© Joan Minder
November 24, 2023
Philip Reichardt
The Swiss create experiences of enjoyment at the highest international level – and always remain grounded in their homeland.
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For the conversation, Andreas Caminada has chosen his office in Schloss Schauenstein. There he lives with his family, there is the restaurant of the same name, and a few steps away are the two new venues, the bakery, the permaculture garden, a small shop. And he grew up not far from there.
Twenty years ago, after stints in Klosters, Baiersbronn, and Uetikon, Caminada took over the castle in Graubünden and transformed it into a three-star restaurant within seven years, characterized by regional cuisine. What sets Caminada apart from other great chefs of the present: He not only excels in the kitchen, but is also an excellent entrepreneur whose ambition is not only to recognize developments and trends but to set them.
Over the past years, a group of companies has emerged with additional restaurants, a catering service, and a foundation. Caminada publishes his own magazine, and on the YouTube channel of Gault-Millau, he presents easily implementable recipes.
Mr. Caminada, how did you start your day today?
As always. I got up with the kids, and as soon as they were out of the house, I took the dog for a walk. I was just at our bakery, had a chocolate croissant and a cappuccino.
Three Michelin stars, 19 points in Gault & Millau, ranked very high in all rankings: When you are confirmed year after year to be among the best in the world, what becomes more important: always surprising your guests or offering them what they expect?
Two or three years after I first received three stars, I went through a phase where I became cautious, avoided risks, and didn't feel as alive as before. When I realized this, I knew that I had to continue down the path I had started: not being afraid of change and always trying new things.
Many of our guests come back again and again because they know they will be surprised by us. Thinking anew again and again is the be-all and end-all of our business.
On your homepage it says: "How can the culinary magic of seasons and regions be captured on the plate? We look for new answers to these questions every day." Does it succeed?
Of course, there are two or three weeks without an idea. But just the fact that we live in a region with four seasons is a source of constant inspiration. A few years ago, we established a permaculture garden at Schauenstein where we grow more than 700 varieties of vegetables.
Studying the cycles of plants and experimenting with them continuously brings forth new ideas. Take the gooseberry. As long as it is still unripe, it contains an acid that can replace vinegar. In summer, it tastes a bit sweeter, in autumn it is super sweet, perhaps even a bit fermented. In every state, it can give a dish a special impulse. At the latest, when a new menu is coming up, my team and I become creative. It always works.
In recent years, you have created a small empire. In addition to Schloss Schauenstein, other restaurants emerged, and each location is associated with a new concept. Let's go through them: At Schloss Schauenstein, products from Graubünden are the focus. How did that come about?
When I took over the castle, the joy of cooking was my sole focus. With a lot of passion, I aimed to create a place for all the senses, and that was my drive back then. We had four employees, but no concept. My kitchen was still under French influence, and we had a lot of seafood. Starting in 2008, we began to integrate more regional products. This has evolved over the years and defined the identity of the castle.
What convinced you back then to use more regional products?
It makes sense when you have so many wonderful products right at your doorstep! Why choose a Granny Smith when a beautiful Berner Rose apple with great acidity grows almost right outside your door? Everyone has sea bass from Brittany. But a char from Lake Walen is unique to us. It wasn’t long ago that in high-end gastronomy, it was seen as a mark of luxury and exclusivity if the products used had traveled halfway around the world.
Yes, in retrospect, it seems crazy. It was a different time. Nothing surpassed French cuisine, sea bass, and shrimp soups. It fit well with the era; everything was globalized, people had a desire to travel, it was possible to reach any place in the world at any time, borders were open. That's different now.
The pandemic has also changed a lot. Our goal is to sense such social developments early on and draw the right conclusions from them. To do this, you have to think outside the box.
With the 'Igniv' restaurants, you established the sharing concept in 2015. There are now Igniv restaurants in Bad Ragaz, Zurich, Bangkok, and soon in Andermatt. The food is placed in the center of the table, shared with friends or family, hence the name: Igniv, which means 'bird's nest' in Romansh. How did you come up with this idea?
The castle here was and still is my baby. But back then, I also asked myself: Is there more to come? Will I stay on Schlossberg for the rest of my life? My answer: It would be exciting to establish a restaurant that is not dependent on my person but stands for good quality and great food and is completely different from the castle.
Sharing was not very widespread outside of Asia at that time, especially not at the fine dining level. A big challenge was finding the right dishes. In the castle, we are fixed on white dishes; pottery was not an option because it is very common in Nordic cuisine.
I bought a lot of old dishes together, but it didn't work. It was only when we found a specific porcelain and the designer Patricia Urquolia agreed to take over the interior design that the Igniv found its DNA.
The Casa Caminada opened in 2018 not far from the castle in a converted stable. There you offer simple dishes from the region.
Exactly. In the Casa, we celebrate traditional Grisons cuisine – Capuns, Maluns, Pizzoccheri – traditional dishes that we neither change nor interpret and leave as traditional as possible out of respect for the grandmothers and people who have passed them down through generations. Everything in the Casa is simple and good.
Jean Caminada, a cousin of my father, converted these two stables into a house. Upstairs there are ten rooms, downstairs the restaurant, the bakery, a small shop, and there is a large culinary cellar where we store our pickled goods. What I almost find the most beautiful about it: With Casa Caminada, life has returned to the village, the bakery has become a meeting point. Locals come there, buy a loaf of bread and have a coffee outside.
In Oz, which opened in 2021, vegetarian cuisine is the focus.
Originally, we wanted to use the rooms where Oz is located to expand the castle. But during the Corona period, sustainability gained importance, and we decided to implement a concept that was in the air: namely, to prepare vegetables from our own garden fresh daily. Every day, whatever the garden provides at the moment is served, seven to nine courses at a very high level. This is also where the name comes from: Oz means today.
In connection with vegan and vegetarian cuisine, the talk is often about renunciation. You eat vegetables to avoid eating meat. Isn't that a fallacy?
I specifically equipped the Oz with chairs covered in cowhide because I don't want to politicize with my kitchen. We want to show how great vegetables can be and create an experience for all the senses around the garden. But I'm not an extremist on this issue. I simply enjoy it.
The Oz explicitly offers vegetarian cuisine, not vegan. Why?
We live in the Swiss Alps, where butter and dairy products are part of the culture. If someone eats vegan, we leave out the dairy products. I see it pragmatically.
In 2015, you founded a foundation with your wife to individually support ambitious talents from the gastronomy industry. Why is training young people so important to you?
Our basic idea was: How can we give something back? What can we do for our industry? We know so many people, we have so many contacts, how can we use that? This is how the idea came about to give young people the opportunity to further their education. And at the same time to convey how important and beautiful gastronomy is.
In acting, in music, everywhere there are scholarships and support from the state, but not in gastronomy. Meanwhile, 65 people have completed the program, they intern in the best kitchens in the world, in Peru, in New York, in Oslo, as well as with producers, and the foundation covers all costs.
Passing on one's knowledge and know-how, how satisfying is that?
With the foundation, we have created a tool that will hopefully outlive us for a long time and have an impact on the industry. That is my dream, anyway.
Initiated by René Redzepi, the founder of the famous Danish restaurant Noma, there was a discussion in high-end gastronomy about the working conditions under which exceptional cuisine is created. Rightly so?
What René Redzepi said, I cannot confirm. Redzepi does a great job as a chef, his team's creativity is unique, they have developed many cool things. But apparently, he is not an entrepreneur. That's okay too. What bothers me about his statements: He judges the entire industry, but apparently doesn't know how others work.
We managed to create a place that has three stars and is sustainable. We have a good way of dealing with the team, we comply with legal requirements, we pay good wages, twice as high as the rest of Europe. Of course, combining kitchen and management is a challenge, but it is possible. We celebrate a culture that finds a balance between working very hard while still maintaining a certain passion and lightness.
How have your guests' expectations changed in the last 20 years?
First of all, gastronomy has completely changed in the last 20 years. A significant contributor to this is the list "The World's 50 Best Restaurants," which is published annually. It has shown us in Europe that extremely good cooking is also done in South America and that Asian cuisine is very exciting. Different, but just as good.
And that it was very narrow-minded to believe that French cuisine is the be-all and end-all. If you have been to Peru and seen the great products and restaurants there, you can only be enthusiastic. A world has opened up for people who love to dine out and travel a lot. Fine dining has never been as diverse as it is now.
In recent years, many great places have emerged that are completely unpretentious, yet still at a very high level. It has never been so exciting and diverse for the guest to dine out.
What do you personally perceive as luxury?
Being surrounded by a good team, working with great products, and creating something out of it creates an immense sense of well-being, maybe even peace of mind. In my daily life, that's the most important thing.
© Gaudenz Danuser
Sure, please provide the text you want translated from German to English.
© Gaudenz Danuser
Sure, please provide the text you would like translated from German to English.
© Joan Minder
Family residence and company headquarters: Schauenstein Castle in Fürstenau
