Almost for a quarter of a century, the St. Moritz Gourmet Festivalhas gained cult character throughout the world. Over the last 24 years, almost 80,000 gourmet food lovers have travelled to the Upper Engadine, in order to be spoilt in the festival partner hotels and event locations by nearly 200 international master chefs from more than 30 different nations. However, the focus is not on competition, but on collegial cooperation between famous star-crowned chefs from all over the world and equally highly distinguished chefs de cuisine from our partner hotels. The aim, challenge and stimulus for all involved in the St. MoritzGourmet Festival is mutual inspiration and the creation of great things together, so the guests can savour culinary highlights for all the senses. Since first being held in 1994, the festival has been organised by the partner hotels and event locations, who have all joined forces in the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival Association. They are the hosts and provide the stage for the top international celebrity chefs as well as the venues for all the Gourmet Dîners, official and special events. In addition, for the new format the festival can rely in the future on the continuing support of renowned, longstanding sponsors and partners.
New date, new format:
25th St. Moritz Gourmet Festival: 12th-20th January 2018
Delightful prospects for gourmets and foodies: starting from the 25th Anniversary of the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival, the culinary event will take place earlier in January and will last for nine days. From Friday 12th to Saturday 20th January 2018, the festival will offer more time to visit legendary as well as exciting new epicurean events. More and more variety in a much more relaxed setting. The culinary master strokes of ten top-class guest chefs and the multiple award-winning master chefs from our partner hotels in the Upper Engadine, will give the event even more clout.
Can a cult festival actually be reinvented? – Of course it can, especially if it gives more scope to both, established and new events and in doing so, better meets the needs and desires of guests and protagonists alike – the foodies and international celebrity chefs from all over the world. Martin Scherer, President of the festival, explains the conceptual motivation:
“The St. Moritz Gourmet Festival has always been characterized by its exceptionally varied event culture. We would like to maintain this, but in a more relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. More than 40 event features have been created in the last 24 years. This meant, that in just one week, foodie fans were faced with some pretty tough but incredibly delicious choices”.
On top of this, there were logistical circumstances that justified choosing a new date in January in the interests of our festival guests. Mr. Scherer added:
“Major, high-level sporting and social events such as the Snow Polo World Cup and White Turf St. Moritz, have increasingly coincided with the festival’s traditional place on the Upper Engadin event calendar during the last week of January, which has also frequently led to a shortage of hotel rooms”.
For all these good reasons, it has been decided to change course for this cult festival’s future from the 25th Anniversary onwards. For the first time ever, the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival will be held over nine days, and two weekends, taking place from Friday 12th to Saturday 20th January 2018. In the middle of the festival, there will be a changeover of five of the total ten international celebrity chefs. At the beginning of the year this will give foodies much more time and leisure to enjoy and experience even more exceptional culinary delights.
More and more variety in a much more relaxed setting
The Grand Julius Baer Opening will kick-off the festival on Friday evening, 12th January 2018, in a festive setting at the Kulm Hotel, St. Moritz. At this event, the first five guest celebrity chefs together with local chefs from our partner hotels, will indulge the guests by offering samples of their culinary skills and art prepared on ten “gourmet islands”. Throughout the rest of the festival there will now be six evenings dedicated to the famouso “Gourmet Dîners”. These outstanding culinary encounters with the finest cuisine of our guest chefs, will now be able to enjoy more creative flexibility. They will be perfectly tailored to the culinary styles of the top-class chefs. Thanks to the many and varied qualities of the Upper Engadine luxury and first-class partner hotels hosting these events, even more individual Gourmet Dîner formats will be on offer for the guests to enjoy the authentic signature dishes prepared by the ten different guest chefs and our local chefs in an even more appealing way than ever before. To cap it all, the Gourmet Safari is being expanded in answer to ever-increasing guest demand. The new format will now feature six of these highly popular culinary discovery tours with a total of 12 trails – all leading to the Chef’s Table of our guest chefs.
Special events, tastings as well as first-class champagneand wine events will further enhance the festival programme. These occasions and Official Events staged by our partner hotels and events locations are all actively co-organised by longstanding sponsors and festival partners and are sure to surprise even our hardened festival fans. For instance, there will be the new Sunday Brunch at the CheCha Restaurant & Club, newly opened this summer by Reto Mathis in the popular skiing region of Salastrains, located on the alpine plateau above St. Moritz.
“Completely in keeping with the motto ‘Less is more’, it is a matter of emphasising carefully measured, culinary features without overloading the festival programme, and allowing each of our guests to experience the exceptional variety of gourmet specialities on offer in the Upper Engadine”, explains Reto Mathis, co-founder of the festival.
On Tuesday evening, 16th January 2018, the legendary Kitchen Party at the Badrutt’s Palace Hotel will be the new summit meeting at the midpoint of the festival. All ten guest chefs will be at the stove to spoil the guests in the luxury hotel’s canteen kitchen, before the first group of chefs says goodbye to the Upper Engadine. The five newly arrived master chefs will take over culinary command for the days to come.
For the crowning Grand BMW Gourmet Finale at the end of the festival on Saturday evening, 20th January 2018, the Suvretta House St. Moritz will be the new, highly elegant venue, where the five guest chefs together with our local chefs will prepare a brilliant, multi-course menu for the guests.
The following festival partners look forward to welcoming gourmet food fans from all over the world at the festival:
The partner hotels Badrutt’s Palace Hotel*****
Superior, St. Moritz; Carlton Hotel*****
Superior, St. Moritz; Grand Hotel Kronenhof*****
Superior, Pontresina; Hotel Giardino Mountain*****
Superior, Champfèr/St. Moritz; Nira Alpina****
Superior, Silvaplana-Surlej; Hotel Schweizerhof****
Superior, St. Moritz; Hotel Waldhaus*****
Sils-Maria; Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains*****
Superior, St. Moritz; Kulm Hotel St. Moritz*****
Superior, St. Moritz, and Suvretta House*****
Superior, St. Moritz, as well as the event locations Cava, Hotel Steffani****
St. Moritz, and CheCha Restaurant & Club by Mathis Food Affairs, St. Moritz.
Furthermore, the festival is supported by the tremendous commitment of the following sponsors: Title Sponsor & Official Car: BMW (Schweiz) AG; Title Sponsor: Bank Julius Baer & Co. AG; Main Sponsor: Valser; Co-Sponsors: Caratello Weine St.Gallen, Confiserie Sprüngli AG, G. Bianchi AG, Laurent-Perrier Suisse S.A., Martel AG St.Gallen, Maura Wasescha AG, Maximum Wellbeing AG Schweiz, Rageth Comestibles AG, SIBERIAN VODKA AG; Suppliers: Bader + Niederöst AG, BRAGARD SUISSE AG, CERUTTI „il Caffè“, Hugo Dubno AG, Schwob AG, sknife – swiss knife; Carrier: Massé und Partner Transports GmbH; Local Media Partner: Engadiner Post/Posta Ladina; Media Partners: dasfilet.ch (Gourmetblog), htr hotel revue, ibexmedia GmbH, marmite – Zeitschrift für Ess- und Trinkkultur.
Don´t miss this Fantastic and Unique Event in one of the most spectacular places in the World!
Event tickets are available on-line – early booking is recommended:
Advance ticket sales for the festival will start on Friday, November 3rd, 2017. Tickets will be available from 10 a.m. on the website www.stmoritz-gourmetfestival.ch.Ticket sales for the Gourmet Dîners and several special events are not part of this sales schedule (see programme details on the website).
