From 11th to 19th January, the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival 2019 will guarantee an explosion of culinary delights in the Upper Engadine, to be ensured, together with the outstanding Executive Chefs from the festival partner hotels, by nine top-class chefs from Europe and Asia who enjoy cult status or are hot tips within the current fine dining scene. Advance sales of event tickets start on Friday, 2nd November 2018.
The festival organisers invited the media to a press conference this week at the Baur au Lac in Zurich to announce and introduce the guest chefs. Large numbers of Directors and Executive Chefs from the partner hotels in the Upper Engadine were in attendance, providing an exciting foretaste of the fantastic culinary variety and the exceptional skills of the nine international guest chefs that await the festival guest at around 40 different enjoyable events at the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival 2019.
From Friday through Tuesday, 11th to 15th January 2019, the one and only Sergio Herman from the Netherlands will settle in as guest chef of Executive Chef Dirk Haltenhof at the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel. It is well known that Sergio Herman was awarded the fabulous highest possible rating of 20 GaultMillau points at his former Oud Sluis restaurant, as well as three Michelin stars and a long-term top position in the “World’s Best Restaurants” ranking. Today, the legendary star chef and entrepreneur is at the head of four extraordinary top restaurants and a flourishing chain of Gourmet French Fry eateries with outlets in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Graziano Caccioppoli, newly appointed Executive Chef at the Carlton Hotel St. Moritz, is looking forward to having an adventurous grand chef from France at his side in the shape of two-star chef Philippe Mille from the Le Parc restaurant at the grand hotel Domaine Les Crayères in Reims – famous for refined plays with textures and delicately created nuances of flavour. Philippe Mille’s wonderful dishes are always precious reflections of his culinary childhood souvenirs and expressions of his profound love for the original flavours of France.
Executive Chef Fabrizio Zanetti at the Suvretta House will also welcome a native Frenchman namely two-star chef Guillaume Galliot, albeit from Asia: at the Caprice Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hong Kong, Guillaume Galliot fascinates diners with creations such as “Racan pigeon from the house of Bellorr, cooked in cocoa bean with fig jam, black salsify and cocoa juice”. He is famous for polishing his dishes for years, until the aromas of France unite in perfect harmony with “the tastes of the world”.
At the Hotel Nira Alpina in Silvaplana-Surlej, recently appointed Executive Chef Dariusz Durdyn, will be host to one of India’s best known chefs, with whom he will surely conjure up exotic delicacies. Star chef Manish Mehrotra from the Indian Accent restaurant in New-Delhi has succeeded with his original creations in newly defining Indian cuisine, thus ensuring Indian flavours had their place on the world gourmet map (awarded “World’s Best Restaurant in India” since 2014).
At the Kulm Country Club, GaultMillau’s “Newcomer of the year 2018”, Sven Wassmer from the Grand Hotel Quellenhof in Bad Ragaz, will be a guest of Executive Chef Mauro Taufer at the Kulm Hotel St. Moritz, and create a sensation with his cosmopolitan alpine avant-garde cuisine. Sven Wassmer combines seemingly contradictory produce to prepare magnificent taste sensations, such as “Alpine Dim Sum with Swiss dashi of roast potato peels” or “Char with burned cream and spruce”.
From Tuesday through Saturday, 15th to 19th January 2019, acclaimed exceptional chef of New Nordic Cuisine, Nicolai Nørregaard from the Kadeau restaurant in Copenhagen, will enter the domain of Executive Chef Fabrizio Piantanida at the Grand Hotel Kronenhof in Pontresina. The Danish two-star chef originally came from the island of Bornholm, which so to speak serves as the larder for his cuisine. There he collects and preserves around seven tons of delicious natural treasures every season, using these for sensual delicacies such as “Pickled pumpkin, wood ants and fermented white asparagus with grilled roses in fig leaf oil”.
Belgian two-star chef Sang-Hoon Degeimbre will charm festival guests while cooking alongside Executive Chef Michel Hojac at the Giardino Mountain Hotel in Champfèr-St. Moritz. The star of the Belgian gastronomy scene came to today’s press conference in Zurich and presented his fascinating culinary concept. Sang-Hoon Degeimbre was born in Korea and grew up in Belgium. His elaborate creations are not only an exquisite symbiosis of his two home countries but also a kaleidoscopic reflection of his five-hectare garden and farmland that surround his L’Air du Temps restaurant in Belgian Liernu.
Awarded the title “Best German chef abroad 2018” by GaultMillau, the top chefs Thomas and Mathias Sühring will be the highly enthralling guest chef duo hosted by Executive Chef Gero Porstein, who has been head of the kitchen team at Hotel Waldhaus Sils since the summer. The Berlin-born brothers enjoy great success in Bangkok highlighting modern German culinary art. In next to no time after opening their Sühring Restaurant, the twin brothers were awarded a Michelin star and ranked straightaway among the top addresses on Asia’s 50 best restaurants’ list (No. 4 – Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018).
South Korean Mingoo Kang will also have a long journey to participate in the St. Moritz cult festival, where he will be the guest chef of Executive Chef Matthias Schmidberger at the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains. Mingoo Kang’s star crowned Mingles restaurant in the Gangnam-gu quarter of Seoul is currently known among connoisseurs of the international fine dining scene as the most appealing gourmet address in Eastern Asia. It has just been awarded a second Michelin star in the “Michelin Guide for Seoul 2019”. The aromas and produce of ancient Korean culinary culture and international haute cuisine merge beautifully in his dishes. One such example is his signature dessert “Jang Trio”, a crème brûlée that Mingoo Kang prepares with fermented bean paste.
Nine days of festivities
The festival programme will be as varied as the high-ranking cooking skills on display from the international guest and local chefs. The event kicks off on Friday evening (11th January) with the glamorous Grand Julius Baer Opening at the Kulm Hotel St. Moritz. It will be followed by six evenings of Gourmet Dîners and the extremely popular Gourmet Safaris. On Tuesday evening (15th January), the Kitchen Party will be held as the summit meeting including all the star chefs at the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, and on Saturday evening (19th January) the Great BMW Gourmet Finale will be the crowning conclusion of the festival in the prestigious setting of Suvretta House.
Between these dates, numerous special events will enrich the festival programme, among them the legendary champagne and wine events Fascination Champagne, Celestial Wines and Tuscan Master Wines. Moreover, festival guests can once again look forward to sweet melting temptations at the Chocolate Cult, as well as the world’s best cheeses at the Wine & Cheese event in Hotel Steffani. In addition to the above, more recent formats such as the Ecco Tavolata with two-star chef Rolf Fliegauf at the Giardino Mountain Hotel and the VALSER Dinner – this time under the heading “Feel limitless” – which features the ambitious young cooks of the marmite youngster selection, will again contribute to the festival’s diverse event culture.
Admission tickets for the event are available on line – early booking is recommended
Advance sales of event tickets start on Friday, 2nd November 2018. Tickets will be available from 10 a.m. onwards on the web site www.stmoritz-gourmetfestival.ch – except for the Gourmet Dîners and selected special events, which can be reserved by contacting the respective partner hotel directly (see programme references on the web site).
Attractive hotel deals
Some of the festival partner hotels offer individual deals. They include event tickets and overnight stays, as well as extras that make a stay in the particular partner hotel especially attractive during the festival. These offers can also be found on the website at www.stmoritz-gourmetfestival.ch and booked directly at the partner hotels under their respective hotel portraits.
Current news can be found on the website at www.stmoritz-gourmetfestival.ch