Down-to-earth magic

Chef Heinrich Schneider likes to compare his special workplace and its unique panoramic view to a “window seat in heaven”. The mountain pastures and woods that surround the property have become a culinary playground for the self-taught chef. It was his mother who awakened in him the enthusiasm for herbs, grasses, mushrooms and other treasures of the alpine world. Long before the Nordic cooking style influenced Europe’s haute cuisine, he was already roaming through forests and meadows in meticulous search of unique flavours and incomparable freshness. “I am fascinated by the untamed countryside,” Heinrich Schneider sums up his passion for creative and closeto-nature cooking.

Together with his sister Gisela, Heinrich Schneider runs the hotel and restaurant formerly known as Auener Hof in South Tyrol’s Sarentino Valley in the second generation. When they were children, their parents would take them to exclusive gourmet restaurants on special occasions and teach them the value of good food. At the age of 26 and 23, the siblings finally took over their parents’ business. With courage and clear goals, they transformed the site into a gourmet restaurant and were rewarded with their first Michelin star in 2008, the second one would follow in 2017. In addition to two Michelin stars, the restaurant also holds four Gault&Millau toques.

Heinrich Schneider describes his character as down-to-earth, cosmopolitan and creative. Three qualities that undoubtedly also apply to his all-natural cuisine based on fresh and local mountain products. The South Tyrolean collects herbs and wild plants, berries and lichens almost on his doorstep, consciously taking time to do so every day. He also captures the aromatic diversity of herbs, sprouts and mushrooms by preserving them in oil, drying them or grinding them into spices. The landscape around Terra – The Magic Place offers him scents and flavours in abundance, yet he only takes what is necessary for his creations. Time and again, the Michelin-starred chef manages to surprise even experienced foodies with little-known ingredients. As a certified wild herb expert, he knows how to incorporate ground ivy, wild chervil or lady’s mantle into his dishes with just the right effect. Precise, accentuated, powerful – but never overbearing.

In June 2023, Heinrich Schneider will enchant Restaurant Ikarus with his herbal cuisine. A culinary foray through the mountains of the Sarentino Valley turns into a taste expedition with enjoyable magic moments waiting at every step – an impressive combination of terroir and magic.