It was one of the last gondolas down to the valley from the Seiser Alm plateau. The doors were about to close when someone jumped in to join me at the last minute.

His worn red ball cap caught me off guard. The white letters were that of a feed company, not the maga saying now associated with red hats. Afterall, we were in northern Italy. A region where hand-churned butter, not olive oil, is the cooking fat of choice. I asked if he had cows on Seiser Alm. He smiled and said, “not anymore.” He had spent the late-September day shuttling his cows from the high alpine meadow down to his farm in the valley below. Not one to burn daylight, he had to bring the tractor back up to his son’s farm on Seiser Alm before catching the last cable car down before sunset.

A region where South Tyrolean German is the local dialect, I had to concentrate to understand his story. When I mentioned I was there developing a ski trip for North American skiers, he asked if I’d been to his son’s restaurant. Nope. He shared that, after working in some of the best kitchens in Europe, his son Franz returned to take over the family farm -- and turn it into a trailside restaurant, or Alm. The many Alms strewn about the meadow above the village of Seis give the meadow its name: Seiser Alm. Franz’s Alm is unique in that they aim to use as many ingredients as possible from their farm. He is especially renowned for using wildflowers to garnish many of his dishes.

My mouth was watering by the time the cable car reached the valley station. It’s not often that I include an activity on a Lumi trip that I have not personally experienced, but I knew from a phone call with Franz, and stories from his dad, that our guests would be in good hands. Buon appetito!