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Same, same but different. Two who are more similar to one another than you might think at first glance: Rudi and Andreas Egarter. Father and son. Landlords of the legendary Rudi Hut in the Rotwandwiesen meadows in Sexten. In the village they are simply known as “do Rudla”. A single name that is used equally naturally by the different generations without there ever being any confusion. One “Rudla” is a chef and landlord through and through, a convivial musician and very familiar in folk music circles. As in “Rudi and the Sexten Trio”. The other is an easygoing tattoo and beard wearer, also a dedicated landlord, and also a successful musician. Only his fan base is different. These are two of the kind of people that others like to have around them. And each of them is unmistakably a child of his time. For Rudi, his career as hut landlord began with his mother’s pea soup, mulled wine and a little wooden hut in the Rotwandwiesen meadows. That was in winter 1966, when “Rudla” was 16 years old. Over the course of time, the improvised soup kitchen became the Rudi Hut that we know – and love – today. There is no either-or here. Either contemporary or rustic. Stylish or traditional. No, at the Rudi Hut two worlds coolly and calmly shake hands with one another. Lederhosen meet sneakers here, and despite the Orderman there’s always a friendly word from the staff, whilst colourful body art lurks under Dirndl blouses. And the core team of the family-run business is just as colourful: Rudi and his Flora, Andreas and his girlfriend Caro plus sister Steffi. Two generations, five characters and over 50 years’ experience in keeping cool when it’s all going crazy at, on and under the tables. Here you’ll find – as in the hut Rotwandwiesen nearby – traditional South Tyrolean cuisine that has enough curiosity to occasionally take a look a little further afield, over the next mountain top. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, the chef will take a break from his bubbling pots, sit down with his zither and sing of the green spruce forests of his homeland while his audience sways in time.