Heading to the Dolomites for the Winter Olympics? Here’s Where to Eat and Drink, According to an Expert

When the Olympics take place in northern Italy this February, they won’t be limited to a single city or cluster of venues as in past years. Instead, the games will be spread out over a series of different towns and valleys between the two main centers of Milan and Cortina. The latter lies in the heart of the Dolomites, a jagged peak covering some 15,000 square kilometers and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that stretches across northeastern Italy and is famous for its dramatic limestone formations and alpenglow sunsets. It is a unique landscape with a unique blend of cultures that differs from all of Italy (for example, German and local Latin are widely spoken in parts of the region).

Few outsiders know the field better than cookbook author Meredith Erickson, whose 2019 book “Alpine Cooking,” which introduced traditions and recipes from the mountains of Italy, Switzerland, Austria and France, was named one of the best cookbooks of the year by The New York Times. Her in-depth study of the region’s gastronomic traditions even led her to co-invent an aperitif based on a recipe she discovered while researching the book: Doladira, an organic, low-sugar, rhubarb-based aperitif with notes of plum, gentian, elderflower and rosemary, all common plants in the region.

Photo: Courtesy of Ten Speed ​​Press, a division of Penguin Random House, LL

With the Olympics getting underway in the coming weeks, Eriksen shares her tips for eating in the northern Italian region as an authority who has spent years uncovering the secret. “I always tell people the best way to experience Alta Badia [the ski resort that encompasses villages like Corvara, Colfosco, San Cassiano, and La Villa in the heart of the Dolomites] Everything is based on Sellaronda [the ski circuit that connects four different mountain passes and valleys]”, explains Eriksson. “You can glide clockwise or counterclockwise, and it takes about four and a half hours if you don’t stop – which, of course, you will. I choose my route based entirely on where I want to eat, and I recommend doing the same. “

Photo: Courtesy of Rifugio Ütia Bioch