Jon and I spent last week skiing in Cortina d’Ampezzo and despite some residual soreness (seriously, I must have thighs of steel now), I loved every minute of our trip.
I grew up skiing almost once a week in the ultra-icy Poconos, which means that while I know how to ski, I have long associated the sport with anything except glamor and fun. But when our friend, Jane, proposed a group ski trip and responded enthusiastically to the idea of going to Cortina, I jumped at the chance to experience a little dolce vita on the slopes. Cortina, several friends had told me, was a great place to ski if you value eating as much as (or more than) skiing.
And just 24 hours after we’d booked our flights to Venice, this article (“Fresh Powder Meets Fine Dining in Cortina d’Ampezzo”) appeared in the New York Times travel section. Thus validating the feeling that we were on to a good thing.
As the article describes, in Cortina, there are lots of rifugios (huts) where you can eat on the slopes. A few Cortina rifugios serve what you’d expect at a ski resort – sausages, schnitzel, french fries – all self-service on trays. But others, like the ones written up in that New York Times article, serve high-quality, delicious northern Italian food, sometimes on white tablecloths.
The rifugio that caught our fancy so much that we ate lunch there three times was, surprisingly, not mentioned in the New York Times article: Baita Pie’ Tofana.
A friend of a friend owns a house in Cortina, and he recommended Baita Pie’ Tofana as not just the best rifugio in the mountains, but also the best restaurant in Cortina. So despite having to ski down a few steeper-than-we’d-like bits to reach Baita Pie’ Tofana, Jon and I showed up for lunch on Day 1 of our ski trip, and three lunches later, Baita Pie’ Tofana holds a special place in our hearts.
Our favorite starter was a warm salad comprised of radicchio and speck, both popular local ingredients. Setting aside the axiom that all things cooked with bacon are winners, this salad was a masterpiece of textures and flavors. The mildly-bitter, crunchy radicchio complemented and balanced out the crispy speck and tangy-sweet vinegar. Of course, eating it outside on a sunny deck with views of the mountains and to a soundtrack of happy Italian diners helps. Perfetto.
Given the kitchen’s masterful way with speck, it’s no surprise that I also loved Pie’ Tofana’s homemade, pillowy-soft gnocchi with speck and aubergine.
I’m not a lover of beetroot and left to my own devices wouldn’t order it when there is speck on offer, but casunziei all’ampezzana is the local specialty, so Jon and I gave it a try. The beetroot filling was, as expected, sugary, but the dish was saved from cloying sweetness by salty Parmesan and nutty poppy seeds.
Everyone loves a mountain of snowy Parmesan curls on their rustic bigoli served in a spicy tomato sauce, no?
And on our last day in Cortina, we pushed the boat out and ordered the tagliatelle with veal sweetbreads and black truffle. The kitchen was generous with the black truffle, and the woody-mushroom shavings mixed well with the creamy sweetbreads. Definitely not your everyday ski fare.
Ossobuco needs no introduction, but Baita Pie’ Tofana’s version included the biggest portion of marrow-in-the-bone that it has ever been my pleasure to scoop out and savor. And because I was skiing in between meals, there was no guilt. Score.
Despite its somewhat bizarre presentation (i.e., the rabbit bacon cone shoved into the polenta mound), Il Coniglio (rabbit served three ways) was another standout. There were roasted rabbit ribs and a juicy, meaty portion of rabbit loin stuffed with rabbit liver.
And there can’t be many places on the slopes that end your meal with mignardises.
Jon and I loved eating at Pie’ Tofana. It wasn’t just the food that won us over, but also the unique experience of sitting down for a fine meal dressed in grubby, sweaty ski clothes while taking in the mountain scenery and sunshine. Servers were always polite and professional, and by Lunch Number 2, they gave us a lot less attitude for not having made a reservation in advance.
The only downside to Pie’ Tofana was the price tag. For the quality, the food was reasonably-priced, but I’ll admit I was annoyed by the 5-euro-per-person coperto (a bit high, I thought) and 4.50 per bottle of water (because God forbid you can successfully order tap water in Italy). Jon and I generally each had a pasta and shared a main and starter. With a shared glass of wine, our lunch tabs averaged 65-70 euros for two.
So if you’re an easy-going skier but a champion eater, get thee to Cortina, and be sure to stop by Baita Pie’ Tofana.
Baita Pie’ Tofana, Cortina d’Ampezzo, at the base of the Rumerlo chair lift and easily reachable from the easy slopes of Socrepes; +39 0436 4258. [And Cortina is a relatively-straightforward 2-hour drive north from Venice Marco Polo Airport.]
Ok I think this is where my next ski trip must be – what was the snow like I am pretty amateur but MTV boyfriend is a hardcore skiier so is a bit picky
Gourmet Chick – are you leaving comments while lounging around in sunny Sri Lanka? : ) The snow in Cortina was powdery, and the sun was out most of the days we were there. We traveled to Cortina with a group of ambitious and expert skiers who seemed happy with the skiing, with reportedly the most exciting off-piste being around the Averau chair lift. If you look at a ski map of Cortina, it’s obvious that 1/2 or 2/3 of the slopes are beginner and intermediate slopes, so no question that there are fewer expert slopes than you might find elsewhere. But I didn’t think there was a shortage of expert skiing, if that helps.
Lizzie – It WAS good. ; )
Jen – I’d forgotten about that (in the Talented Mr. Ripley). Cortina does have a retro-glam feel to it, so bringing up that movie is perfect. There were lots of older Italian ladies in furs parading up and down the main street in the evenings (la passeggiata). It was old-school, and I loved it.
Oh my god – that all looks SO GOOD.
When Jude Law invited Matt Damon along for skiing in Cortina d’Ampezzo in the movie “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, I knew it must be a special place! That first photo with a view of the mountains is just gorgeous! The food looks fantastic as well!
It does look really good. I have to say I did notice the prices were high though and I’m glad to see you mentioned it at the end. I mean, that radicchio and speck salad in particular seems pricey for what it is. But then it DOES look rather tasty.
Although I hate beetroot, that ravioli looks really good. I kinda agree with Helen on the prices but the utter crapness of the pound doesn’t help.
Helen and Mr. Noodles – For what it’s worth, Cortina is a pricey town, and so there are a lot of restaurants charging more and offering a lot less than Baita Pie’ Tofana. In the end, I thought Pie’ Tofana offered the best value for money of the Cortina places we tried (which is why we returned three times). The food was always delicious.
God I’m so jealous! Need to get back to Italy for some proper food… Is there anything better than eating well when you’ve actually physically done the work to deserve it? And Italian restaurants in ski resorts – the truffles, the polenta, the cheese, the hot honeyed grappa?! Did I mention I’m jealous? :0)
[…] If you enjoyed reading this post, you might also enjoy reading about Baita Pie’ Tofana, a rifugio serving top-notch food in Cortina. […]
i have been working for over 10 years in an italian restaurant and i can tell you that italian food is the best there is
Thats look like some seriously tasty food…
In particular the rabbit bacon cone shoved into the polenta mound 🙂
Never ever heard of this before, but will have a go a cooking it one day soon for the better half 🙂
[…] bitter crunch of the radicchio was balanced by the sweet dressing. I was reminded of some of the outstanding radicchio dishes at Baita Pie’ Tofana in Cortina. Even better than this walk down memory lane was the toast topped with creamy chicken liver. It […]
[…] of the Dolomites, so for the food-centric skiiers among you, get thee to Cortina d’Ampezzo. Baita Pie’ Tofana, in particular, is calling me back. Favorite meal in London that month was a tie between the […]
Would anyone know if the Baita Pie’ Tofana serves
food in the summer months ??
Thanks
@Jane – I’d reckon they close in August like the rest of Italy but that otherwise they’re open for hikers during the summer. The staff there speak English, so perhaps give them a call to check?
We were in Cortina in January 2011 and loved it. Unfortunately, we were only there a week, which was not ample time to exhaust everything the region has to offer. The food was amazing, our three best meals being lunch at Baita Pie’Tofana (Cazunsei, Venison Tartare with juniper berry butter and mustard sorbet, a nice fresh fennel salad with walnuts and oranges; Rifugio Averau, and Il Capriolo in a nearby town.
As for the skiing, I have heard stories about how the slopes in Cortina marked as intermediate are actually blacks and this is simply not the case. The intermediates are groomed, mostly wide cruisers, with some nice challenges to give the intermediate skier plenty of room to advance. My fiance worries about this every year we go skiing, only to find that there is something for every level skier most places you go. Don’t worry about it, enjoy!
For the more advanced, daredevil types, there are few advanced trails, but I think there are plenty of off piste opportunities if you ask. If you can ski blues in Utah or on an icy slope on the East Coast, you will have no problem in Cortina. And the food makes up for it a thousand fold. If you are a little nervous about the more secluded areas, hire a guide or book a lesson, and don’t worry about it. You will be fine.
Snow was powdery, but not quite the quality of powder you would get in a drier climate like Utah. It was more like the champagne you get in the lower elevations of Colorado, maybe a little wetter. But it was beautiful and the culture, food and scenery make Cortina more enjoyable for me than a canned American-style resort any day.
Cortina is in short a paradise for beginning, intermediate and advanced intermediate skiers.