June 14, 2019: Two-Michelin starred Chef Sven Wassmer, the Culinary Director at the Grand Hotel Quellenhof in Switzerland, is all set to launch two new restaurants at the 150 year old, renovated hotel. The signature restaurant will be called Memories, and it will be one of Switzerland’s first gourmet restaurants where diners without a reservation also can try and grab a spot, as the coveted counter seats around the open show kitchen will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Chef Wassmer’s new health and lifestyle restaurant – Verve by Sven – was also announced at the same time.
A visit to Chef Wassmer’s signature restaurant is intended to be an experience that guests will remember for the rest of their lives. “Memories and emotions are closely intertwined – and that’s what my team and I want to evoke in our guests,” he said.
The interior design is also an expression of Chef Wassmer’s personality and the atmosphere he wants to create at Memories: “I’m very approachable. The restaurant is supposed to resemble my living room – so there’s no dress code. I want my guests to feel completely at ease. I’m keen to enter into a dialogue with them and enable them to take part in creating memories of their evening in my restaurant.” The open show kitchen of Memories, in particular the six counter seats, are designed to encourage this one-on-one contact. The first come, first served concept at the open kitchen’s counter is a novelty on the Swiss fine-dining scene, offering spontaneous diners a chance to grab one of these sought-after seats on the same evening. “Nowadays, people make plans on the spur of the moment,” says Marco R. Zanolari, General Manager of the hotel. So there is a need to provide guests with the kind of flexible dining option that they are looking for.
The interior also pays tribute to the Grand Hotel Quellenhof’s 150-year history, with the wooden parquet sourced from the original Quellenhof, which opened on July 10, 1869. After a long period of meticulous restoration, it has found a new home in Memories.
On five evenings each week, guests will be able to enjoy a seasonal 9- or 12-course meal at Memories.
In addition to his signature restaurant, Chef Wassmer is also opening a new health and lifestyle restaurant – Verve by Sven – at the Grand Hotel Quellenhof. “Healthy cuisine is no longer a question of abstention, although this notion is still uppermost in many people’s minds,” says Chef Wassmer. Instead, the aim is to show guests how delicious conscious and healthy nutrition can be. “We work with authentic products that are sourced from producers we know, and prepare them in a very gentle and sustainable way. But we don’t want our cuisine to be dogmatic. We’re rather trying to convince guests with its simple and clear style,” explains Chef Wassmer.
Diners are served food that is not only sustainably produced, but also purchased on a fair-trade basis and, wherever possible, grown according to biodynamic principles of agriculture. In addition, Chef Wassmer and Verve head chef Sebastian Titz are keen to combat food waste and work according to leaf-to-root and nose-to-tail principles, i.e. they use the whole plant and less well-known cuts of meat in their cuisine too. While the Memories restaurant offers vegetarian dishes but no vegan alternatives, Verve by Sven is consciously aimed at guests who have a variety of dietary preferences. Breakfast, in particular, will play a key role at the new restaurant: “With a view to health and sustainability, we are consciously moving away from the traditional breakfast buffet and offering breakfast options with fixed items instead,” reveals Chef Wassmer.
In future, the restaurant’s buzzing atmosphere will be enhanced by the integrated bar, at the rear of which will be a walk-in glass wine cellar with space for around 4,000 bottles. The bar will become the Grand Hotel Quellenhof’s latest attraction and is not only aimed at hotel guests, but also at a local clientele. Here, too, Chef Wassmer’s team is taking an unconventional approach: “Although we will be offering classic cocktails, our primary focus will be on creative drinks that contain little or no alcohol at all. We will serve them alongside contemporary bar snacks.” Amanda Wassmer-Bulgin, Wine Director at the Grand Hotel Quellenhof, knows that strong alcoholic drinks are less popular today. She will, therefore, even be offering the option of completely non-alcoholic beverages to accompany each course of the menu served at Memories – something that only very few restaurants offer.
Sven Wassmer’s signature restaurant Memories will be open from June 25, 2019, from 7 p.m. For more information about the restaurant and reservation enquiries, visit the restaurant’s website. Verve by Sven will be open daily from July 1, 2019, 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. (breakfast), 12 noon to 2 p.m. (lunch), and 6.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. (dinner). The bar is open daily from 10 a.m. For further information about the Verve by Sven restaurant, visit the restaurant’s microsite. For reservation enquiries, please e-mail at restaurants@resortragaz.ch.
