Trapp Family Lodge Dining Room

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Story That Begins Long Before the First Course

In 1942, the von Trapp family — the real family behind The Sound of Music — purchased a farm in Stowe, Vermont, drawn by mountain vistas that reminded them of Austria. By 1950 they were welcoming guests, and the tradition has continued ever since across 2,600 acres of alpine landscape. The Trapp Family Lodge Dining Room sits at the heart of that history, serving American and Austrian cuisine in a setting that carries the weight and warmth of that legacy in every detail.

The Dining Room Itself

The Main Dining Room occupies the 96-room alpine lodge that replaced the original structure after a fire in 1980. European furnishings, mountain views, and the unmistakable atmosphere of a family-run property define the space. It is the kind of room where the surroundings do quiet, convincing work — no need for theatrical flourishes when the backdrop is the Vermont hills and the story behind the table is this particular one.

What's on the Table

The kitchen draws on both sides of the lodge's identity. Farm-to-table American cooking anchors the menu, while Austrian tradition surfaces most vividly on Friday evenings, when the culinary team rotates a dedicated Austrian dish each week. Recent Friday specials have included Geschmort Lammhaxe — a Trapp Family Pinot Noir braised lamb shank with rosemary demi-glace and creamy polenta — Forelle auf Müllerin-Art, a pan-seared rainbow trout with roasted potatoes and lemon caper brown butter sauce, and Beef Roulades stuffed with bacon, mushrooms, and pickle, finished with a red wine demi-glace. Monday and Wednesday evenings bring a popular prime rib night, paired with selections from an extensive wine list.

That wine list has earned the restaurant a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence — recognition that reflects the seriousness of a cellar stocked with varietals from Austria, Germany, and the United States, and available for private tastings and intimate dinner parties in the Wine Cellar downstairs.

Beyond the Main Dining Room

The culinary program extends well beyond dinner service. The Austrian Afternoon Tea in the Salzburg Room — featuring fresh-baked items from the Kaffeehaus, Vermont Artisan Tea, and live harp music — offers a gentler, more ceremonial expression of the lodge's European character. Across the property, the von Trapp Brewing Bierhall, launched by Johannes von Trapp in 2010, pours Austrian-style lagers brewed on-site alongside a menu designed to evoke the European countryside.

The lodge's motto — "Come for our story. Leave with your own" — says something true about the dining experience here. The American and Austrian cuisines served in this room are inseparable from the family that has kept this place running, unchanged in ownership, for more than seven decades.