Das Attersee

Set on the shores of Lake Attersee, nestled in the heart of Austria’s Salzkammergut region, one of the country’s most breathtaking landscapes, Das Attersee has established itself as the lake’s most stylish summer destination. With its effortless boho aesthetic, a youthful gastronomic concept and the coolest sundowner bar in the area, it is the place to be when the sun slowly dips behind the mountains.

Upstairs, on the first floor, Das Bar reopened this summer with its stylish pop-up concept Sip & Sushi, which celebrates fresh, creative sushi creations, perfectly paired with handcrafted cocktails and a curated selection of wines. Surrounded by crystal-clear waters and dramatic alpine scenery, the pop-up delivers laid-back afterwork vibes with DJ-Beats, ideal for long summer evenings and breathtaking sunsets.

Hauptstraße 2, Landungsplatz
4864 Attersee

SeeSushi

Arguably the most renowned address for regional sushi in Austria, SeeSushi is located in the charming lakeside village of Strobl on Lake Wolfgang, surrounded by Alpine peaks and pristine nature. But not only! The concept of award-winning chef Dominik Edlinger has already successfully expanded to the city of Vienna. This summer, the third location opened – a brand-new lakeside gem at Achensee in Tyrol!

Edlinger, who previously worked at high-end culinary destinations in Dubai and New York, developed the concept together with his sister Viktoria and opened SeeSushi initially within the family-run Hotel Bergrose in Strobl. Here, freshwater fish sourced from the surrounding region is transformed into refined, precise sushi.

“We combine the influences and experiences we’ve gathered around the world with Austrian products,” the hosts explain. “Not overly hyper-regional, but in a way that reflects how we imagine a sustainable future – economically, ecologically and socially.” A carefully curated wine list focuses on young, vibrant producers who share this philosophy.

Weißenbachtalstraße 15
5350 Strobl

Linde Seebar

Far from the main tourist routes, on the tranquil southern shore of Lake Wörthersee, lies Maria Wörth, home to its iconic church perched on a small peninsula, one of Austria’s most photographed postcard motifs. At this picture-perfect location sits Hotel Linde, long regarded as one of the lake’s finest addresses for both hospitality and cuisine.

Directly at the water’s edge, the Linde Seebar has built a reputation for its diverse sushi selection, seamlessly integrated into a Mediterranean-Asian menu. With its private marina and what many consider the most beautiful sunset on Lake Wörthersee, the Seebar delivers the full lakeside experience – effortless, scenic and unmistakably summery.

Lindenplatz 3
9082 Maria Wörth

Seespitz Restaurant & Living

Occupying a prime position on Lake Wörthersee, Seespitz Restaurant & Living is part of the Falkensteiner Schlosshotel Velden, a historic landmark overlooking the water. Under the direction of head chef Thomas Gruber, the restaurant is synonymous with refined gourmet dining.

This summer, Seespitz partners with Vienna’s acclaimed Japanese restaurant Mochi, enriching the menu with a curated selection of signature Mochi dishes, bringing urban Japanese excellence to one of Austria’s most elegant lakeside settings.

Schlossweg 1
9220 Velden am Wörthersee

Sol Beach Club

Located in the heart of Velden, Sol Beach Club is the ultimate address for long summer days spent on comfortable beach beds, accompanied by ice-cold sparkling drinks – this is vacation at its best. In the evening, the atmosphere shifts seamlessly into lakeside dining: summer-elegant, business-casual, with stylish boho interiors and a relaxed, cosmopolitan crowd.

An extensive selection of sushi, sashimi and rolls complements an already impressive menu, making Sol the perfect place for sunset dinners right at the water’s edge.

Seecorso 68
9220 Velden am Wörthersee

The post Best Lakeside Sushi in Austria to try on your 2026 trip- first appeared on STAGES OF TASTE – Magazine.

The alliance between Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia under the title ‘WineVision by Open Balkan’ focuses on international solidarity, setting aside unsuccessful politics and offering emerging wine regions a stage they have long deserved.

Different Balkan countries sitting down at the same table: a rarity – at least politically. The new initiative ‘WineVision by Open Balkan’ highlights what connects southern Europe: the wines of the Balkan region. The project was presented at Steirereck in Standpark in the presence of politicians and the press. The hosts, including Serbian Chamber of Commerce President Marko Čadež and Falstaff Editor-in-Chief Peter Moser, presented the project during an extensive wine tasting lunch. In a joint effort by Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia, WineVision celebrated its premiere as an extensive wine fair in Belgrade in 2022, bringing together 350 wineries from the countries of the Open Balkan initiative and beyond.

‘Wine achieves what politics has failed to achieve in 40 years,’ said Serbia’s Chamber of Commerce President Čadež on the importance of international exchange and the wine fair, which is now to take place annually and will be held again from 13 to 19 November 2023. ‘We have doubled our wine-growing area in 10 years,’ Čadež continued, ‘and demand has quadrupled. We have learned how to make top-quality wines and now want to gain a foothold in the international wine business. There is a lot to learn from Austria, which has risen to become the world champion within 20 years.’

Soils steeped in history

While the classic Western wine countries dominate our minds and wine racks, and self-proclaimed connoisseurs may at best refer to South Africa, South America or Australia, the Balkan countries so close to us remain under the radar. Yet South-Eastern Europe, with its ideal climatic conditions and excellent vegetation, is a paradise for fruit and wine. Today’s comparatively small cultivation areas and production figures cause us to overlook the long history of wine, which dates back to the 8th century BC. At that time, the Illyrians in Albania were already growing wine, pressing it and giving it its quality and renown well into the 15th century, until production declined under Ottoman rule. After several turbulent centuries, wine production in Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia is now developing rapidly for the first time and promises a glorious future – perhaps a future that will bring the countries closer together beyond political and territorial tensions?

The post Sunny South: Wine regions of the future first appeared on STAGES OF TASTE – Magazine.

Where the magic happens: Visiting the Hendrick’s Gin Palace in Girvan 

An audience with Lesley Gracie, the mastermind behind Hendrick’s Gin. Photo credits: Evgeniya Tsoneva.

One might expect a frantic rabbit with a pocket watch and a coffee spoon to dash around the corner any minute. Or perhaps a madman in a hat. Neither appears, of course—but the hosts who greet us on this sunny late-May afternoon near the Scottish town of Girvan are no less wondrous.

Entry through the grand iron gates of the Hendrick’s Gin Palace is by invitation only, extended personally by the brand’s mastermind, Lesley Gracie. Before anyone sets foot inside these sacred halls of gin, she takes the time to observe closely—who, exactly, is seeking entry here?

Once through the gates and into the beautifully landscaped garden on the William Grant & Sons estate, the view opens onto the distillery palace itself—a glasshouse-inspired structure that looks straight out of a Victorian dream. Lesley Gracie, a petite figure of about 1.60 meters with silver hair cascading nearly to the floor, and an unnamed turtle companion, are just two of the many whimsical details that make this place so unusual and utterly enchanting.

Indeed, it feels as though one has stepped into a new version of Alice in Wonderland. The signature Hendrick’s aesthetic—a blend of Victorian curiosity and Art Déco eccentricity—has been brought to life here with exquisite precision by the architects at Michael Laird. The black-and-white checkerboard floor, twin glasshouses filled with tropical and Mediterranean plants, a gramophone and an old apothecary case, and a welcoming tea bar are just the first few delights that catch the eye.

At the heart of this extraordinary building lies the distillery itself. Beneath elaborately crafted skylights stand towering copper stills from different decades, where the essence of Hendrick’s comes to life through two distinct distillation methods.

Which botanicals join the traditional cast—juniper, angelica root, coriander—is entirely up to Lesley. In her fully equipped lab, the trained chemist experiments with tropical, Mediterranean, and local plants cultivated right here in the gin palace’s glasshouses. Once she’s perfected a new blend, the required ingredients are sourced from select producers around the globe.

Talking to Lesley—or simply observing her at work—one quickly senses a woman who has seen much, learned deeply, and knows precisely what she’s doing. Among the curiosities in her personal Cabinet of Curiosities lies a small-batch gin distilled deep within the Venezuelan rainforest. It’s from this vast knowledge of essences and aromas, and her unerring sense for the extraordinary, that the famously unusual Hendrick’s creations emerge:

The original classic, infused with unmistakable notes of cucumber and rose. The extravagant “Orbium”. The floral “Midsummer Solstice”. The smooth “Lunar”, the fruity “Amazonia”, and the maritime newcomer “Neptunia.”Each of them springs from Lesley Gracie’s imagination and expertise—each an embodiment of the brand’s fantastical charm.

Later that day, we’re invited to a tasting session inside a small, vintage-style lecture hall. There, we gain deeper insight into the structure and evolution of Hendrick’s gin before the dedicated kitchen team rounds off the evening with a sumptuous Scottish dinner.

To finish, we step into the elevator—naturally, designed in full Hendrick’s style, complete with a cucumber phone and a zeppelin floating in a cloud-painted sky—and ascend to the elegant in-house bar. Here, the talented bartenders of Nauticus Bar Edinburgh await, ready to showcase their craft and close this most curious of days in true Hendrick’s fashion.

The post Hendrick’s in Wonderland first appeared on STAGES OF TASTE – Magazine.