Opposites In Perfection

Sven Wassmer - perfectionist, purist and child of nature. Away from his kitchen, you’ll come across him in the forest collecting wild herbs or mushrooms. Or you’ll find him 2,000 meters up with his cows. It’s this deep bond with nature which makes his creations so authentic and him so likable. For although he runs like a well-oiled Swiss movement, he also leaves space for innovation, is cosmopolitan through and through and sometimes extends his feelers towards distant lands. At one time he was drawn to the Night Market in Vietnam to look for special ingredients from small family-run companies. His focus is always on respect for the products, close contact with his suppliers and the aspiration to breathe new life into old memories and create new ones.

His CV is lined with famous names. For example, Sven Wassmer, as sous chef of Nenad Mlinarevic at the Focus restaurant in the Parkhotel Vitznau, was instrumental in winning its second Michelin-star. He worked beside Nuno Mendes and Leandro Carreira in the Viajante in London, and with Andreas Caminada from Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau. Nevertheless, the greatest inspiration and most important teacher in life has been his grandmother. 

Sven Wassmer finds his own path to connecting regionality with cosmopolitanism; it’s impossible not to see influences from all the continents. So based on the maxim “think global, act local”, he relies whenever possible on small, local producers and adapts his menus to each season.

His menus always tell stories and now he has written one especially for the Restaurant Ikarus in Hangar-7. Allow yourself to be seduced by the naturalness of his compositions and experience the subtle play between nostalgia and avant-garde on your own palate. That’s got to be a match made in heaven.