The wild youngster from Bad Hofgastein

When Julian Scharfetter gets an idea, he devotes all of his energy into making it a reality. Like serving creative and sophisticated food at the foot of the Schlossalmbahn in Bad Hofgastein or hand-sliced beef tartare at a ski hut. “People think that at a ski hut you can only get junk food or at an après-ski place only schnapps and brandy,” laughs Julian Scharfetter. “I wanted to prove otherwise.”

And the “wild youngster” was successful: At the Weitmoserin, located at the bottom gondola station in Bad Hofgastein, a young chef from London uses regional products to create innovative items like wraps filled with local smoked trout or fresh, meat-filled sandwich pockets. And one can wash it down either with wines from vintners who operate according to holistic principles and place great importance on quality, or with beer from the privately-owned Trumer brewery. Julian Scharfetter’s cooking is aimed at both holiday guests and the local residents. “I’m always happy when young people with 20 euros in their pocket find something they like at the Weitmoserin and then come back again and again.” When restaurants reopen, the Weitmoserin will be open Wednesday to Sunday, from 2 to 11 p.m.

The fact that Julian Scharfetter has already gained such a wealth of experience at such a young age is certainly because of his family’s centuries-old tradition as innkeepers. The Weitmoser Schlössl and farm, in the Gastein Valley, has been in the family since 1752. “It is a classic, very traditional establishment with a great deal of history,” according to Julian Scharfetter. “I was fortunate enough to be able to build on this vast experience.” Julian Scharfetter highly values the family asset. “I am proud of how my family sticks together and of the passion they put into their work. My father, my mother, my uncle, and my aunt all work in the family business, and that really is the reason that everything functions as well as it does,” explains Julian Scharfetter. Julian Scharfetter is eternally grateful to his family that they passed on their knowledge to him, but without dictating what he had to do. “It gives me a great deal of freedom to be able to realise all of my creative ideas just as I envision them,” he says.