The new Grand Restaurant at the Carlton Hotel St. Moritz

St. Moritz (11 December 2023). The opening of the new Grand Restaurant marks the start of this year’s winter season at the Carlton Hotel St. Moritz. After a number of years away from the Engadin, the opening also marks the return of Executive Chef Salvatore Frequente, who brings with him a dining concept with a difference. With unobstructed views of the Engadin mountains and Lake St. Moritz, the restaurant’s newly developed menu gives pride of place not only local produce but to wild products from the surrounding forests. Both the look and flavour of the dishes are inspired and enhanced by these gifts of the outdoors, which are picked and collected seasonally before being expertly prepared. The ingredients embody an authentic connection to the region we love so much.

In keeping with the Tschuggen Collection’s holistic Moving Mountains philosophy, plant-based dishes take centre stage. While, as always, the food we serve is primarily intended to delight the palate, the menu also seeks to re-energise the body and restore equilibrium. Sustainable regional producers are placed in the spotlight; local wild superfoods such as sea buckthorn and juniper berries are given the chance to tell their story. Root vegetables, tubers and earthy pulses add character and heart to the winter offering. A wild herb salad with caramelised figs and walnut & fir-infused vinegar follows an appetiser of pickled pine cones and mushrooms; for the main event, winter vegetables like Jerusalem artichokes and beetroot are lovingly paired with regional game. Concluding this culinary expedition through the Engadin are deliciously nourishing dessert ingredients like beetroot, cranberries and wood sorrel.

Executive Chef Salvatore Frequente gathers inspiration for his dishes while out and about in nature. For him, every long walk through Ticino or the Engadin forests represents a chance to learn more about the treasures of the earth. The vegetables, fruits, wild herbs and mushrooms preserved from his summer foraging excursions are now being skilfully incorporated into the winter menu.

It is not merely the new dining concept that brings the Engadin outdoors in, but the interior styling, too. Conceived by noted Ticino interior designer Carlo Rampazzi, it is visibly inspired by the hues of the surrounding forests and mountains. Large windows framed by natural beige linen curtains invite nature into the large, open-plan space, while earthy, light colours subtly focus diners’ attention towards the masterfully prepared natural ingredients on the plate.

A selection of images accompanying this press release about the opening of the new Grand Restaurant at the Carlton Hotel St. Moritz can be found here.