A probably once in a lifetime opportunity was presented to me when I received an (almost) all-inclusive invite to the St Moritz Gourmet Festival 2016. One of Switzerland’s master chefs, Reto Mathis, who I had the pleasure of flying to South Africa for an event we sponsored last year, is the president/chairman of the above mentioned gourmet festival and invited me as his guest of honor to his event. The theme of the 2016 festival was all about Japan, which meant Japan’s top chefs, were flown into St Moritz from all around the world. And guess who of course wasn’t missing: The grand master chef of all: Nobu-San! I would have never imagined to be in the same room as him!

 

Needless to say, how excited I was to travel to St Moritz. I mean, this place is history. It’s a legend. It’s a myth. It’s THE place. It’s where the rich and famous go skiing. It’s where the private jets land in the Alps. It’s where real fur is walking around in town (I really had to contain myself to stay calm about this). It’s where I was, unfortunately, slightly disappointed, because I expected so much and the “poshness” and pretentiousness of this place rather put me off. But what did I expect? I knew it’d be like that. I guess, I just realized in real time that I am not the kind of person who can associate with it.

Nonetheless, is was definitely a trip of a lifetime. Let alone the train ride to get there. The second part of it is actually a UNESCO world heritage labeled train ride. Here is more info on how it made into that list and a video as this shows it better than I could ever describe it.

Another highlight of my trip was to finally visit Reto in his restaurant in the mountains.
As mentioned before, I was lucky enough to get to know Reto during his visit to Cape Town last year September and we became really good acquaintances. He had sent me so many pictures of the view from his restaurant on the Corviglia Mountain already that I just had to see it for myself. It’s the perfect spot for either a stop after skiing or even if you just feel like riding up the mountain to enjoy the view. Reto’s specialties: creative truffle and caviar dishes. Enjoy:-) I promise, it tastes even better in 2486 meters altitude!

My stay at the Kempinksi was grand too! Like the name of the hotel suggests: The Grand Hotel de Bain. Located on the lower side of St Moritz, St Moritz-Bad, it is perfectly situated to have a stroll to the lake. All together what you expect of a hotel that carries the name “Kempinski”. The most outstanding experience was the breakfast though. Probably the biggest choice of breakfast I have had in a hotel in a long time. On top of that: there is live piano music in the breakfast room! Just amazing.