words. Amy Ang
issue 4 – in motion
Pop-ups and collaborations amongst chefs, local producers, food caterers, and wine companies have become an exciting way to rouse quiet rooms and warm bar stools again after the pandemic. Restaurant owners are adapting traditional spaces into nomadic ones that are nimble to the discerning and varied tastes of the local and international diners in Switzerland. The gastronomy industry is a highly convivial and interactive community, and chefs are hungry for more connection with one another and with their guests too. International guest chef events, 4-hands collaborative dinners, and even food trucks are becoming more prolific as people head out to wine and dine and travel with a vengeance.
Food trucks, which used to be on the fringes at major music and cultural events, are surging in popularity here. In Ticino, the Food Truck Festival held in the Piazza Grande in Locarno every Spring brings artisans and small food businesses together to offer visitors a moveable feast of delicious culinary specialties from the region. Save the date for next Spring, but you can also visit the Street Food Village along the lake in Riva San Vitale on 9 September 2023, where Ticino restaurateurs and producers will prepare homemade cuisine for you.
www.foodtruckticino.ch www.saporiedissapori.ch
Did you know that the annual Street Food Festival is already in its 8th season this year? You get to experience food from all over the world, customized and prepared fresh in front of you in several locations all over Switzerland. The concept of the mobile kitchen is now an integral part of Swiss gastronomy culture, and this year, the creative minds behind the festival are committed to making a positive impact by being more sustainable, and working with renewable energy companies to convert biogenic food leftovers into biogas.
www.streetfood-festivals.ch
The Zurich-based food catering and events company, aptly called Freundeskreis, represents the concept of dining with friends. Their pop-up dining concept and locations are always interesting and quirky, like hosting a 5-course dinner for 80 guests in the +Alprausch factory, in the former Radio 24 studio premises, and even on a dry-docked “Stadt Rapperswil” steamship in the shipyard at Lake Zurich. They are currently hosting a special pop-up restaurant in the former Teufelsbrueck restaurant in Andermatt in Canton Uri until early September. Starting 20 September, Maximilian Baumann, the brainchild behind this friendship and dining circle, will host his next pop-up on the 19th floor of the new skyscraper Franklin Tower in Zurich called “Freundeskreis im Wulchechrater”. www.freundeskreis.Li
From September to November, the San Pellegrino Sapori, a fine cuisine and gastronomic festival will take place in Ticino with numerous fringe events taking place in Zurich and Geneva too. This year’s theme is Vive la France! Mauro Colagreco, chef from the 3 Michelin-starred restaurant Mirazur in Menton France, and Goodwill Ambassador for biodiversity for UNESCO since 2022, will also be present at this festival.
www.sanpellegrinosaporiticino.ch
The Genuss Film Festival held in Zug from 21-28 September will be at the Kino Seehof and the Genuss Pavillon directly by the lake. It features 8 days of film, chefs’ tables hosted by top chefs from Zug and Luzern, and talks with the chef of the evening.
www.genussfilm.ch
The Lausanne Table has a very unique spread of guest chefs hosting the Table Ephemere that is not to be missed. It marries culture, heritage, and gastronomy by hosting dinners in places around Lausanne that have important significance. Fancy a meal with 7 other people in an empty soccer field? Table Ephemere in collaboration with the FC Lausanne-Sports and chefs Guillaume Rainex and Francois Grognuz will work with local produce and present a special meal for their 8 guests on September 21. For other chefs’ tables, you will get to dine or visit a turret of the Palais de Rumine or in Chateau Saint-Marie in the heart of Lausanne, which used to accommodate the bishops in the region.
www.lausanneatable.ch
words. Amy Ang
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