Grand Resort Bad Ragaz has announced that chef Silvio Germann of restaurant IGNIV by Andreas Caminada is partnering with SWISS airline as part of the award-winning culinary concept, “SWISS Taste of Switzerland.” From the beginning of September to the beginning of December 2019, SWISS business and first-class guests can now enjoy Germann’s sophisticated and fresh cuisine from the comfort of their airline seat.
Germann, who was named “Chef of the Year” this spring by the renowned guide “The 100 Best Hotels in Switzerland,” has created extraordinary delicacies for the airline’s passengers. “Designing the SWISS menu was something very special,” said Germann. “Creating the menu was a challenge because taste buds react differently in ten thousand meters of altitude. We have also been racking our brains around adapting the typical IGNIV sharing dishes so that they can be served in an airplane. But I was happy to accept these challenges.” Not only is the chef enthusiastic but the general manager of Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, Marco R. Zanolari, is also very excited and encouraging of the partnership with SWISS, “With the unique dishes of Silvio Germann, we carry our culinary expertise and uniqueness from Bad Ragaz world-wide.”
Germann serves the SWISS guests a variety of seasonal as well as unusual specialties. As a starter, the 29-year-old has created a truffle mousse for the SWISS first-class guests, including egg, leek salad and Belper Knolle (“Belp Ball”). As a main course, Germann, in collaboration with the local hunter Roger Zogg of “Wilde 13” meat producers, has created a special sausage “made in St. Gallen” with game meat. Alternatively, guests can enjoy a sautéed black cod fillet with seafood netting, or a beef fillet with shallot jus and leek sour cream quiche. To complete the menu, Germann serves a tart with sea buckthorn jelly and sour cream.
For business-class travelers, Germann serves a Balik salmon sashimi with dill cream and smoked fish mousse as an appetizer. Then there are three main courses to choose from including a sautéed cod fillet with seafood nag or a veal stew braised in vegetable jus. The dessert is a chocolate slice with plum mousse and brioche cream. In order to bring passengers closer to the culinary diversity of the St. Gallen region, the menus are accompanied by local cheese and wine recommendations.
As a student of the Graubünden top chef Caminada, the native Lucerne took responsibility earlier in his career and has stood for a new kind of fine dining. At the age of 26, Germann helped launch the first IGNIV branch in Bad Ragaz and quickly earned 17 GaultMillau points and a Michelin star.
His culinary offerings and sharing menu have been well received by the guests at IGNIV for more than three years. The relaxed atmosphere in the restaurant and the excellent host qualities of restaurant manager Francesco Benvenuto allow the IGNIV fan base to continue to grow. Chef Germann pays special attention to seasonality and variety in his menus, devoting himself to his small greenhouse which is only a stone’s throw away from the IGNIV kitchen. In general, the passion for cooking and the pleasure of doing extraordinary things with his team on a daily basis are driving forces for the young chef. “It is particularly important to me that I enjoy coming to work every day and that the mood of the team is good, and in the evening, the service and the kitchen harmonize,” said Germann.
