Italian chef Norbert Niederkofler has won three Michelin stars for his no-waste ‘Cook the Mountain’ approach to the cuisine of the South Tyrol that focuses on sustainability and exploring the natural synergies between the agriculture, scientists, historians and cooks of the region. The Michelin Guide says that ‘his cuisine is a triumph of colour and flavour’ while the Telegraph described it as ‘haute cuisine at its most innovative and indulgent’. Norbert Niederkofler was born in the town of Luttach in the Ahrntal valley in South Tyrol. After attending culinary college in Tegernsee, Germany, he spent 15 years abroad, where he developed his style while working for Eckart Witzigmann in Munich, where he learnt the importance of nature in the culinary arts, and Daniel Bouley in New York where he discovered modern innovative techniques. In 1993, Norbert returned home to work at the Castel Colz, a private residence in La Villa, Alta Badia for a year, before taking the reins of the kitchens at Hotel Rosa Alpina. The five-star Hotel Rosa Alpina is set in a converted 19th century priest’s house in the Dolomite mountains where Niederkofler oversees a collection of three restaurants including the three Michelin starred Restaurant St Hubertus. With just 10 tables, the dining room has an elegant, yet cosy alpine feel with crackling open fireplace and hunting trophies adorning the walls. The Alpine theme is continued in the 11 course Cook the Mountain menu that’s created from typical regional ingredients such as mountain pine that the chef sources personally, to create vibrant dishes including mountain herb salad, ravioli, mountain cheese and chicken broth and pigeon, koji sauce and black cranberries. Niederkofler’s own description of his food is ‘simple, clean, clear’ and conforms to his personal culinary philosophy of ‘aesth-etics’ where ethics and aesthetics are given equal importance. The natural purity of the food isn’t masked by modernist techniques, but the ingredients are allowed to speak for themselves unadorned. He attributes the birth of his son Thomas as the trigger for his decision to remove foie gras and other international ingredients from his menu and to focus on local, sustainable cooking, asking himself, ‘What can I teach my son?’ Niederkofler has created global events to explore the subject of sustainability such as Cook the Mountain and Care’s, attended by restaurateurs, wine makers, producers and chefs from around the world to debate the future of ethical cooking for the next generation.