Valentin Sträuli will be cooking at IGNIV Andermatt from December
In mid-December, Andreas Caminada and Andermatt Swiss Alps AG will jointly open a new gourmet restaurant "IGNIV by Andreas Caminada" in Andermatt. Preparations for this new opening in the Andermatt Reuss part of the village are in full swing. It is now known who will be responsible for the kitchen and service management in the restaurant designed by Patricia Urquiola. Valentin Sträuli will take over the kitchen sceptre together with sous-chef Florian Gauster. Hannah van den Nieuwenhuizen will be the hostess together with Alexandra Kraxner.
Andreas Caminada and Andermatt Swiss Alps AG present the management team of the new IGNIV by Andreas Caminada, which will open in mid-December this year in Andermatt as a lighthouse in the new Furkagasse retail and gastronomy zone. As with previous openings, the restaurant will be entrusted to a young chef from Andreas Caminada's talent factory. The new IGNIV - which means "nest" in Romansh - will be headed up by 27-year-old chef Valentin Sträuli. Caminada has found the right man for Andermatt in him: "Valentin is a great young person. Highly motivated, creative, passionate and reliable. I'm excited to see how he will fulfil his potential at IGNIV," says the Grisons chef and entrepreneur.
Perfect conditions
Born in Zurich, Sträuli went through Caminada's school. After completing a cookery apprenticeship at LaSalle in Zurich, he began his career at IGNIV Zurich and has been working as head chef at the Caminada Group's flagship restaurant, Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau, since 2023. "It fills me with incredible pride to be able to follow in the footsteps of some of my role models and open my own IGNIV. The bar has been set high; thanks to Andreas' meticulous preparation and coaching, we will achieve the goals we have set ourselves," says Valentin Sträuli. "Andermatt is young, dynamic, international and rich in tradition all at the same time. The perfect conditions for moulding the proven IGNIV concept with our own personality," he adds.
After Bad Ragaz, St. Moritz (open until March 2023), Zurich and Bangkok, Andermatt is now the fifth location where guests can enjoy the fine dining sharing concept: Eating and sharing at a very high culinary level, promoting togetherness and enjoying relaxed moments of well-being. Guests are served several bowls, platters and plates with one dish per course. A menu can therefore consist of up to 20 different dishes. The theme of domesticity in a bird's nest and sharing is omnipresent during a meal at IGNIV. From the signature dish, a seasonally changing Oeuf Royal, to the wine accompaniment from double magnum bottles shared with other guests - guests can sit back and enjoy like hungry birds in a nest.
Restaurant manager Hannah van den Nieuwenhuizen is very familiar with the sharing principle. She has been part of the team since IGNIV Zurich opened in 2020 and is currently welcoming guests as Chef de Service alongside Ines Triebenbacher. She can hardly wait for the intensive pre-opening phase: "I'm looking forward to the responsibility and the unique team spirit that is in the air at a new opening."
Cooperation with Spanish star architect
Caminada has also chosen the Spanish star architect Patricia Urquiola for the branch of his successful restaurant group in Andermatt. The restaurant is prominently located at the end of the new Furkagasse in the Andermatt Reuss neighbourhood, on the ground floor of the Maya apartment building, whose 17 luxury flats were also designed by the Spaniard.
In search of talent throughout Switzerland
Andermatt Swiss Alps AG is on the lookout for talents with a roadshow from 5 to 9 July 2024 and is recruiting the remaining 15 members of the team. The exact dates of the stops in Zurich, Locarno, Lucerne and other locations will be available at https://www.andermatt-swissalps.ch/jobs from 28 June. A for adventure, A for atmosphere or A for Andermatt is the name of the game when Andermatt Swiss Alps stops at five locations and presents itself to potential employees.
From midday until the afternoon, members of the HR team will be present with a trailer at busy locations in the cities. In addition to discussions about possible jobs in Andermatt, there are also small snacks for interested candidates.
In the title picture from left to right: Florian Gauster, Alexandra Kraxner, Hannah van den Niewenhuizen, Valentin Sträuli.
Andermatt Swiss Alps AG – Welcome home.
Andermatt Swiss Alps AG, with registered office in Andermatt, plans, builds, and develops the year-round destination of Andermatt. In 2009 Andermatt Reuss came into being, with apartment buildings, hotels, and villas. The Andermatt Swiss Alps Group owns the The Chedi Andermatt and Radisson Blu Reussen hotels, the holiday apartments Andermatt Alpine Apartments, an 18-hole, par-72 championship golf course and the Andermatt Concert Hall. A close partnership is in place with Andermatt-Sedrun Sport AG (Andermatt-Sedrun mountain railways, various restaurants, the Swiss Snowsports School Andermatt and the sport shop Gleis 0) and its majority shareholder Vail Resorts, Inc. for developing the destination. Vail Resorts, the largest operator of ski resorts, and Andermatt Swiss Alps are together pursuing the vision of becoming The Prime Alpine Destination. In doing so, they are committed to an intact environment and a sustainable future that will enable coming generations to have an extraordinary home. During high season, Andermatt Swiss Alps and Andermatt-Sedrun Sport AG have more than 1,000 employees working at the locations in Altdorf, Andermatt and Sedrun.
