Dolomites retreat Forestis has opened a restaurant carved directly into a mountainside, offering an ancestral dining experience based on ancient traditions and foraged forest ingredients. Olivia Palamountain reports

Yera is a subterranean dining space sculpted from the red earth of the Dolomites' Peitlerkofel mountain.

Part of the Forestis retreat, the distinctive restaurant heroes hyper-local, seasonal cuisine, served communally around a central fire pit.

Accessible via a discrete mountain path behind the hotel, Yera seats just 18 guests and charges €650 per person for a four-hour dining experience. Vegetarian and vegan diets can be accommodated with prior notice at the time of booking.
Executive chef Roland Lamprecht has developed what he calls "forest cuisine" using ingredients foraged from the surrounding alpine landscape, including wild mushrooms, spruce needles, coltsfoot and birch sap. Dishes are prepared using ancestral techniques such as fermenting, drying and salting.

"We do nothing differently than our ancestors - we only see it anew," Lamprecht says. "The forest gives us everything we need. We simply listen."
Rather than following a traditional tasting menu structure, dishes are served in a flowing rhythm throughout the evening from the central fire and four surrounding open kitchens.

Each course is paired with homemade, low-alcohol drinks crafted through natural fermentation and containing no more than 5% alcohol.

The cave's interior features red mountain earth floors and walls, whilst the wooden ceiling structure evokes an upturned boat hull. Guests dine at communal tables made from tree trunks, reflecting ancient traditions of community gathering around fire.

Named after the word for "harvest" in the language of the Rhaetian Celts, Yera represents what owners Teresa and Stefan Hinteregger describe as "a celebration of the forest's bounty."

The restaurant concept encourages direct interaction between diners and the culinary team, who prepare many dishes live and invite guest participation in the experience.
Forestis, located 1,800 metres above sea level in the UNESCO-listed Dolomites, opened in 2020 as a luxury mountain hideaway featuring 62 suites and ski-in/ski-out access. The property operates as carbon neutral and runs entirely on renewable energy.

Yera represents the second phase of expansion for the property, following the announcement of the Forestis Villa in December 2024.