After 1956, Cortina d'Ampezzo will host the Olympic Games for the second time in February 2026. Preparations are in full swing at Italy's most exclusive ski resort.
It's early October and the "Pearl of the Dolomites" still looks like the capital of construction cranes. Everywhere in Cortina d'Ampezzo, people are hammering, drilling and building. Even the old ski jump from the 1950s is covered in scaffolding. And this despite the fact that the ski jumping competitions at the Olympic Games will not be held here, but in Predazzo in Val di Fiemma. "However, the ski jump has a symbolic value and is intended to create a mental bridge between the last Olympic Games, which were held here in 1956, and those that await us in 2026," says Mia Agostini from the local tourist office.
However, the women's alpine competitions are held in Cortina itself on the slopes of the impressive Tofane massif, which towers over the town and the entire Ampezzo Valley with its three peaks, as well as the luge and bobsleigh competitions, for which a new track had to be built. A construction project that, as with all Winter Games, is highly controversial for ecological reasons.
Much less controversial are several hotels that are still under construction and are due to be completed by February. Others are already open, some only recently. These include the magnificent "Ancora" from the 1820s, which was taken over by Renzo Rosso, the busy boss of well-known brands such as Diesel, Jil Sander and Victor & Rolf.
After three years of renovation, the building, which dates back to 1823, reopened last June. The historic façade was retained, while the interior was completely redesigned. From the balconies of the rooms and the terrace of the restaurant, you have an ideal view of Corso Italia, Cortina's main shopping street. Work is still going on here too, sometimes behind screens with glamorous names on them such as Prada, Louis Vuitton or Dior. Others, including Moncler, Falconeri and Golden Goose, have long since opened and are already attracting the largely affluent public on the promenade with glittering shop windows.
At the end of the pedestrian zone is the long-established "Pasticceria d'Alverà", which, with its display case full of colorful, finely chiseled and jeweler-like presented mignon patisseries, fits perfectly into the elegant setting of the Corso and would be equally at home in Paris or Milan. Central European delicacies such as strudel, Sacher and Linzer Torte remind us that Cortina and its originally Ladin-speaking surroundings were part of the Habsburg Empire until the end of the First World War. They also serve the best croissants this side of Mont Blanc and a fabulously fluffy panettone, which in turn is a testament to Massimo Alverà's, the fourth-generation owner, fruitful visits to pastry shops in Italy and France.
The "Alajmo Cortina" restaurant, which the two eponymous brothers opened here two years ago, is located just a few minutes' drive west of the town center and at the foot of the Tofana triumvirate. Massimo and Raffaele Alajmo come from Padua, which, like Cortina, is located in the Veneto region. There, in a rather unadorned suburb, they transformed the family restaurant "Le Calandre" into one of the best restaurants in the country, awarded the highest rating of three stars by the Michelin Guide. Other bars and restaurants followed, including in Paris and Marrakesh, as well as the historic "Caffè Quadri" on St. Mark's Square in Venice. And for two years now also in Cortina.
"We've been coming here since we were children," says Raffaele, who takes care of the business side of the company, "when the long-established and legendary 'El Toulà' was up for sale, we jumped at the chance." The restaurant has a chalet-style design with lots of wood, lambskins and a terrace with spectacular views of the town, valley and mountains. Models and pictures of fast cars and chic yachts as well as a refrigerator for the caviar tins provide a fitting Cortina flair.
"I was very tempted to create a link between the Adriatic and the Dolomites," says Massimiliano, the chef of the two Alajmo brothers, "in the mountains there is a wealth of ingredients and flavors to discover and explore without leaving our region. Veneto which is also strongly influenced by the sea and the lagoon." And so the cuisine at "Alajmo Cortina" is quintessentially Venetian, characterized by the location and natural diversity of the region between the Alps and the Adriatic and with a fitting "Cortina touch". As in the case of bone marrow with caviar and champagne risotto or the deep-fried scampi with thyme powder, celery juice, wild fennel and spruce shoots.
The "SanBrite" is far more down-to-earth, at least at first glance. The restaurant is also located just outside the city center, this time in the direction of the 3,200-meter-high Monte Cristallo to the east. It is housed in a farmhouse in traditional Dolomite style with a stone foundation and protruding wooden upper floor. The interior is dominated by minimalist wooden furniture made by local craftsmen. The rustic setting contrasts with the expert advice of sommelier Vincenzo Saladino and Riccardo Gaspari's sophisticated and elegantly creative cuisine. The chef and landlord also runs a farm and processes milk and dairy products and meat from his own cows and pigs, as well as fresh and pickled vegetables from the home garden and herbs and mushrooms collected from the surrounding forests.
This results in house specialties such as the impressive spaghetti from a local pastificio, which the chef cooks in chicken stock, mixes with Swiss stone pine oil and juniper and garnishes with crumbs of puccia, the local version of South Tyrolean Schüttelbrot. Or a piece of meat for the main course, the choice of which depends on the slaughter and in this particular case consisted of a tender piece of beef tongue, which came with celery stock and a sauce made from mountain herbs. In fact, the "SanBrite" offers a rather unique experience that could also be described as "agriturismo goes fine finishing". This is all the more true as Gaspari helped his father in his parents' Alpine hut agriturismo before opening the restaurant with his wife in 2017.
Incidentally, this still exists. It is called "El Brite die Loredo", is located just a few kilometers up the road from "SanBrite" and works largely with the same farm ingredients as the restaurant. In contrast to this, however, the kitchen line is hearty, regional and traditional. These include cheese and various types of bacon, but also canederli (dumplings) with bacon or herbs or casunzei, the local version of ravioli. All in all, a place where you feel quite far away from the glamor of Cortina, but all the closer to the culinary and rural heritage of this fascinating town in the heart of the Dolomites.
