The Cortina d'Ampezzo List
Five editorial picks, ranked by the only filter that matters: why you are dining.
SanBrite
Riccardo Gaspari's seven-table farmhouse — one Michelin star plus Green Star, single-window onto the Tofane massif, and the most original kitchen in the Dolomites.
Tivoli
Graziano Prest's panoramic one-Michelin-star room above the village — Cortina's longest-running fine dining, with a 360-degree Dolomites view.
El Brite de Larieto
The Gaspari family's working farmhouse in a larch forest above the village — the most authentic Ladin dining experience in the Dolomites.
Al Camin
The chef-driven brasserie just outside the village centre — Cortina's most consistent mid-tier dinner and the room locals push first-time visitors to.
Rifugio Averau
2,413 metres at the foot of the Cinque Torri — the most photographed mountain lunch view in the Dolomites and the canonical Cortina rifugio experience.
Best for First Date in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Intimate, conversation-friendly rooms. Impressive without being intimidating. The tables where first impressions are made.
El Brite de Larieto
The Gaspari family's working farmhouse in a larch forest above the village — the most authentic Ladin dining experience in the Dolomites.
Al Camin
The chef-driven brasserie just outside the village centre — Cortina's most consistent mid-tier dinner and the room locals push first-time visitors to.
Best for Business Dinner in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Power tables, private rooms, considered wine lists. Where the deal gets done.
SanBrite
Riccardo Gaspari's seven-table farmhouse — one Michelin star plus Green Star, single-window onto the Tofane massif, and the most original kitchen in the Dolomites.
Tivoli
Graziano Prest's panoramic one-Michelin-star room above the village — Cortina's longest-running fine dining, with a 360-degree Dolomites view.
The Top Five in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Ranked against a single question: if you had one night in Cortina d'Ampezzo, where would you go?
SanBrite
Riccardo Gaspari's seven-table farmhouse — one Michelin star plus Green Star, single-window onto the Tofane massif, and the most original kitchen in the Dolomites.
Tivoli
Graziano Prest's panoramic one-Michelin-star room above the village — Cortina's longest-running fine dining, with a 360-degree Dolomites view.
El Brite de Larieto
The Gaspari family's working farmhouse in a larch forest above the village — the most authentic Ladin dining experience in the Dolomites.
Al Camin
The chef-driven brasserie just outside the village centre — Cortina's most consistent mid-tier dinner and the room locals push first-time visitors to.
Rifugio Averau
2,413 metres at the foot of the Cinque Torri — the most photographed mountain lunch view in the Dolomites and the canonical Cortina rifugio experience.
The Cortina d'Ampezzo Dining Guide
Cortina d'Ampezzo sits at 1,224 metres in the heart of the Dolomites — the UNESCO-listed sandstone-and-limestone range that runs from the Adige valley east to the Slovenian border — and is the most architecturally serious of the Italian luxury Alpine resorts. The Belle Époque core (Corso Italia, Piazza Venezia) is pedestrianised, the surrounding mountain panorama (Tofane, Cinque Torri, Cristallo) is one of the most photographed in Europe, and the village hosts the 2026 Winter Olympics this February — a moment that has reshuffled the dining scene more than any single event in the resort's century-long history.
The dining is recognisably Italian but inflected by the Ladin culture of the Ampezzo valley — a pre-Roman language and food tradition that runs through the Dolomites from Cortina north to Val Badia and Val Gardena. SanBrite (one Michelin star, Riccardo Gaspari) leads the modern-Ladin movement; Tivoli (one Michelin star, Graziano Prest) holds the longer-running Italian fine-dining seat; and a half-dozen rifugio (mountain refuge) dining rooms — El Brite de Larieto, Rifugio Averau, Rifugio Lagazuoi — are among the canonical Italian Alpine lunch experiences.
Neighbourhoods
Reservations & Practical Notes
SanBrite must be booked four to six weeks ahead in February peak (and is functionally booked-out for Olympic dates); two to three weeks shoulder season. Tivoli runs at three to four weeks. Rifugi take phone bookings two to three days ahead. Dress is alpine-elegant in the village; ski wear is the rifugio uniform. Tipping is not expected in Italy; a 5–10 per cent round-up is polite for exceptional service. Most kitchens close 14:30–19:00; do not arrive expecting late lunches.
For a deeper editorial read, see our ongoing
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