As a country, Switzerland has ambitions to become climate neutral with zero carbon emissions by 2050 and will be the ones to watch when it comes to innovations in transport, building and industrial technology in order to succeed in this target. So naturally, Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau won the award of best practice in sustainability.
Destination restaurant? Yes, in the truest sense – Schloss Schauenstein is housed in a fairy tale castle in the Swiss Alps. The restaurant and six-room boutique hotel sits in the historic village of Fürstenau, which, with only eight full-time residents, claims the title of the smallest town in the world.
Worth the trip? The remote location means that Schloss Schauenstein is enveloped in a beautiful and romantic atmosphere. The food – from characteristic preparations with a single ingredient to balanced flavours and precise presentation – has been fine-tuned over the years, resulting in surprising flavours even from the simplest ingredients.
Who’s at the stove: Swiss chef Andreas Caminada, who fell in love with fine dining after visiting Jardin des Sens at the age of 20. He took over the then-empty castle in Fürstenau in 2003, when he was only 26 years old, to realise his vision of an all-around hospitality experience for his guests. Starting with a team of only four employees, Caminada has grown and developed the restaurant with relentless passion, now running a team of 40 and with three Michelin stars to his name.
The experience: With equal importance given to food and hospitality, a dinner at Schloss Schauenstein is a warm and immersive experience from the moment you are greeted by the attentive staff at the door. The menu is designed to enrich the senses, with dishes such as beef, apple and mustard, or Swiss pikeperch fish, artichoke and mushrooms.
Bonus point: Caminada oversees a biannual bookazine called Caminada Documenta, where he discusses and reveals the sources of his culinary inspiration and shares the stories behind the dishes, often involving other art forms or exotic travels.
