Italian shooting star comes to the Sens

VITZNAU. The Sens restaurant at the Vitznauerhof will be transformed into a stage for top chefs from 13 June 2024 - as previously announced. General Manager Raphael Herzog invites guests to the "Sens" summer residence. The first star to spoil the guests with culinary delights is Matteo Morbini. The Italian has already cooked all over the world. Including with Australian cooking legend Peter Gilmore in Sydney.

Summer at the Vitznauerhof will be a unique experience for gourmets. Now that Jeroen Achtien has returned to his home country of the Netherlands, several star chefs will be taking over his former restaurant Sens. The summer residency is a pop-up where national and international chefs are given a platform. The Italian Matteo Morbini is the first. He comes from the small Tuscan town of Lucca, but has already cooked all over the world: he was chef de partie at the Gordon Ramsey restaurant in London. In Sydney, he worked at the Quay with his great idol Peter Gilmore. He opened his own restaurant in his home town of Lucca. He learnt to fish on a boat in the Mediterranean. And at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, he practised and internalised the techniques of Japanese cuisine. He also has experience in the pop-up scene. In summer 2023, he cooked at Carousel in London and most recently he organised a pop-up in New York with American TV chef Tom Colicchio. So much talent does not go undiscovered. In June 2022, he was named the best chef under 30 in central Italy.

From 13 June to 31 July, Matteo Morbini will now be cooking in Switzerland, directly on Lake Lucerne. Guests will be able to enjoy innovative Italian cuisine. Matteo Morbini loves the roots and traditions of Italian cuisine, but adds his own imaginative touch to his dishes. He pays maximum respect to the selected ingredients. He uses what the region has to offer and utilises various fermentation techniques and influences from other cultures.

On 30 June, a second chef will take to the Sens stage. Marcel Koolen is the current head chef at "7132 Silver" in Vals GR. Guide Michelin awards the talented Dutchman two stars. With his engagement in Vitznau, Koolen becomes a returnee. He is working as sous-chef under Jeroen Achtien in Vitznau until 2020. "Silver makes Sense" is the name of the pop-up with Marcel Koolen. The menu has already been written. It is an abbreviated summer version of the Silver Experience. There are five courses in total, which are served to share. There is also a matching drinks pairing from "Silver" sommelier Franziska Wölfli.

It will be an intense summer for Koolen. During the week, he cooks "at home" in "Silver" in Vals. From Sunday to Tuesday, he can be found at the Vitznauerhof. When Koolen and Morbini's shifts overlap, Morbini cooks from Wednesday to Saturday and Koolen from Sunday to Tuesday. This guarantees a cosy lunch or an exciting dinner every day. "I am delighted that we have been able to recruit two such talented chefs for our summer pop-up," says Raphael Herzog, General Manager at the Vitznauerhof. "Guests can look forward to seeing who else will be cooking in summer 2024." The Kitchenparty White Night will take place on 24 June 2024.