Federal Council honors for Moosalp chef Amadé Kalbermatten
Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin honored Amadé Kalbermatten, chef and owner of the Moosalp restaurant, with the "Culinary Merits Switzerland" award in Bern on Monday. With this prize, Kalbermatten joins star chefs such as Andreas Caminada, Irma Dütsch and Anton Mosimann.
The " Culinary Merits Switzerland " award has been created to recognize the excellence of Swiss gastronomy. The aim of the award is to reward and honor exceptional chefs who work in Switzerland or represent Switzerland abroad. This year, the expert jury was unanimous: Amadé Kalbermatten of the Moosalp Restaurant should receive federal recognition for his excellence, his skill and the practice of his culinary art.
A jack of all trades in the mountains
With these words Amadé Kalbermatten was titled by the jury on Monday in front of Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin. The laudator led the participants of the ceremony up to the Moosalp, where Carmen and Amadé Kalbermatten would run the idyllic restaurant Moosalp. Surrounded by the majestic mountain world, the Kalbermatten family lives their dream and lets all visitors share in their happiness. Hikers, bikers or skiers will find hospitality and are always welcome.
In sun, wind and snow, the family welcomes its guests in the cozy parlor or on the beautiful sun terrace. To run Swiss gastronomy at over 2000 meters is a special achievement. Lived hospitality, high quality and an offer that consists mainly of local products, which are freshly and lovingly prepared, are anything but self-evident in this day and age, the jury concluded.
Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin paid tribute to Amadé Kalbermatten in his address. With his culinary art, Kalbermatten would give great respect to the genre of professional chefs and in this way promote the culinary heritage of Switzerland to a great extent. The prize is not only an appreciation, Parmelin continued, it is also an obligation to pass on the excellent skills.
Among the previous winners of the Culinary Merit of Switzerland are great masters of gastronomy: Anton Mosimann, Andreas Caminada or Irma Dütsch is only a selection of the culinary merit of honor.
A word...
Amadé, congratulations for the honor of "Culinary Merit Switzerland".
Amadé Kalbermatten: Thank you very much. I am very happy and overwhelmed. But I am happy to pass on the congratulations to my wife Carmen, my son Jeremy and my daughter Priscilla. They accompanied me today together with my mother Balbina in Bern. Without them and the entire Moosalp team that has supported us over the past decades, I would never receive an award of this significance.
What were your thoughts when you were informed about the honor by the jury?
The previous award winners all have illustrious names. The fact that my name is now right up there with these personalities of gastronomy makes me proud and fills me with joy. I have been described as a "jack-of-all-trades of the mountains". I recognize myself in this description. My passion is the lived hospitality in which we want to spoil our guests and friends together every day anew.
A federal honor that recognizes culinary heritage can also be a burden. How do you deal with it?
An honor is not a burden for me. On the contrary. However, the laudator forgot something in his speech. I am not only a jack-of-all-trades in the mountains, but also restless. My thoughts are always in motion, my head is full of ideas. I keep spinning these thoughts and ideas until something new emerges. I am glad that I still feel this inner urge for something new after more than three decades at Moosalp. I never want to lose this fire and this passion for gastronomy.
Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin presented you with the award. What did you say to him?
"Chumm nomal z'iisch uf d'Moosalp!"
A look at the career of Amadé Kalbermatten
"Learn to be a chef, because you'll never get cold in the kitchen!" With these pointed words, Balbina, Amadé Kalbermatten's mother, was able to convince the current head chef and owner of the Moosalp mountain restaurant to pursue a culinary career.
Amadé made the restaurant Moosalp a hotspot of gastronomy in the last three decades. In a dreamlike mountain setting at 2048 meters, guests enjoy traditional as well as refined dishes. But everything with the unmistakable touch of Amadé.
The guest can look forward to culinary flights of fancy with the Moosalp chef, which one would not expect at such lofty heights. Amadé Kalbermatten's style: exotic, local, Mediterranean.
GaultMillau honors Amadé's cuisine with 14 points. Kalbermatten is a member of the Guild Switzerland and the Guide Bleu. The passionate gastronome is also one of the few chefs in the Upper Valais to be accepted into the "Disciples d'Auguste Escoffier" association.
The Swiss daily Blick praised the Moosalp restaurant as one of the best piste restaurants in Switzerland. The Falstaff gastronomic magazine also praises the Moosalp mountain restaurant as a hotspot on the edge of the slopes. In the Best of Swiss Gastro, Amadé Kalbermatten and his team achieved second place.
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Congratulations on this magnificent award. We can only confirm this honor! After more than 20 years we have never been disappointed. It is every time an experience to stop at the Moosalp.
Greetings
Martha and Herbert from Lucerne
My dear Carmen and Amadé,
Congratulations on the well-deserved honor. At the moment, our daughter Barbara with her family and followers are enjoying the great hospitality. Unfortunately I had to cut back a bit this winter for health reasons, but I am looking forward to spring.
Dear greetings also to Regula
Hello Amadé and Carmen
Congratulations for this award. We are very happy every time we see you again. You are doing a great job.
Denise and Ruedi from Aargau.
Day wou Carmen and Amade,
❤️ congratulations on this very well deserved honor. the Bergidol is very well known far beyond Switzerland and there are only satisfied guests. keep up the good work 👏👏.
vöu Grüess us der Üsserschwytz