Carinthian Cuisine, From Wooden Boards to Michelin Stars

As autumn temperatures fall in Carinthia, appetites return, making the season well suited to a culinary journey through the Austrian region. One essential stop is the Kasnudel, traditionally filled with curd cheese, potatoes and mint. Versions with spinach, chanterelles or dried pears give the regional specialty a different character.

Kasnudeln rank among Carinthia’s culinary symbols. After a late-summer or autumn hike, visitors can turn to the food served in Buschenschänken, including Brettljause platters piled with bacon, Carinthian dried sausages, salami, smoked meat, liver spread, seasoned pork fat, butter, hard-boiled eggs, horseradish and cheese, accompanied by homemade farmhouse bread and cider.

Carinthia also has a growing fine-dining scene. Five restaurants received Michelin stars this year: Die Forelle at Lake Weissensee, Hubert Wallner at Lake Wörthersee, Rouge Noir at Lake Weissensee, Restaurant Moritz in Grafenstein and the Gamskogelhütte, which offers fine dining at almost 2,000 meters. Die Forelle host Monika Müller also received a Michelin Service Award.

Seven more Carinthian establishments earned Green Michelin Stars, bringing the guide’s total number of recommended businesses in the region to 25. Gault & Millau recognizes roughly 30 restaurants with one or more toques. Their chefs combine local ingredients with Alpine-Adriatic influences.

Visitors can sample that cuisine at the Alpine-Adriatic Cuisine Days in Klagenfurt, where leading chefs from Austria, Slovenia and Italy meet local restaurants. Cheese, buckwheat and bacon festivals, along with the Culinary Nights around Lake Millstatt, Bad Kleinkirchheim and the Nock Mountains, offer further showcases for Carinthian producers.