Casa Caminada

Gion A. Caminada

There are very few top chefs as highly decorated as Andreas Caminada. The master chef has been celebrating his art at Schloss Schauenstein for years. At the heart of the ensemble from the 13th century is Casa Caminada, a guest house which boasts a menu featuring traditional dishes as opposed to haute cuisine. In the words of the chef himself: “We wanted to create something for both guests and locals alike where people say, ‘that comes from here’.”

“From here” is also a fundamental part of Casa Caminada. The goal for architect Gion A. Caminada was to replace two unused barns with a new building that is carefully integrated into the organic surroundings of the complex as a whole while also enabling a forward-looking use of the spaces. Caminada was able to accomplish this balancing act between the past and future. Original elements such as the weathered roof beams or the floors under the roof on which hay used to be dried are not some kitsch, romanticised reference, but instead functional parts of the new building that is both deeply grounded yet independent.

In Casa Caminada, the architect and the chef – who are not related to each other – have completed a project that is close to both their hearts. The conversion has not only resulted in a restaurant with accommodation, it also houses a bakery, meat cellar, cheese cellar and a chamber with a growing assortment of exquisite delicacies created by Caminada, thus giving the old castle a huge injection of flair and quality of life.

Heinrich Schwendener-Stiftung