V-ZUG Inspirations Magazine - Magazine - Page 31
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This conversation begins in that tension: where local
produce becomes global cuisine, where plant-based
menus sit comfortably within 125-year legacies,
and where the design of a kitchen can shape not
just what we cook, but how we connect. At its heart,
it’s about something deceptively simple, how to eat
well, in every sense of the word. Around the table are
Christopher Lacroix of the V-ZUG Gourmet Academy; Chiara Jasson, nutritionist; and Rolf Hiltl,
restaurateur. Together, they discuss a number of
topics from a 125-year restaurant to the architecture
of the modern kitchen, from regional rituals and
local sourcing to the pressures of dietary trends and
performance culture. Beneath it all runs a quieter
question: how do we keep food grounded, generous, pleasurable, and rooted in care, in a world that
increasingly asks us to optimise it?
DANIELLE PENDER
Founder and editor of Riposte,
a print magazine and online platform for women, Danielle Pender
also runs Riposte Studio, where
she works with some of the best
international brands on commercial partnerships.
CHRISTOPHER LACROIX
is the Head of V-ZUG’s Gourmet
Academy, an in-house team of
chefs that tests products, shows
the customers how to use them,
and organises food-related
events. After joining the Academy
in 2013, he has witnessed it growing at an international level, to
the point of boasting 25 member
chefs in Switzerland and over
100 worldwide.
CHIARA JASSON
is a nutritionist and author of the
book Tiny Changes: 52 Easy Steps
to Rediscover Your Nutritional
Balance, published in 2024. The
heart of her work is guiding people
to rediscover a peaceful relationship with food and their own
body, through an approach that
combines scientific rigour
and self-awareness.
ROLF HILTL
is the fourth generation manager
of Hiltl, the world’s oldest vegetarian restaurant, founded in 1898 in
Zurich. Today, besides taking care
of the family business, he is the
founder and partner of Tibits AG,
which runs 13 restaurants across
Switzerland, and a food consultant for charities, foundations
and companies, including
SWISS airlines.
DP
Switzerland often gets reduced to a handful of
clichés, cheese, chocolate, fondue. From your perspective, what’s most misunderstood about Swiss
food culture?
CL
The stereotype is fondue, raclette, but Switzerland,
because of where we are, is influenced by Italian, French
and German cultures, which makes it very interesting.
There’s a misunderstanding that Swiss food is plain,
while actually it is diverse and layered and you have
cities like Zurich (amongst others) which are very multicultural, with amazing chefs and restaurants.
CJ
People tend to think of the Swiss as very disciplined and
traditional. And yes, there is tradition but it’s also very
innovative. There’s innovation in food science, nutrition
science, culinary tradition and technology. It’s far from
boring or rigid. Swiss food culture is really about balance,
a continuity that underlies both tradition and progress.
RH
People just break it down to stereotypes. When we
opened in London and said we were from Switzerland,
people were confused, they asked, “Where’s the cheese?”
But in every country there’s much more than the clichés.
We have heritage and innovation, and I think our quality is very high because apprenticeships in kitchens are
taken very seriously.
PRECISION AND PLEASURE
DP
Beyond national dishes, what regional traditions or
everyday rituals in Switzerland feel most meaningful
to you?
CL
For me, something that really stands out is Zopf, that butter brioche-style bread. Sunday morning Zopf is a kind
of ritual in our home and the family loves it. It’s not only
the bread itself, it’s what it represents; the occasion and
being together. That’s often the way. It’s not just the food,
it’s the people you share it with, the setting, the memories.
CJ
I live in Lugano, Ticino, where you can drive ten minutes
from the main city and you’re at a farm picking up eggs
or milk. Sometimes there are little fridges on the side of
the road stocked with local organic products. They’re
unlocked, you open the fridge, there’s a small box where
you drop your coins, two francs for eggs, maybe 60 cents
per egg. It’s based on trust. And people respect that.
RH
In Switzerland, especially in the mountains, people
traditionally grew their own products. There’s a lot of
respect there, for what you produce, for seasonality, for
simplicity. That connection to growing your own food, to
knowing where it comes from, that’s something that’s
really important.
DP
Thinking about the point that Chiara made about
Switzerland’s ability to balance innovation with
deep-rooted tradition. Where do you see that interplay between progress and heritage showing up most
clearly in food culture today?
CL
This is something we think about every day at the
Gourmet Academy, we experiment with new appliances
to create new experiences or dishes. Take something
like a crème caramel, normally you’d have to make it in
a bain-marie and it’s quite delicate. Now, you can do it
much more easily using innovative tools, with steam at a
precise temperature. I like very traditional food and very
innovative food, but either can go wrong if it’s not properly prepared or seasoned. Having the right tools and a
well-designed kitchen helps you execute both contemporary dishes and old classics really well.
CJ
I studied at ETH in Zurich and there are many startups
there working on sustainability and integrating technology into daily food culture, developing alternatives to
“You’re deeply influenced by the atmosphere you’re in. If you’ve got a
beautifully designed kitchen, it changes how you cook. You’re inspired. You
put more love and care into what you’re doing.”
CHRISTOPHER LACROIX
