At 32, the German Marco Campanella has climbed to the highest level offered by this country’s gastronomic guide at the “Eden Roc” in Ascona. This also ennobles the gastronomy of the southern canton.
Marco Campanella, 32, rises to the forefront of the Swiss culinary elite in Ascona.
PD
We could only guess the sensation: when Gault-Millau announces the location of the official awards ceremony a few weeks before the announcement of its grades, asking for the greatest discretion, those in the know know that someone will be honored there. . This time we were invited to Ascona, where the three highest paid restaurants in Ticino are located: 18 points are recorded by the best restaurants of the five-star hotels “Eden Roc”, “Giardino”, whose chef Rolf Fliegauf takes his retirement. his native Germany this year after 18 years, and “Castello del Sole”.
The prayer was – Tush! – to the noble “Eden Roc”, whose “La Brezza” is managed by Marco Campanella, 32 years old, son of a German innkeeper of Italian origin, who arrived in Switzerland twelve years ago. He achieved the feat of holding two Michelin stars and 18 Gault-Millau points in two regions of the country – notably in the partner hotel “Tschuggen Grand” in Arosa, his workplace in winter. And now he is not only proclaimed “Chef of the Year” in Switzerland, as the invitation suggested, but he has even achieved 19 points in the “Eden Roc” with a lakeside garden. The hotel is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation and is therefore currently only welcoming its guests to the “Marina Restaurant & Lounge”, including during the awards ceremony on Monday.
The search for superstars
Urs Heller, head of Gault-Millau Switzerland, part of the Ringier group, praises Campanella’s “incredible sauces” and his virtuosity in creating vegan alternatives, among other things. Heller says they have been searching for “the next Swiss superstar” for five years, suggesting that young stars are also being created as part of their own marketing machine.
But this should not detract from the exploits of Campanella, who was the first Ticino to reach the 19-point league, and his wife Nicole Schneider, who served as host. His “Finger Food Collection” is almost legendary – little treasures that can easily be picked without cutlery – for example, he puts eel in Coca-Cola and is a big fan of ravioli. When Gault-Millau named him “Rising Star of the Year” in Ticino last year, the evaluators praised his “limitless work” in addition to his genius. Perhaps also to remind Generation Z that success belongs to no one.
The award not only honors the friendly chef, who carries his little daughter in his arms and holds back tears as he accepts it. She also ennobles her team – and an entire canton. A place of nostalgia for many German-speaking Swiss, this place perhaps owes its charm to wonderful risottos and charming grotti which, with the exception of a few noble variations, seek neither points nor stars. As a magnet for well-heeled guests, Ticino also offers attractive high-end gastronomy; With a slightly smaller population than the city of Zurich, there are at least more restaurants at the 16 point level.
Losone’s “Osteria dell’ Enoteca”, already praised this year in the NZZ restaurant magazine, returns to the 16-point category, where chef Jacopo Rovetini and the host couple do an excellent job. Based on our last visit, we are less able to understand the 16 points of the “Leopoldo Principle” in Lugano. We are pleased to note that Gault-Millau also took note of the magnificent work of Joao Antunes in the “Villa Emden” in Brissago and awarded him 14 points as “Discovery of the Year”. Perhaps next year the testers will also discover the “Osteria Bisnona” in Contone, where Kira Ghidoni and her team impress with contemporary regional cuisine.
A star rises over Schaffhausen
As for the awards in the rest of Switzerland, it’s a bit like the recent World Cycling Championships in Zurich: there are now so many categories that you quickly lose track. The circle of the country’s highest paid chefs, who once again form a septet, is still manageable: Franck Giovannini in Crissier (VD), Tanja Grandits and Peter Knogl in Basel, Andreas Caminada in Fürstenau (GR), Philippe Chevrier in Satigny ( GE), Heiko Nieder in Zurich and Marco Campanella in Ascona hold the 19 points. The day before the awards ceremony, they traditionally gathered around a table to be cooked by the “Chef of the Year” at his workplace. What Campanella and his team came up with was met with unanimous enthusiasm, Heller said in a personal interview.
42 patterns have been downgraded by at least one point in the new edition, on sale this week, but around a hundred have also been improved. Among the 880 addresses listed, there are almost 100 new ones, such as “The Counter” at Zurich main station, attached to the “Brasserie Süd”. Mitja Birlo, who moved from Vals to Limmat last year, comes with 18 points. For Winterthur, a little darker in terms of gastronomy, Alexander Bindig finally scores 16 points in the formidable “Trübli”, and Michael Dobler scores 15 points in “Rosa Pulver”.
Two renovated hotel restaurants in Zurich also received 15 points: on the one hand, the new “Marguita”, with which the “Baur au Lac” effectively says goodbye to gastronomy, on the other hand, the “Savoy Brasserie & Bar” at the “Mandarin Oriental Savoy”, which fared much less favorably in the NZZ restaurant review this spring. But the “Mandarin Oriental” chain nevertheless seems to be one of Gault-Millau’s favorites: it named the establishment on Paradeplatz “Hotel of the Year” and now awards chef Gilad Peled 17 points in its Lucerne counterpart – the highest score ever awarded in 2017. the City of Lights. Dominik Hartmann deservedly wins one point higher; Its vegan “Magdalena” in Rickenbach, Switzerland, can also delight meat lovers like the author of these lines, as shown in the NZZ restaurant review from last October.
The important “Host of the Year” award goes to Ines Triebenbacher from the “Igniv” branch in Zurich. Finally, the readership is not deprived of a star that seems to rise above Munot. At the national border, opposite Ticino, in Schaffhausen, Gault-Millau found its German-speaking Swiss “Discoveries of the Year”: Dan Rodriguez-Zaugg and Alejandro Perez Polo, who have already worked together in Barcelona at “Disfrutar”, received 15 points in “Sommerlust”. , one of the highest paid restaurants in the world.
