Chef of the Year 2025, 2×2 Michelin stars, 19 Gault&Millau points, best vegan menu in Switzerland – that sounds like someone who is floating at least an inch above the ground. Marco Campanella is definitely not that person. On the contrary, he literally has both feet firmly on the (kitchen) floor – sometimes even on his knees, scrubbing away alongside his five-member team.
“The team is everything. You can only achieve your goals as a team,” he says. “And the second thing is: stay human. You can fall just as quickly as you rise.” Two sentences, two rules for life – and the foundation of a career that is far from over.
From footballer to professional chef
It was never the plan that he would one day be considered one of the most exciting chefs in Switzerland. “Of course not,” laughs Campanella. “Until I was 13 or 14, it was clear to me that I would become a professional footballer.” He played in the German national team and dreamed of Stuttgart, Freiburg and the big stage. Then his knee got in the way.
Fortunately, there was always a Plan B, which had in fact always been there: cooking. His parents ran the Ristorante La Mezzaluna on Lake Constance for years, and Marco grew up between the scullery, salad station and bar. “I did everything: washing up, preparing salads, tapping beer. And I loved being in the kitchen.”
He trained at Hotel Krone – Swabian classics instead of fine dining: roast beef, spaetzle, wild boar, carving hare. “Back then, I didn’t even know what gourmet meant,” he admits. “I thought you had to work in five-star hotels to make a name for yourself.”
Stations, stations, stations
His brother – nine years older and already working for the Jumeirah Group – drew him to Switzerland. Carlton Hotel, Eden Roc, Ascona: at the age of 19, Marco ended up at the restaurant La Brezza for the first time – at that time still a long way from fine dining, with 80 – 90 guests and bar and pool service included.
This was followed by stints with the big names:
• Martin Dalsass – known for poultry on the bone, pigeons, ducks, whole turbot, carved at the guest’s table.
• Ivo Adam – the rock ‘n’ roller among Swiss chefs, famous even on Kellogg’s cereal boxes.
• Andreas Caminada at Schloss Schauenstein – 3 stars, 19 points, a school for life.
Campanella stayed with Caminada for two and a half years. And yet: ‘When I left there and went to work for Rolf Fliegauf in Ascona, I thought to myself: What have I actually learned?’ he says. ‘Every chef has their own style, their own philosophy. Everyone makes a sauce differently. And that’s a good thing – because otherwise you don’t learn anything new.’
His advice to young chefs is therefore clear and concise: ‘Stay for a year or two, soak up everything you can and then move on.’
Head chef at 26 – and still a long way from ‘arriving’
At 26, he became head chef at La Brezza. “It was a very, very difficult time,” he says today. “You’re young, you have older employees. You have to learn: how do I speak to whom? How do we work together?” Then came the awards: Discovery of the Year in Ticino. First star. Second star. 18 points. 19 points. Chef of the Year 2025.
When he found out, he was initially speechless. “At first, I didn’t understand why me. There are definitely chefs in Switzerland who are better than me.” He really says that! And you believe him when he says it. Conceited? Marco, never! Down-to-earth and grateful? Definitely! And he also knows that “without the hotel, without the team, without my wife who looks after our little daughter – none of this would have been possible.”
Four stars, two establishments, one common thread
One chef, two kitchens: in summer, La Brezza is located at the Hotel Eden Roc in Ascona, right on Lake Maggiore, and in winter at the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa, in the Grisons mountains.
Both restaurants: 2 Michelin stars, 19 points. Mathematically speaking, that would be “actually 4 stars.” Despite two different establishments and kitchens, one thing remains the same: the philosophy. And the team, of course. What is it known for? Sauces that have been reduced for a long time, taking three to five days to prepare. The same goes for the seven-course Inspiration menu and its own plant-based menu Moving Mountains, which is completely vegan and has just as much depth and impact as the classic version. “The philosophy is exactly the same in Ascona and Arosa,” he says. “The sauces, the approaches – that remains the same. The products change: tomatoes and cucumbers in summer, black salsify, Jerusalem artichokes and Albula potatoes in winter. But I try to keep the lightness in both menus.”
Cosmopolitan – but recognisable, please
Campanella describes his cuisine today as cosmopolitan: “It’s a cosmopolitan cuisine with tips and tricks from the countries I’ve travelled to – but with the purity of seasonal and regional products. It’s important to me that guests recognise the product on their plate. A lobster course with peas and Korean gochujang paste, for example – you can see the peas, taste them, understand them. A tomato can come in five different consistencies, but in the end it remains a tomato.”
Incidentally, for him, cosmopolitan does not mean using luxury products from all over the world. Cosmopolitan means: zander and catfish from the lake on his doorstep. Vegetables from the valleys of Ticino, combined with flavours from Peru, Japan, Korea and Thailand – expressed through spiciness, acidity and techniques. And sometimes also: pastes in his suitcase. In Japan, he fell in love with a miso from a small family producer on an island near Hiroshima. Import? Almost impossible. So he bought 30 jars and carried them home. Later, a Japanese contact organised a new supply for him. He brought back eight kilos of a Korean gochujang variant in his luggage. “When I travel, I try to live with host families,” he says. “They show me how a paste works or how soups are made. It’s really interesting – and when it’s gone, it’s gone. That’s what makes it so unique and a real experience.”
The sauce whisperer
He is now known in the industry as the sauce man. “Mainly because we have two concepts – the vegan and the Inspiration menu – and therefore around 15 sauces on the menu. That’s a real challenge,” he says.
What makes a good sauce? Time, patience, roasted flavours – and restraint with salt.
“It’s not just a case of sautéing vegetables, adding red wine and you’re done. You have to roast the vegetables slowly so that the sweet notes come to the fore rather than the bitter ones. And reduce the red wine slowly. That’s why my sauces take at least three to five days to reach perfection.”
His veal sauce consists of five elements – bones, oxtail, belly, onions and various wines. A small modular system of flavours, so to speak.
And then there’s the matter of vegan sauces. At La Brezza, everything that can be vegan is vegan – creams, espumas, mayonnaise. “We make our creams with plant-based creams, which are very neutral. We make mayonnaise with soy milk and oil. I think it tastes lighter than with egg and everyone can eat it.”
Cleaning together is less lonely
Marco works in the kitchen with a team of five: sous chef, pâtissier, garde-manger, entremetier, saucier – and he’s right in the middle of it all.
His daily routine is structured and intense: coffee in the office in the morning, emails, checking the timings. From midday onwards, he’s in the kitchen: producing, tasting, checking. Around half past four, everything is tasted – creams, gels, purées, sauces. Then service. And at the end: everyone cleans up together. “I’m not the kind of person who says, ‘I’m the chef, you clean up.’ We do it together. We slide around the kitchen on our knees and tidy up together. That’s very important to me.”
Motorcycle, daughter, very simple pasta
In his private life, Campanella is surprisingly normal – apart from the fact that he commutes between Lake Maggiore and the mountains of Graubünden. He has holidays in October and November, and again in spring. In between, you’ll find him at the stove, with guests and with his team.
To unwind, he rides his motorbike – now more leisurely than adrenaline-fuelled. “Since I’ve had my daughter, I don’t ride as fast anymore,” he says. “I enjoy the curves, the mountains, the landscape.” His daughter, three-year-old Enola, wants to get involved in the kitchen. “She always wants to throw the pasta into the water, chop vegetables, be right in the middle of things. Just before serving, I usually have to take over,” he laughs. Should she follow in his footsteps? “I hope not.” At home, he cooks too – but “very, very simple” dishes: pasta, spaetzle, chicken with potatoes, a little Asian cuisine, sushi with the family. “Very easy. Cook rice, tuna with mayonnaise, seaweed – so that Enola can join in.”
Goals: boutique hotel by the lake and never being finished
Despite all his awards, Campanella doesn’t seem like someone who is ‘finished’. On the contrary – he doesn’t like that word. ‘You’re never finished. Not at 26, not at 33, not at 80. It’s important to remain open. To keep going.”
He has a dream for the future: a small boutique hotel right on the lake, 15 to 16 rooms, overlooking Lake Maggiore. “But that’s more of a 15-year project,” he says. Until then, he’ll continue cooking in Ascona in the summer and Arosa in the winter – and work on his central theme.
What should guests take home with them after an evening at La Brezza?
“I want them to be satisfied, full and happy,” he says. “And I want them to feel how much work, time and passion has gone into it. Not just from me, but from the whole team.”
And if someone has critical feedback? “Then I say: Thank you. I’ll gladly take it to heart and try it out right away. And then I’ll decide whether he or she is right.”
This is perhaps the most beautiful combination that can exist in top-class gastronomy: radical quality, radical care – and enough down-to-earthness to listen.
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