Many years ago, while out on a neighborhood walk, my then-boyfriend asked a question that I imagine he cribbed from his high school guidance counselor, “If you could have any job in the world, and your salary would be a million dollars a year, what would you do for a living?”
My answer was immediate, which surprised me, as I had never thought about this “job” until the words came tumbling out of my mouth.
“I’d like to make sandwiches and deliver them to people hiking in the woods!”
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My subconscious delivered the perfect career! I’d get to do the two things I enjoy most: prepare food (don’t worry, I worked at a sandwich shop in college, I’ve got the pedigree for this) and hike! And imagine how stoked people would be to have a really good lunch, that they didn’t have to get up early to make, waiting for them at the top of a mountain!
Rachie’s Summit Subs (Rachie’s Hiking Hoagies??) is still a fantasy, but a few weeks ago I experienced something even better than mountain sandwich delivery: Rifugios in the Italian Dolomites!
Rifugios are high-elevation huts, often found teetering atop mountains, wedged between pointy peaks and nestled into valleys, that appear like a mirage on a hiking trail. They offer lodging for those doing hut-to-hut hikes, but they’re also full-service restaurants, serving hot, tasty, stick-to-your-ribs, house-made dishes, freshly baked cakes and apple strudel, plus a beer and wine list and just as many espresso drinks as you’d find at your favorite cafe.
Imagine being on a 12-mile hike, climbing more than 3,000 feet of elevation, and getting to stop at three rifugios along the way to eat on real plates with actual cutlery and sit outside with gorgeous, unspoiled views sprawled out in front of you.
The food isn’t what most would expect in Italy — it’s South Tyrolean; a hearty mashup of Austrian, German, Hungarian and Italian alpine food. Every menu is written in German and Italian and sometimes also in Ladin, the local, preserved language. You'll find spaghetti with tomato sauce, goulash, spätzle, barley soup and gnocchi on the same menu.
Here are some of the meals I enjoyed while hiking the Dolomiti in late September.
📍Rifugio Vicenza al Sassolungo
Everyone told me I had to try kaiserschmarrn, a fluffy, torn-up dessert pancake that originated in Austria, and luckily it’s on most menus. This one, from Rifugio Vicenza al Sassolungo, had cooked apples and raisins scattered throughout and a loose, homemade lingonberry jam for dipping.
📍Rifugio Vicenza al Sassolungo
I saw knödel, tender bread dumplings, on every rifugio and restaurant menu I visited in the Dolomiti. These are laced with flecks of speck, salty cured pork found everywhere in the region, served with beef goulash. They’re also commonly served in hot broth.
📍Rifugio Firenze Regensberger Hütte
Most rifugios I visited offered creamy polenta with all kinds of accompaniments, like saucy porcini mushrooms or melted alpine cheese. I chose a well-seasoned, savory sausage.
📍Baite Daniel Hütte
This was one of my favorite rifugio meals! Tris di canederli in Italian or knödeltris in German, this trio of bread dumplings are flavored with spinach, beet and cheese, drenched in melted brown butter and topped with freshly grated Parmesan.
📍Almhotel Col Raiser
I couldn’t resist this beautiful slice of cake, shingled with juicy Italian plums, lacquered with apricot jam, its crust as dense and tender as shortbread. The freshly whipped cream was dispensed from a large, countertop contraption that I absolutely need to have in my own kitchen. Single use appliances be damned!
📍 Rifugio Friedrich August
These coveted, vanilla-cream-filled donuts sell out fast, after having a viral moment on social media, so we made sure to arrive by 8:15 a.m., shortly after they opened. Freshly fried, you can opt for a plop of Nutella or pistachio cream on top; I enjoyed mine with a decaf cappuccino. Rifugio Friedrich August is just a steep 25-minute hike from the parking lot, the first stop on our 12 mile Sassolungo hike.
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Have a food- or drink-related question? (Need a restaurant rec? Have a mystery that needs solving?) Send me a note: rachel.belle@cascadepbs.org
XO
Rachel Belle
