Markus Holzer – the chef at Jora Mountain Dining

Host and chef at the Jora Hut in San Candido, within the Alta Pusteria area, and founding member of the Culinaria Tirolensis association

I have been a gourmet since my early childhood. It was only when I was 20 years old, however, that my love for food became my great passion for cooking. In the kitchen, I was finally able to indulge myself through cooking. My initially bumpy starts at the oven did not send me off course, however, and my training and years of study took me through South Tyrol, Italy and Germany. I studied under Michelin-starred chef Norbert Niederkofler, among others, and gained valuable experience. In 2006, I finally decided to join my parents’ business, the Jora Hut. My team and I love to cook, and we believe that you can taste this in our food. Our main focus lies on the quality and origin of the products we use. An affinity for our homeland paired with the courage of creativity produces the perfect basis for the unique dishes that we serve in the Jora Mountain Dining restaurant.

In addition to my own two cookery books Pasta on the rocks (2013) and Pasta Werkstatt (2016), I published the book Culinarium Tyrolensis - Die Küche der Dolomiten / La cucina delle Dolomiti together with my colleagues and friends Chris Oberhammer, Josef Mühlmann and André Cis in 2018. The most recent work is the “Ricettario delle Dolomiti“, which was published in 2024 together with my friends Cristian Bertol and Cristian Campana.

From 2015 to 2018 I was a regular guest on the TV programme “La prova del cuoco”, which is shown every day from Monday to Friday on Rai 1, and is compered by Antonella Clerici. During my years on Italy’s most popular cookery programme, I was able to present numerous South Tyrolean dishes and had the opportunity of getting to know and exchange ideas with many colleagues. Now and then I can also be seen on German television (ProSieben, ZDF). It gives me immense pleasure to use the kitchen as a stage and to pass my love of good food and cooking on to both my guests and my friends.