Michelin Star For K At Kulm Hotel St. Moritz – Just Six Weeks After Opening

The best chef in the world, Mauro Colagreco, has secured a Michelin star for the K at the legendary Kulm Hotel St. Moritz, just six weeks after the restaurant opened on 22 December, one of the fastest stars in the Guide’s history.

The Michelin guide awarded the star to the K, commenting, “Unfortunately, this tasteful restaurant in the elegant Kulm Hotel St. Moritz is only open in the winter season. A great pity, as this restaurant is home to the multi-faceted, perfectly balanced and always unexpected cuisine of the Argentine culinary grandmaster Mauro Colagreco, renowned thanks to his 3-star restaurant Mirazur in Menton on the Côte d'Azur”.

 Mauro Colagreco, whose cuisine is inspired by his roots, his travels and the nature that surrounds him, has created a style of his own that focuses on a personal interpretation of the ingredients and spectacular flavour combinations. Colagreco is personally present at the Kulm Hotel on certain dates, otherwise his Chef de Cuisine Paloma Boitier is in charge of the kitchen. The 26-year-old Boitier is a fellow Argentine who has been working at Mirazur for close to five years – and is now one of the youngest female chefs to have helped secure a Michelin star.

Colagreco was born in October 1976 in Argentina of Italian ancestry. In 2001, he moved to France to train at the Lycée Hôtelier de la Rochelle, followed by stints working for the great chefs Bernard Loiseau, Alain Passard, Alain Ducasse and Guy Martin. In 2006, he decided to open his own restaurant, Mirazur, in Menton. A year later, it gained its first Michelin star and in 2009 Colagreco was named “Chef of the Year” by Gault Millau. Last year, Mirazur was awarded three Michelin stars and was named the No.1 restaurant in the World’s 50 Best Restaurant list. 

Said General Manager of the Kulm Hotel St. Moritz Heinz E. Hunkeler, “We are thrilled for Mauro Colagreco, Paloma Boitier and the whole team at the K that their hard work, under more difficult circumstances than usual, has paid off so quickly and they have been rewarded with their first Michelin star. We promised our guests taste explosions on their plates – and we have delivered”.

Colagreco’s food philosophy is all about freshness, simplicity, balance of colour and bringing out authentic flavours. One of his star ingredients is lemon, which makes anchovy fillets set on fried anchovy skeletons pop and sing, while “Luxus beta vulgaris” is a signature dish that combines the everyday (salt encrusted beetroot) with the ultimate luxury (Oscietre caviar cream).

The K by Mauro Colagreco is open for dinner only, from 19:00 to 21:30 hours, Tuesday to Saturday inclusive, until 13 March. Reservations for the K by Mauro Colagreco can be made by emailing fb@kulm.com 

Kulm Hotel St. Moritz (www.kulm.com) was the first hotel to be built in St. Moritz. The Kulm Hotel opened its doors in 1856 and immediately became popular for summer spa and painting holidays, particularly among the British who comprised around 75% of the hotel guests. The then owner of the Kulm Hotel, Johannes Badrutt, initiated winter holidays to St. Moritz from 1864 and, as a result, the hotel, resort and Switzerland itself celebrated 150 years of winter tourism in the 2014/15 season.

Since the 19th century, the Kulm Hotel has changed considerably through expansion and renovation, but the fabulous location at the heart of St. Moritz with views over the Lake remains the same. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, Kulm Hotel St. Moritz has 164 rooms, five restaurants (including formal dining in the Grand Restaurant, the K by Mauro Colagreco, the Italian Pizzeria with 14 Gault Millau points and local Engadine specialities at Chesa al Parc), the extensive  Kulm Spa St. Moritz (with a 20m indoor pool with underwater music, various saunas and steam room, a Jacuzzi, a fully-equipped gym and treatment rooms, all with stunning views over Lake St. Moritz) and six conference rooms, with capacities ranging from 50 to 500 people.

Entertainment and summer sports facilities include the 9-hole Kulm Golf Course St. Moritz (the oldest golf course in the country), three tennis courts and the Marmotta Kids’ Club for younger guests.