More than schnitzels and sausages: Restaurants in Austria are big on locally grown and organic produce

A menacing sight of a pig’s head hangs precariously by its ear, alongside hunks of ribs and loin draped on the wooden stand. I am digesting this macabre sight amid the hubbub of an al fresco kitchen when chef Max Stiegl hands me a freshly baked slice of sourdough bread dipped in a bowl of burgundy-hued blood from a pig slaughtered earlier in the day.

“Try it,” he offers with a mischievous grin. I squirm before biting into the blood-drenched bread with a salty and slightly metallic zing. 

I am part of a party of about 20 people who have braved the winter cold in January to huddle in the backyard of nose-to-tail restaurant-inn Gut Purbach in Burgenland in eastern Austria. High-spirited banter is swiftly dialled down whenever Stiegl heaves vats of food over the fire. 

Cooked a la minute are dishes like eggs scrambled with onions and earthy globs of pig’s brain, liver slices doused in a tangy sauce of red wine, vinegar and lentils and chunks of kidney doused in vinegar and garlic. Appetisers from the 25-course menu include red wine-braised snout and heart sashimi. And we are just getting started. 

Welcome to sautanz (sow’s dance in German), an Austrian winter tradition in which families gather to butcher and cook all parts of the pig before throwing a jolly feast with convivial folk music.

In between sips of Austrian wines like Gruner Veltliner, we pig out (pun intended) on flame-licked grilled pork chops, roast pork belly encrusted with a glorious crackling, and bratwurst, sculpted from minced pork that has been liberally seasoned with smoky paprika, accompanied by fiery sambal olek. 

Since 2007, Stiegl has offered the sautanz experience about 12 times yearly to revive interest in the diminishing food tradition. Between courses, I learn about his whole-animal approach to cooking and mingled with other guests, who shared their families’ take on sautanz.

Stiegl says: “I wanted to put the spotlight back on local ingredients and old regional recipes, as restaurants here were focusing on imported ingredients, such as tuna and foie gras.” 

Gut Purbach, which serves Pannonian cuisine with a touch of French influence, picked up a green star in Michelin Guide Austria 2025, which made a long-awaited return to Austria after 16 years. 

The guide covers seven other states in the Alpine Republic, in addition to Vienna and Salzburg. Of the 82 starred restaurants, more than half were lauded with stars for the first time. Most notably, Steirereck im Stadtpark, a contemporary Austrian restaurant in Vienna, was crowned with three stars. With the guide’s relaunch, Austria is keen to showcase more of its nature-led cuisine and regional specialities, underscored by a robust organic farming culture. 

Austrian cuisine has long been associated with dishes intertwined with the Habsburg imperial history, such as Wiener Schnitzel, Sachertorte, and Tafelspitz (boiled beef in vegetable-based broth served with apple sauce and horseradish).

While these perennial dishes are enamoured, Austria’s fine-dining scene is bubbling with vibrancy, with a crop of internationally-trained homegrown chefs letting local produce shine through contemporary and preservation techniques. 

Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, sums up: “Austria’s gastronomy scene stands out thanks to its regional characteristics — people are proud of the high-quality, domestic produce. There is also a focus on seasonal dishes, many of which are produced to organic quality standards. Numerous enterprises show an enormous commitment to sustainability, which they implement very consistently in well-thought-out concepts.” 

Homegrown and organic

With about a quarter of agricultural land certified as organic, Austria is regarded as a leader in organic farming in Europe. Thanks to consumer demand and favourable climate and topography, farmers prioritise environmentally friendly farming methods to maintain air, water, and soil quality. 

Chef Paul Ivic of one-Michelin-starred vegetarian fine-dining restaurant Tian in Vienna espouses this ecological-friendly approach. In 2020, Tian was one of the first restaurants in Austria to receive a Green star.

Working with about 25 farmers in Austria and neighbouring countries, Ivic shares that he sources organic and fair trade-cultivated vegetables, fruit, and grains based on how healthy the soil is.

He says: “I prefer ingredients cultivated in a permaculture that favours biodiversity as they take in the beautiful flavours from nature. My secret to running a sustainability-driven restaurant is having good farmers; some are so detailed that they research on seeds and bring me obscure crop varieties.”

“Our enthusiasm for high-quality food is our motor,” he affirms, adding that Tian’s health-driven doctrine eschews the use of herbicides, pesticides, and genetically modified products. 

The stars of Tian’s imaginative winter menu are ingredients like Rosa Dell’lsonzo radicchio leaves, which are only in season for six weeks and prized for their subtle bitterness. Ivic grills the blushing purple leaves and pairs them with sweet, nutty artichoke puree, and roasted hazelnut sauce.

Another favourite is the “amazingly sweet and juicy” Tropea onions from Italy, which shine in an onion soup studded with leathery onion ravioli filled with roasted onion quark and a touch of acidity from lemon and fermented Suave-Habanero. About two dishes are changed every four to six weeks, depending on the farmers’ harvest, including tomatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, and cauliflower.  

Austrian food traditions are also celebrated through seinerzeit; the bread course is served with humble pantry staples like liptauer, a moreish spicy cheese spread and stosuppe, a comforting soup made with sour milk and sour scream. 

Over the past 14 years, Tian, which refers to  heaven in Chinese, has gradually won over the hearts of sceptical diners in the meat-loving city. It has expanded to a bistro and an online gourmet shop. Ivic says: “We have a lot of regulars who are curious and no longer frightened by the vegetarian concept. Being a non-vegetarian myself, the flavours on the plate always count and win people over.”

Also pushing the boundaries of local produce is Julian Stieger, head chef of Rote Wand Chef’s Table, which catapulted to a two-star rating. Stieger, who also received the Michelin Guide’s Young Chef Award, relishes the challenge of cooking with ingredients in the Alps, given that the intimate 14-seater restaurant is housed in a gourmet hotel in the ski resort town of Lech am Arlberg.

He shares: “I want to give diners a flavour of the Alps and show them what’s possible here.” 

Despite the restaurant’s high-altitude location, the team forages ingredients during summer, pickles and ferments them for winter use. Ingredients include sturgeon, stone pine, and sprouts, which are also made into schnapps. 

Stieger, who has worked at acclaimed restaurants Geranium, Eleven Madison Park and Steirereck, says: “This year, 31 restaurants received green stars for the first time, and that means a lot for Austria as our farmers constantly strive to create the best products. Although we are a small country, we are pushing our suppliers and farmers to achieve the next level of quality.” 

• Kenneth Goh is Dining Editor of The Peak Singapore. He relishes uncovering stories in eateries and kitchens as much as hunting for new chomping grounds.

Inspiration from Asia

Stalwarts such as Toni Morwald, one of Austria’s best-known chefs, have long championed this farm-to-table mantra. He runs the one-starred modern Austrian restaurant Toni M., as part of his hospitality empire. 

His restaurants tap into fresh vegetables, herbs and meat from 300 farmers across Austria. At Toni M., which is in the wine-growing village of Feuersbrunn, signature dishes include szegediner weller krautfleisch, or slow-cooked pork and sauerkraut stew.

Morwald, who will open a modern Austrian restaurant in the wine region of Wachau next spring, says: “Like Nordic and Spanish cuisines, Austrian cuisine is diverse and multifaceted. Our culinary culture is open to influences from around the world.”

The seasoned restauranteur and cookbook author draws influences from the Mediterranean and Asia, having cooked in China and Japan, where he had a newfound appreciation for fresh produce. 

Other long-timers are Rudolf and Karl Obauer, chef-owners of two-starred contemporary alpine restaurant Obauer in Werfen. The brothers run the 46-year-old restaurant, which serves classic dishes imbued with modern influences, such as chamois carpaccio with saddle of venison, blueberry mustard, spiced honey, and Jerusalem artichoke blossom.

Berthold Obauer, the restaurant’s head of operations says: “We modernise Austrian cuisine by emphasizing simplicity and purity in our dishes. Our approach involves using fewer ingredients to achieve a clear, refined taste and a sleek, minimalist presentation. We aim to focus on the essentials, allowing the quality of the ingredients to shine through.”

Another example is the veal kidney with Oxymel sauce, inspired by a traditional recipe by German abbess, Hildegard von Bingen. The elevated take on the classic dish has lime, pepper and fresh herbs that accentuates the rich flavours of the veal kidney, drenched in the sauce, which is a blend of honey and vinegar. 

The restaurant places a strong emphasis on provenance of the ingredients. A key local ingredient in its seasonal menu is game meat, such as chamois, venison, deer, and marmot that are sourced directly from local hunters and small, family-run butchers in Werfen. Mushrooms and berries are also incorporated into many dishes. They include Parasol mushroom, which is highly aromatic and boasts a rich, umami flavour, and local berries like blueberries, raspberries and sea buckthorn.Freshwater fish, including char, mountain trout, and carp, are sourced from a supplier just two kilometres away from Restaurant Obauer.

The brothers, who have participated in restaurant pop-ups in Japan, Thailand, and Singapore, also seek inspiration from abroad. They say: “Our travels have significantly influenced our culinary approach, particularly our experiences at various food markets across Asia.”

“The modesty, warmth, and diversity of culinary traditions we experienced have enriched our understanding of food and inspired us to integrate these values into our own restaurant,” they add. For example, the precise craft of cutting and preparing ingredients in Japanese cuisine can be applied to the Obauers’ culinary style.

Hirschen, a restaurant in the 270-year-old family-run hotel in Schwarzenberg, also incorporates Asian food influences. Head chef Jonathan Burger, a fermentation fanatic, incorporates miso, shoyu, kochi, and kimchi into regional Austrian cuisine.

Burger, who surprisingly has never been to Japan and South Korea, experiments with surplus fruit and vegetables sourced from mainly organic farmers in the vicinity. Hirschen, which received a green star this year, adopts a nose-to-tail or leat-to-root approach to using unique products from Vorarlberg, including riebel, an ancient corn variety that has recently been planted in the region, and fermented turnips. 

In the fermentation cellar, Burger transforms local products into umami-rich garums, sauces, seasoning, and ages hunks of prosciuttos. The menu, which changes daily, includes pickled mushroom choux with shoyu mayonnaise, wild garlic kimchi, and mushroom goulash, and curd dumplings.

Adopting a zero-waste approach and preservation techniques has enabled Burger to utilise regional products during winter. 

With a strong pride in using local and organic produce driven by a hotbed of culinary talents, it is high time that schnitzels and sausages, while dependably delicious, make room for this pillar of Austrian cuisine to be more known to the rest of the world.