Restaurant in Leutschach an der Weinstraße, Austria
Worth the drive into wine country.
Lieperts holds a Michelin star and earns it with a five- to seven-course surprise menu on four evenings a week in the heart of Styria's wine country. At €€€€, it is positioned as the anchor dinner for a Südsteiermark trip rather than a casual night out. Book well ahead, consider staying in one of the four on-site rooms, and come ready to trust the kitchen.
Lieperts earns its Michelin star, and if you are making a deliberate trip into the Styrian wine country south of Graz, it is the reason to come. Chef-owner Manuel Liepert runs a five- to seven-course surprise menu on a tight schedule — Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday only, reservations required — and the format demands you commit. That scarcity is the point: this is not a place you drop into. It is a place you plan around, and for a special occasion dinner in one of Austria's most underrated wine regions, the planning is worth it.
Lieperts is formally known as Lieperts Café, Dinner, Rooms, and that full name matters when you are deciding how to use it. The property operates across three distinct modes. Friday through Sunday, it opens as a breakfast venue , a relaxed entry point into the address. Later in the day, a selection of snacks and drinks bridges the gap between café and dining room. Then, on the four dinner evenings, the room shifts register entirely. There are four guestrooms on site, which makes the case for an overnight stay strong: the Südsteiermark wine road is not somewhere you want to be driving after a long tasting menu and a wine list heavy in regional producers.
The dining room itself reads as modern and considered rather than showy. The intimacy of the space suits the surprise-menu format: this is not a large-table, big-group venue. Two diners or a small group of four will feel the room working in their favour. The physical setup reinforces the meal's pacing , amuse-bouches arrive before the menu proper begins, and maître d' Lisa Kürbisch moves through the wine list with recommendations drawn heavily from the surrounding Leutschach appellation. If you care about Styrian white wine, that local depth in the pairing is a genuine asset.
Liepert's cooking sits at the intersection of regional produce and international technique. Dishes documented from the menu , chicken with papaya, peanut and sweet potato; pan-seared pike-perch with beurre blanc, green strawberry and mushrooms , show a willingness to pull from outside Austria without losing the regional anchor. The surprise menu structure means you are not choosing dishes; you are trusting the kitchen. That format works leading when the kitchen has both range and discipline, and the Michelin recognition suggests both are present here.
The five- to seven-course length gives the meal genuine weight without tipping into endurance. For a returning visitor, the surprise format is also the reason to come back: the menu moves, so a second visit offers a materially different experience from the first.
Lieperts does not operate as a takeout or delivery venue, and nothing about the format , amuse-bouches, surprise tasting progression, wine pairing service , is designed to travel. This is food built around the room, the pacing, and the service interaction. If you are looking for something to take away or eat off-premise, this address is not it, and there is no evidence that off-premise ordering is available. The value here is entirely tied to the seated experience. Factor that into your planning: a last-minute cancellation or an inability to make the dinner service on those four specific evenings means you have missed the point of the venue entirely.
Booking difficulty is rated hard, and the operating schedule is the reason. Dinner runs Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday only. Breakfast is available Friday through Sunday. The address is in Leutschach an der Weinstraße, a small town in the Südsteiermark wine region, which means getting there requires a car or a deliberate transfer from Graz. Staying in one of the four on-site guestrooms removes the transport problem entirely and turns the evening into a proper overnight. Reservations for dinner are non-negotiable , walk-ins for the tasting menu are not a realistic option. Book as far ahead as your schedule allows, particularly for Friday and Saturday evenings, which will fill before the weekday slots.
Book Lieperts if you are planning a dedicated food-and-wine trip through Styria, celebrating a significant occasion, or already in the Leutschach area and want the most considered dinner the region offers. The overnight rooms make the case even stronger for visitors travelling from Vienna or Graz. If you are looking for a relaxed dinner without a fixed tasting format, or if your group is larger than four, the surprise menu structure may not suit. For a more flexible à la carte experience at a comparable price tier elsewhere in Austria, Landhaus Bacher in Mautern an der Donau is worth considering. For a Styrian wine-road trip built around food, Lieperts is the anchor booking.
See also: our full Leutschach an der Weinstraße restaurants guide, our hotels guide for the area, wineries in Leutschach an der Weinstraße, and experiences in the region. For other Austrian starred kitchens worth pairing into a wider itinerary, see Döllerer in Golling an der Salzach, Obauer in Werfen, Senns in Salzburg, and Steirereck im Stadtpark in Vienna.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lieperts | Modern Cuisine | This establishment is officially named Lieperts Café, Dinner, Rooms, which accurately reflects its offerings: You can come for a wonderful breakfast Fri-Sun, then later in the day, a selection of appealing snacks and drinks are available. Owner and eponym Manuel Liepert serves up fine dining cuisine Mon-Tue and Fri-Sat (reservations required). This comes in the form of a five- to seven-course surprise menu preluded by a number of delectable amuse-bouches. Dishes such as chicken, papaya, peanut and sweet potato or pan-seared pike-perch, beurre blanc, green strawberry and mushrooms showcase a contemporary approach with regional and international influences. Maître d' Lisa Kürbisch provides interesting recommendations from the wine impressive list dominated by labels from the region. There are four tastefully decorated, modern guestrooms.; Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Hard | — |
| Steirereck im Stadtpark | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Mraz & Sohn | Modern Austrian, Creative | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Döllerer | Contemporary Austrian, Innovative | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Landhaus Bacher | Austrian, Classic Cuisine | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Obauer | Classic Cuisine | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Lieperts measures up.
Yes — the format is built for it. A five- to seven-course surprise menu with amuse-bouches, a regional wine list curated by maître d' Lisa Kürbisch, and four guestrooms on-site make Lieperts a self-contained celebration venue. The Michelin star (2024) gives it credibility as a destination, not just a local dinner. Book dinner on a Friday or Saturday if you want to stay overnight without losing a weekday.
Dress as you would for a serious one-Michelin-star dinner in a rural European setting: polished, but not black-tie. The property operates as Café, Dinner, and Rooms, so the atmosphere leans considered rather than formal. Avoid overly casual clothing given the €€€€ price point and tasting menu format.
There is no à la carte choice to make — dinner is a fixed surprise menu of five to seven courses set by chef Manuel Liepert. Documented dishes include chicken with papaya, peanut and sweet potato, and pan-seared pike-perch with beurre blanc, green strawberry and mushrooms. Pair with the wine list, which maître d' Lisa Kürbisch selects from, with a strong focus on labels from the Styrian region.
The operating schedule is the main variable to get right: dinner is served Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday only, and reservations are required. Breakfast runs Friday through Sunday, making a Friday or Saturday stay the most practical two-day itinerary. Leutschach is a small village in southern Styria, so you need a car — factor in travel time from Graz.
There are no direct competitors in Leutschach itself at this level. For comparable Michelin-starred dining in Austria, Obauer in Werfen and Landhaus Bacher in Mautern are strong alternatives in a countryside setting. If you want to stay in a city, Steirereck im Stadtpark in Vienna is the flagship Austrian fine dining reference. Lieperts is the only option of this calibre within the Styrian wine route, which is both its limitation and its appeal.
At €€€€ for a surprise tasting menu in a small Austrian village, the value case depends on what you are combining the trip with. If you are touring the Styrian wine route regardless, the Michelin star makes Lieperts the obvious anchor dinner. If you are travelling specifically to eat here, factor in accommodation — the four on-site guestrooms remove the need for a separate hotel, which meaningfully changes the cost calculation.
Yes, for the right traveller. The five- to seven-course format with regional wine pairings is the entire proposition — there is no abbreviated option documented. The cooking draws on both Styrian produce and international technique, and the Michelin star (2024) confirms the execution holds. If you prefer à la carte flexibility, look elsewhere — Döllerer in Golling offers more format options at a comparable level.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
