In Lower Austria, regional dishes should be promoted in taverns. In this country, that is not very common.
Inns with regional and traditional dishes will receive a financial bonus in the future – with this recipe, the new black and blue state government in Lower Austria wants to put an end to the extinction of innkeepers. A solution that apparently no one in Styrian gastronomy really likes. At least that’s the keynote of a “Krone” broadcast in white-green inns.
“In principle, as a restaurateur you are of course happy with any subsidy, but that sounds a bit strange to me,” says Isabella Edler, for example. Your Glöcklbräu on the Grazer Glockenspielplatz would almost be predestined for the Lower Austrian promotion with its ticket. “But should every pizzeria now put a roast pig on their menu? That is completely wrong.”
Also thinks Christina Dow, who has been bringing Italian joie de vivre to the South Styrian Wine Route with her pop-up bar Aperitivo for two years now. “In my opinion, it would make more sense to better indicate and promote the origin of the products. What’s the point if the pork for the schnitzel comes from Romania?”
Hans Windisch van Hügellandhof on the Schemerlhöhe follows the same line. This subsidy is also the wrong approach for him: “Because you shouldn’t tell a host what to cook. Cooking thrives on creativity, and that is completely undermined. Besides, what do you want to achieve with it?”
The fact is, however, that politicians in Styria also have something to think about. Dying the inn is much more than just a feeling. Nearly 1,000 traditional inns have disappeared from the scene in Germany in the past 20 years, according to an IWS study. “The classic village innkeepers are becoming less and less,” confirms WKO industry spokesperson Klaus Friedl. “But on the other hand, the number of specialty restaurants is also increasing.”
Bettina Fink-Haberl of Gasthaus Haberl in Ottendorf (Ilz), which she runs with her husband Hans Peter Fink, confirms that the atmosphere in the restaurant used to be better. “Since Corona we notice that people’s eating habits have changed – we have almost completely lost our lunch business.”
That’s why the opening hours have now changed and the couple’s inn is now only open for lunch on Saturdays. “Fortunately, we have many visitors in the evening. But I am very curious to see where gastronomy will go.” On the one hand, according to Fink-Haberl, there are currently more good chefs than ever before, “on the other hand, as we know, there are fewer and fewer real inns”. In any case, it is clear to Friedl: “The preconditions in our industry are becoming increasingly brutal.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
