Andreas Caminada on intuition and innovation

Andreas, you are the most famous chef in Switzerland, as well as a successful entrepreneur. You run several restaurants, a hotel, bakery and roastery, and are an ambassador for various brands. You even have a magazine that bears your name. Who would you say you are?

I’m a chef who started his own business here in Fürstenau 20 years ago. Since then, the business has grown significantly, going from four to about 150 employees, winning awards in the process. We are never complacent and are always looking to make the next move.

Did you plan to build yourself as a brand?

No, I never thought about that. I just tried to do things my way. When everyone else would come out with a cookbook, I’d publish a magazine. That’s how you stand out and make your mark, without following the mainstream.

So being an excellent chef isn’t enough for you?

It was always my dream to start my own business, so I could decide for myself what goes on the plate. I started with my team at Schloss Schauenstein in 2003 with no supporters. I’ve always worked twice as hard as everyone else because I realised talent alone is not enough. Cooking takes a lot of dedication and willpower. You have to be prepared to give your all. At one point, we were awarded three Michelin stars and 19 Gault Millau points. We then took over Remise and opened a restaurant with a different concept. Everything I’ve done so far comes from intuition.

Which is more important to you, Michelin stars or Gault Millau points?

It has always been about something else: passion. Guests sense it and at some point you end up on a list which in turn attracts more guests. It’s easier to do something in a city like Zurich than here in the mountains. The crucial question for a restaurant is: can you survive? It doesn’t matter whether you have three Michelin stars. Michelin stars won’t necessarily guarantee success, they are more of a way to generate buzz around your business.

 How were you able to make a restaurant in a small village like Fürstenau so well known?

The key to success and getting noticed is continuous hard work and patience. You also need to at least sustain – or even better, improve – those high quality standards over the years. If I was still cooking like I did 20 years ago, we would no longer exist. You’ve got to sense what society wants and never stand still. We used to cook classic French cuisine, then came Spanish molecular cuisine, then regional cuisine. This is still in demand. Today people are also eating more sustainably and consuming less meat so I had to react to all this. During the pandemic, we decided to open a vegetarian restaurant because we’d been practising permaculture for years.

What is permaculture all about?

We have some property and want to become even more autonomous by producing our own ingredients. I see this as a further development of our concept. We also store preserves in our cellar, which we use in our kitchen, and our culinary repertoire features fermentation. People appreciate the fact that the ingredients are locally sourced from the region. We have invested a lot of time in these gardens over the last five years. This gives us an advantage over other kitchens and the freshness is reflected in our flavour. But the competition is huge so we have got to differentiate ourselves.

You have had a partnership with V-ZUG for years. Can you tell us about it?

Fifteen years ago, V-ZUG asked me to share some recipes for their lifestyle platform. Back then, there were no such partnerships between chefs and brands, so I ended up becoming their first ambassador. I need a brand to suit me because I want to tell a story through my partnerships, and the more innovative a partnership is, the longer it lasts. We have always tested and implemented new things and that only works if you share the same values.

What values do you share with V-ZUG?

V-ZUG is celebrating its 111th anniversary and we are celebrating our 20th. V-ZUG has a long tradition and has developed many innovations and its own design language over the years. Like me, the people at V-ZUG are perfectionists. They want to develop the best appliances and I want to serve the best dishes.

What other parallels are there?

Our Swiss origin. The fact they manufacture their appliances in Zug is impressive. Few companies still produce here in Switzerland. They have created a brand that every child recognises. It was a great honour for me 15 years ago to start my partnership and start developing recipes with V-ZUG.. We both have a commitment to quality and innovation. We currently have 15–20 appliances from V-ZUG in our kitchen.

Which is your favourite?

The V-ZUG “CombiSteamer”, of course. I can do everything with it: bake, steam, make a soufflé, you name it. It even dries my children’s gloves when they come home after a day in the snow. It’s an appliance that’s in use every day.

What are your thoughts on smart tech in the kitchen?

It might be exciting for tech geeks at home, but when you have 30 guests for lunch and dinner, reliability is key: we simply don’t have time to plan. In a professional kitchen, appliances must work flawlessly above all else.

Is a sense of aesthetics important to you?

I like beautiful dishes, chairs and lamps. And so do guests because it makes them feel comfortable. Design has always been important to me – I pay attention to every detail.

In your restaurant, you’ve kept your origins but you’ve done so very stylishly.

Here you forget the world around you. I work with Hublot but there is no marble here, nothing that screams luxury. Despite being a castle, you could describe the château as down-to-earth while still having a passion for beauty. Everything here is very understated but carefully chosen, blending together nicely.

Cooking is your passion but also your business. How do you combine the two?

I have a passion for creating and it could be anything – new dishes, new designs, new stories. I’ve always loved thinking outside the box and applying little touches that you might notice subconsciously. Thanks to my team, we have a great creative platform here. People just need talent and passion for the job. Whether in the kitchen or the hotel, I don’t care where people come from. As long as they come here thinking they can really learn something, I will gladly give them a chance to grow.

You also launched the Uccelin Foundation, through which you have been supporting young chefs since 2015.

We want to share our success and give back. Two francs from every menu go to this foundation and V-ZUG also contributes to it. We use this money to give young people the opportunity to be selected, provided they have at least five years’ experience. There is also a Master’s program which enables them to travel the world. They can choose where to go and experience great things, learning a lot in the process. They have no obligation to us, it’s all about opportunities. Some of them go on to set up their own business and become successful chefs.

Many of the people who have worked here now run their own restaurants.

We’ve been around for twenty years, so hundreds of people who have been through here have now been awarded their own stars. It’s a special, innovative and high-quality environment which people are attracted to.

Together with Living Circle, you bought Schloss Schauenstein in 2022 and are now the majority owner. Have you reached your zenith?

Nonsense, I’m still far too young to think that. I also have even more responsibility now and it’s a new beginning. Just like when we got our third star, we just kept going and are still a long way from reaching our peak. As I mentioned before, I’m someone who always looks to the future.

V-ZUG is anchored in the belief that a future needs a past. Can you already see a certain heritage in your company?

This house was built in 1742. The surrounding mountains, the patina of the building, make it unique and allow us to stand out from the competition. There are many excellent restaurants in the world, but this one tells our own story which we can continue to shape for years to come. In twenty years’ time, the place itself won’t have changed much, but we’ll have to keep “equipping” it with good people, chefs and guests alike, so that everyone will always say: “Wow, this place is one of a kind!”