24.03.2017, The Visitor
Young, ambitious, and self-taught, a new school of culinary artists and restaurateurs have recently made Zurich their playground.
Text: Stephanie Rebonati
Translation: Claudia Walder
Photography: Thomas Stöckli
Their innovations in and around food are shaping Zurich’s restaurant scene and keep even local foodies on their toes: Zurich’s most creative cooks and entrepreneurs approach a variety of projects – be that a classical cocktail bar, a pop-up restaurant, vegan burritos, or homely dinner events in historical buildings – with vision and verve. They take risks and, in a city often bent on tradition, offer fare that goes beyond timeless classics, such as “Zürcher Geschnetzeltes” (veal in a cream sauce), bratwurst and bread, or “Hacktätschli” with mashed potatoes (meatloaf patties). But even more importantly, their culinary contributions are actually changing Zurich’s perspective on food.
Anna Pearson
While Anna Pearson studied design, she’s since taught herself how to make sausages, pasta, and cream cheese from scratch, how to portion half a woolly pig, and how to smoke fish. Seasonal, regional, and home-made, her terroir cuisine is committed to quality. An active member of the Slow Food movement, she’s even published her own cookbook, and is already working on a new publication concept. And no matter what the 36-year old cook is developing, her message stays the same: “If we can create a demand for good quality products, good quality products will be produced.” To try her fare first-hand, register on her website for one of the dinner events she stages in an idyllic village setting outside the city. Joining there in a historic building, any guests attending have to really take their time and slow down.
zu Tisch – the award-winning cookbook by Anna and Catherine Pearson (in German), CHF 58
www.annasfinest.ch
Valentin Diem
Valentin Diem perceives his work as a treasure hunt. He says: “If you read a lot and hang out with the right people, one thing just leads to another.” At 32 years, he is both cook and culinary artist, but calls himself entrepreneur. Having started cooking when he was studying business administration, he later founded his own catering company and began operating pop-up restaurants. “Cooking”, he contends, “is everyday culture – and therefore anti-elitist.” Valentin’s specialty is “Wood Food”, dishes cooked, or smoked, not only over a wood fire, but also with ash or coal as ingredients. In his popular pop-up restaurants, guests get a true taste of the forest, be that in the form of stone pine sausages or fermented potatoes, hot smoked pike, or pine ice cream with forest floor soup. His unusual recipes also appear in the cookbook he published in 2016.
Wood Food by Valentin Diem, AT Verlag, 2016, CHF 49.90
www.woodfood.ch, www.valefritz.ch
Aylin Karadayi
“I want to share something good,” says 34-year old Aylin Karadayi, sitting in her little, pink-painted oasis in the middle of the city, with potted plants hanging over her head. After years in the music business, Aylin decided on a new professional path – one based on awareness and inspired by her own personal habits and lifestyle. Engineering “Ayla Real Food,” means promoting a holistic life philosophy, one that starts with a wholesome diet. She uses fresh produce to create salads, sandwiches, smoothies, and mezes. And whether it’s the “Sweet Pea Mint Mash” or the “Buddha Bowl,” clients can either pick up her fine fare at her shop, or order it up until 6 pm on a given night to have lunch delivered the next day.
Gasometerstrasse 29, www.aylafood.ch
Alvaro Marangoni
Alvaro Marangoni’s four establishments show him to be a young man of classical taste. With its black-and-white floor and glittering chandeliers, the Dante cocktail bar inspires a sense of nostalgia. On the shores of the Limmat river, the round tables of the Grande Café & Bar are arranged on a traditional Moroccan floor. The long limestone counter and high ceilings of the café and cocktail bar Bovelli − situated in Zurich’s main shopping mile – convey cosmopolitan flair, while Marangoni’s newest project, Le Raymond Bar, shows Zurich at its best. From the shores of the Schanzengraben canal, namely, guests can drink rich coffee while watching the blue-and-white trams slide across the bridge, or the many motor boats that are moored in the green waters of Zurich’s historic moat. And while seeming like old-standing city institutions, all four culinary ventures were established within the past seven years. As Marangoni tells it: “We create places for people to come home to.”
Dante: Zwinglistrasse 22, T. +41 43 243 87 70
www.dante-zurich.ch
Grande: Limmatquai, 118, T. +41 44 262 15 16
www.grande-zurich.ch
Bovelli: Sihlstrasse 20, T. +41 44 210 40 60
www.bovelli.ch
Le Raymond Bar: Bleicherweg 8, T. +41 44 221 02 05
www.leraymond.bar
Raphael Rieder & Milena Schneider
Burritos are happiness. Even their name sounds cool: burrito. And Raphael Rieder and Milena Schneider make true taste explosions of them. Their big burritos – measuring some 20 by 8 cm − are generously filled with rice, tomatoes, and greens, as well as more exotic ingredients that change daily. But whether the day’s filling is lentils and yogurt, green beans with curry hummus, or chipped beef with figs, the burritos always sell out quickly. It’s “first come, first serve” at the corner of Kalkbreitestrasse and Seebahnstrasse. Rieder, a 38-year old kindergarten teacher, divides his time between his teaching and his passions for cooking and cycling. And as he collects by bike what he needs for his burritos, or the morning’s “Gipfeli” (Swiss croissants), his “Peddler & Ay Mami” venture is close to CO2 neutral.
Kalkbreitestrasse 33, www.peddler.ch
Ramon Schalch
When Ramon Schalch fell in love with Colombia three years ago, coffee suddenly became more than aluminum capsules. Fascinated by the drink and its value creation chain, he abandoned his plan to work in sports marketing, and turned his newly discovered passion into his profession instead. Today, Schalch manages the ViCafé Espresso Bars. The branch at Bellevue is probably Zurich’s smallest café – but the one with the roomiest terrace. Right across the street is the city’s largest square, the Sechseläutenplatz, where ViCafé patrons can drink their latte, flat white, espresso, or cappuccino on the square’s public seating, while enjoying the view of the Opera House and the lake. Often, manager Schalch is personally behind the counter, preparing drinks for the waiting clients. In quieter moments though, the 32-year old is also happy to tell of his travels to the remote places where he visits coffee farmers. He’s always after the best quality produce, because “Coffee truly is my passion,” he says.
Bellevue, Theaterstrasse 14
Wiedikon, Birmensdorferstrasse 240
www.vicafe.ch
Sami Khouri
Sami Khouri’s friends say that he acts on his ideas. That his name stands for surprises. And that he can be counted on for good company, good music, and lots of action. The 32-year-old entrepreneur has a habit of mobilizing his friends to create culinary worlds – though his pop-ups last only temporarily. He may open his doors in an industrial complex, a basement, or some forgotten corner of the city, but hearing about where they’re up and running is not always easy. Perhaps your best bet is to head for the Palestine Grill, his permanent eatery in Zurich’s red light district, the Langstrasse. As you order the “Friedensplatte” (peace platter) with home-made falafel (Mama Khouri’s own recipe!), roasted eggplant, hummus, and pita bread, you might also get wind of the newest pop-up venture, the current location of the food truck, or the 5-course menu that will color the up-coming boxing match.
Langstrasse 92, www.palestinegrill.com
Tiffany Kappeler
After much deliberation, entrepreneur and avid traveler Tiffany Kappeler settled on the name “Sasou” for her establishment, a word that played on the German words for juice – “Saft” – and soup – “Suppe.” Besides freshly pressed juices and home-made vegan soups, she also sells fresh smoothies and snacks. In summer, her hot soup is replaced by picnic delicacies such as generously stuffed hummus wraps with cashew cheese. The vegan raspberry mousse with cashew nuts, agave syrup, and coconut butter is another favorite, as is the carrot and chocolate cake. The smoothies are so good, they’re addictive; “Good Vibrations” combines apple, fennel, and peppermint for pure refreshment; the “Smooth Criminal”, made of banana, mango, almond cream, and lemon – is a nutritious meal. A former flight attendant, Kappeler realized a dream when she opened Sasou. Nowadays, she even offers a “juice pass,” for those staying a little longer in the city.
Neugasse 41, T. +41 44 271 47 47, www.sasou.ch
Rico Fanchini, Peter Grünenfelder & Pipo Schreiber
Wanting to try something new, and because all three men loved Vietnamese cuisine, restaurateur Rico Fanchini, actor Peter Grünenfelder, and lighting technician Pipo Schreiber opened the “Coming Soon,”a Vietnamese restaurant in Zurich’s lively “Kreis 4” neighborhood. After any main course, the tables here are cluttered with empty plastic bowls, little cups, and oval plates – all in pastel colors – as well as squeezed-out lemons, chili peppers, used chopsticks, and Asian spoons. And while the color palette is stunning, it’s the flavors that really make a visit worthwhile. The sweet-spicy crab bouillon with pork mince, rice noodles, tomatoes, and herbs is fantastic, as is the slightly sour, but highly aromatic Pho Bo, a specialty made of beef stock, strips of beef and noodles. Leave room for dessert, though, even if the choice between green sticky rice with sesame, cassava cake, or warm coconut milk with banana and sweet potato will be difficult.
Rolandstrasse 9, T. +41 44 545 61 14, www.comingsoon.ch
As diverse as their menus are, the young kitchen crusaders described above have one thing in common: they all break with a linear career path. Some might call it a trend, but that term’s too ephemeral, too transitory. Perhaps what connects them is better described as an attitude, a grassroots movement even. And is there a better compliment to a city than having its up-and-coming generation see it as fertile ground to be worked and shaped? More than that even, it is a testament to both, the creative minds who follow their vision, and a prime location that gives them space to grow.