Stiftskeller Admont: Successful start for new tenant
On 19 March 2024, the Stiftskeller started this year's museum season with its new tenant Ulrich Matlschweiger. And it has been a success: "We've enjoyed an enormous rush of guests," says Matlschweiger, summarising the past few months. There are already plans to expand the culinary offering.
The long-time operator of the "Hoamat" has pulled up stakes in Großreifling and moved his fresh culinary ideas to the Stiftskeller in Admont. He has taken Hoamat classics such as the Styrian cheese soup and the homemade curd cheese strudel with him, "which is still made by hand, just like at grandma's house," says Ulrich Matlschweiger. The great value that the tenant of the Stiftskeller places on freshly prepared food and regional produce is also reflected in an upcoming expansion of the culinary offering: from the museum season next year, regional products will no longer only be available to eat in the restaurant, but also to take away in the new farm shop. A web shop is also being planned, which will allow "us to ship the goods and take the Gesäuse out into the world," Matlschweiger adds.
Cooking goes to school
To familiarise children with regional products and healthy eating, Matlschweiger is also a regular guest at schools. He has already prepared delicious meals from local produce at the polytechnic school in Rottenmann and the secondary schools in Admont and Weißenbach near St. Gallen. His message: "How important a balanced diet is for the body. If you also choose regional products, you are not only doing something good for your own health, but also supporting the local economy and thus creating a certain independence from large international corporations," Matlschweiger emphasises his concern.
Celebrity chefs as guests in the Stiftskeller
An upcoming themed evening will also have a strong regional focus: "I would like to bring together the visionaries from the Gesäuse, who are now scattered all over Austria, and cook together with them for our guests in the Stiftskeller," Matlschweiger predicts. In addition to culinary representatives from the region, Matlschweiger will also invite celebrity chef Lukas Nagl from Lake Traunsee to Admont. He was named Austria's best chef by Gault & Millau last year, "so I'm all the more delighted that Lukas Nagl will be creating a menu with me here in the Stiftskeller," says Matlschweiger, opening the upcoming event. However, Lukas Nagl will be just one of several celebrities expected at the Stiftskeller. Gregor Šagi, head chef at the three-toque restaurant Dveri Pax, will also be presenting his skills in the Stiftskeller.
New offer for companies and clubs
In addition to the upcoming events with celebrity chefs, the tenant of the Stiftskeller has also developed a new offer for companies and clubs. "We have combined a visit to the museum with a subsequent wine tasting and a pre-Christmas menu. A very special experience to celebrate Advent together," says Matlschweiger. There will also soon be something new on the menu. In the coming months, the passionate chef wants to devote himself to the further development of traditional monastery cuisine and work on a new monastery cookery book together with historian Josef Hasitschka.
Strong together
As deputy chairman of the Gesäuse Tourism Association, Ulrich Matlschweiger also emphasises the importance of "good cooperation in the region", as he says, because ultimately "we are only strong together". The Benedictine monastery is a prime example of good cooperation, because "without the close cooperation with all areas and businesses of the monastery, the further development of the Stiftskeller in this form would certainly not be possible," emphasises Matlschweiger.
