Two Michelin stars and 18 Gault & Millau points are just two of the awards obtained by the young, just over thirty year old, chef Marco Campanella, German by birth, but Italian at heart. He has always had a passion for cooking, partly also because he comes from a family of gastronomes, while he learned the profession from great chefs, such as the three-starred Andreas Caminada at the Schloss Schauenstein restaurant and the two-starred Andreas Krolik at Lafleur restaurant in Frankfurt. He has been the restaurant's owner chef for five years La Brezza at the Hotel Eden Roc in Ascona, one of the most prestigious hotels in Switzerland. Marco loves to travel a lot and his cuisine is, as he says, a cuisine open to the world, in which one sometimes perceives an inspiration of exotic aromas, textures and products, while it always remains present, both a Mediterranean line and a base of classic French cuisine. In his dishes the products are left as natural as possible, with particular attention to their freshness. An aspect of great importance is the commitment and care that Marco dedicates to all of his preparations, so that they are healthy and perfectly digestible. This aspect comes from a solid scientific basis for healthy eating and from the collaboration with the London nutritionist Rhaya Jordan. Now we are at the table on the beautiful terrace, with a view of a romantic and perhaps even a little nostalgic sunset over Verbano. After a welcome greeting from the director of the Hotel Simon Spiller, the curtain opens on the eight-course menu with the corresponding wine pairing, menu called “Inspiration”: the prologue with Mackerel, celery, peach, shiso; followed by Ennetbürgen beef, Ticino tomatoes, basil, Vallemaggia pepper; Ravioli stuffed with Iberian pork, pepper, black garlic; Atlantic turbot, fennel, mussels, marine sauce; Ennetbürgen veal sweetbreads, peas, chanterelles and horseradish; Saddle and shank of summer roe deer by Alfred Escher, cherry, shallot in red wine; Tomme Mamelle di Jumi 100% cow, “Bienenstich” cake with blueberries, apricot, buttermilk, lemon balm, created by the young but already very talented patissière chef Livia Bucheli.
All the courses on this rich menu are presented with a choreographic appearance that satisfies even the most distracted eye: on the other hand, "La Brezza" is a gastronomic restaurant where the dishes do not leave you indifferent and where we particularly appreciated that different ingredients produced in Ticino have been so well valorised. It goes without saying that the combination with the wines was masterful, thanks to the two maître d's and sommeliers Nicole Schneider and Nicolas Russo, with wines mainly from the best Ticino production taken from a cellar of over 400 labels.
Marco Campanella personally follows the choice of products for his creations and favors, as far as possible, local, obviously seasonal products and reveals that as fat he uses almost exclusively extra virgin olive oils and very little butter.
However, there are two menus that Marco proposes, one is the one chosen by us, "Inspiration" and the other, decidedly vegan and equally attractive for a next time, is called "Moving Mountains", a menu that intends to follow the exclusive program of experiences that the Hotel offers to guests to help them restore vitality, reconnect with nature and celebrate joy, in short, an adventure with an exhilarating flavour.
La Brezza restaurant
Eden Roc Hotel
Via Albarella 16
6612 Ascona
Tel. + 41 (0) 91 785 71 71
