone Cantafio, whose palate has been shaped by Calabria, refined in distant kitchens, tempered by Ladin roots crafts menus that move like poetry, unexpected flavours shaped by seasons, textures that balance sharp clarity with silken smoothness, and aromas that echo rock, snow, forest. Dishes are not loud, but resonant, each element sings without needing to compete.

The service at La Stüa de Michil is both gracious and discreet, letting the food lead, the table follow. A wine cellar curated with care offers bottles that feel like stories, local vineyards, unexpected discoveries, pairings chosen with an intuitive understanding of terrain and memory. To dine here is to inhabit the mountain in elegant silence.

L’Fanà — Steakhouse L’Fanà Food & Wine, La Villa

Feasts of Flame & Warmth

There’s an elemental clarity that hits when one enters L’Fanà. It’s the scent of oak and sizzling embers, the glow of rustic beams softened by candlelight, the warmth that flows from a fire and the people who tend it. In Alta Badia’s evening hush, L’Fanà stands as both hearth and celebration where meat becomes ritual, and flavour is earned in the flame.

The menu here takes its cue from tradition and refinement. Locally inspired grilled meats, cuts sourced from far beyond, even precious wagyu or the depth of Angus, all prepared with respect. Each plate carries char, texture, and richness, the sort that lingers on the tongue long after the meal ends. Sides are hearty; sauces grounded. It isn’t about novelty, it’s about mastery.

Service at L’Fanà is warm conviction. The hosts move with genuine ease, attentive without elegance forced, familiar without being casual. Wine selections lean Italian, drawing from local and regional vineyards whose labels echo the same soil as the surrounding slopes. Here, even the act of choosing a bottle feels like choosing a waypoint in the journey.

In sum, L’Fanà doesn’t strive to dazzle. It doesn’t need to. Its mastery is in sustaining satisfaction, fire, meat, warm welcome. A place where even after twilight, the glow of the steaks on the grill becomes memory etched in flame.

Mumant — San Cassiano

Moments in the Valley

Mumant is a quiet revelation in Alta Badia. An evening where the pace slows enough for flavor, place, and company to matter. Within a dining room bathed in warm wood and big windows that frame peaks and sky, the space feels like it was designed to pause, to let you linger in light and breath.

Here the kitchen weaves tradition with curiosity. Ladin recipes game, wild herbs, hearty cheeses find voice alongside suggestions of Mediterranean sweetness or subtle international ease. Sauces are simple but exact; every protein treated with respect, pasta and polenta rooted in land but renewed with freshness. It’s the sort of cooking that gets under skin, satisfying, familiar, but not predictable.

Service at Mumant carries the same intention. Attentive without show, guiding without haste. Wine selections favor local elevation, alpine vineyards, crisp notes, light structures wines that feel born of altitude, paired to carry food forward, not compete.

In the end, dining here is not about how much you taste, but how much you remember, the crack of wood, the lift of smoke, the echo of conversation against the valley walls, all unfolding as moment made lasting.

Honorable Mention

Vegas City Lounge Bar & Pizzeria — San Cassiano

If You Dare…

There is something rebellious in Vegas City, something that feels like the mountain landscape suddenly loosened its rules. It opens as a pizzeria, soft with wood and laughter, and under winter skies becomes a lounge bar pulsing with life. Here, the line between casual and cult is thin and the pizza, some may say… “is among the finest purveyed in Italy… after a decade of wandering through its kitchens and trattorias there is no doubt”.

The crust is daringly thin, the toppings generous, the oven’s heat turned up just enough to flirt with smoke. Neapolitan style, yes, with mozzarella bubbling and tomato sweetened by fire, but also with unexpected twists, cured meats, local herbs, playful combinations. Service moves fast, warm, attentive, the staff seem to know that in a place like this, the ingredient of joy is just as essential as dough.

Evening at Vegas City is a study in contrasts, wood-beamed ceilings, casual tables, music drifting into the night. It is a place where laughter outlasts the sunset, handshakes turn into high-fives, and strangers become regulars over slices. For those who arrive with appetite and abandon, it is more than a meal, it is memory baked in flame and daring.

Stay

Aman Rosa Alpina

Sanctuary, Reimagined

Set in San Cassiano, Aman Rosa Alpina feels less like a hotel than a quiet return to oneself. Alpine craft meets rare restraint, wood that breathes, stone that settles the mind, light curated to move with the day. Rooms and suites read as private residences, dining is a conversation between mountain produce and modern clarity. Wellness unfolds as ritual rather than spectacle, heat, silence, and snow-cooled air in considered sequence. What distinguishes it most is cadence, service that anticipates, spaces that absorb, a calm that lingers long after departure. It is the Dolomites distilled sanctuary translated into design, touch, and time.

COMO Alpina Dolomites

High Plateau, Pure Calm

On the Alpe di Siusi plateau, COMO Alpina frames altitude as a way of living. Architecture is linear, materials honest, sightlines uninterrupted, meadows in summer, crisp white in winter, always the horizon within reach. Rooms are quietly luminous. The spa is elemental and restorative, grounded in air, water, and warmth. Dining leans clean and seasonal, flavour expressed with clarity rather than weight. The feeling is contemporary serenity, a place where recovery is designed, pace is moderated, and each day is measured by the quality of light crossing the room.

FORESTIS

Among the Trees

Elevated above Brixen, FORESTIS disappears into its own landscape, towers of wood and glass rising like trunks, interiors tuned to the frequency of the forest. Silence is the guiding principle, long views, muted palettes, textures that invite the hand but never insist. The spa draws on altitude and air, the cuisine traces the line from forest to plate with grace and restraint. Here, luxury is not accumulation but reduction, fewer sounds, fewer edges, more sky. Nights feel weightless, mornings begin with clouds at eye level.

La Perla

A House with a Heart

In Corvara, La Perla is an embrace, a lived-in house layered with stories, heirlooms, and a generosity that feels familial. Corridors tell tales, dining rooms shift from Ladin comfort to polished indulgence, the cellar is a labyrinth of treasures shared with twinkling pride. Service is instinctive and warm, elegant without distance. Rooms are individual, charming, quietly romantic. This is hospitality with character, imperfect in the most human way, and unforgettable for it, a place where the mountains feel closer because the house itself has a soul.

Miramonti Boutique Hotel

Above Merano, In Quiet Light

Suspended on the slopes above Merano, Miramonti is about perspective. Floor-to-ceiling glass draws the valley into every space, terraces hover, the pool seems to pour into the sky. Interiors are modern yet gentle, balancing clean lines with tactile comfort. Dining is alpine with a cosmopolitan wink, wellness is intimate and thoughtful. The atmosphere is unhurried, sunsets that stretch, mist that arrives like theatre, mornings that begin with the city far below and the mountains almost at hand. It is a vantage point turned into a stay.

Discover

Brunico (Bruneck)

Town of Quiet Edges

Medieval walls and Tyrolean roofs meet contemporary galleries and cafés. Stroll the Via Centrale, pause for an espresso, then drift toward the castle for long views over the valley. It’s a place to exhale between passes, civilised, compact, and quietly magnetic.

Cinque Torri

Sculptures in Stone

Five towers rise like a private gallery above the pines. Trails loop the base, war relics hide in the rock, and late light paints everything in copper. Come for an unhurried circuit, stay for the silence that follows.

Cortina d’Ampezzo

Elegance at Altitude

Shopfronts gleam, façades glow, and aperitivo hours stretch into evening. Between boutiques and grand hotels, the mountains frame every street like a proscenium. Cortina is theatre refined without trying, glamorous without noise.

Gardena Pass (Passo Gardena)

The Road That Teaches

Curves stack into a perfect sequence, camber, view, ascent, release. Cyclists trace it in effort, drivers learn it in rhythm. On clear days, the skyline feels close enough to touch, and every corner writes a new line.

Lagazuoi

Balconies to Infinity

A cable car sweeps to a high terrace where fronts once shifted and the wind still speaks. Tunnels carved in the rock tell their story, the panorama answers with vastness. Up here, time feels thinned and crystalline.

Lake Sorapis (Lago di Sorapis)

Milk-Blue Miracle

A pale, glacial turquoise held in a bowl of stone. The approach is a steady hike forest, cliffside ledges, then sudden openness. Reflections blur the line between water and sky, voices drop to whispers without being asked.

Sceda (SCEDA Plateau)

Pastures in Slow Motion

Wide meadows tilt toward the peaks, hay barns dot the slope, and footpaths wander without hurry. It is the Dolomiti in lowercase, pastoral, open, and generous with light. Perfect for a gentle afternoon that lingers.

Tre Cime di Lavaredo

Cathedral of the Dolomiti

Three faces of limestone command the horizon like an overture in stone. Trails circle the massif, each turn revealing a new geometry of shadow and edge. Even in company, it feels like a private audience.

A Final Reflection

The Dolomites are discovered not in monuments but in transitions, a pass opening onto another valley, a trail that bends into silence, a table that reinterprets the land itself. To dine here is to taste altitude, to stay is to inhabit calm, and to discover is to witness landscapes that are as much rhythm as they are stone.

With the X5M comes assurance, with the M2, exhilaration. Both become more than transport, they are companions that heighten what the mountains already give, clarity, intensity, and the sense that sanctuary is not found at the end of the road, but in the movement along it.