Badrutt's Palace 'IGNIV' Restaurant Awarded Second Michelin Star

This week, Switzerland’s 2020 Michelin Guide delights Andreas Caminada and Marcel Skibba with a second star, applauding IGNIV’s innovative approach to regional cuisine. Only nine months after IGNIV at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel opened in December 2016, Chef Skibba was awarded the first Michelin star for the restaurant’s modern, collaborative approach to dining.

Derived from the Rhaeto-romansh word for ‘nest,’ ‘IGNIV’ represents the desire for all guests to feel comfortable and cared for during their dining experience, perfectly embodying the atmosphere at Caminada’s Badrutt’s Palace Hotel outpost. The focus is on sharing with all dishes served in small bowls, plates or platters in the middle of the table, individually paired with the perfect wine by Italian host and sommelier, Giuseppe Lo Vasco.

Skibba has worked closely with Caminada since 2015 and is well versed in the high standards he keeps. The respect is mutual, and Caminada says that he is “extremely happy for Marcel and [is] very proud that his outstanding performance has now been awarded with the second Michelin star … [He] would like to thank the entire IGNIV team at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, because they all contributed to this success too.”

Richard Leuenberger, Managing Director of Badrutt's Palace joins in the congratulations from Caminada. "Skibba and his team always offer our guests a very special culinary highlight during the winter season, and the second Michelin star is well-deserved - congratulations also from the colleagues at Badrutt's Palace," says Leuenberger. "We also congratulate Andreas Caminada on the Michelin Mentor Award, which he received for his outstanding performance as an instructor and for developing his gastronomic concepts. We are very pleased that he has been honoured with this award."

Marcel Skibba began his career in 2003 in the Black Forest in Germany. After qualifying as a chef in the traditional hotel and restaurant Erbprinz in Ettlingen, as well as a stint in his parents’ hotel, he moved to the 2-starred »Le Pavillon« in Hotel Dollenberg. He then gained invaluable experience as a saucier and possionier as chef de partie in Thomas Bühner’s team in the 3-starred restaurant »La Vie« in Osnabrück. Since 2015 Marcel Skibba has enhanced Andreas Caminada’s 3-starred cuisine in Schloss Schauenstein, where he quickly rose ranks to become the native Grison sous chef and qualified for the position of head chef at IGNIV in Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St. Moritz, which opens every winter season.

Andreas Caminada has been a host at Schauenstein Castle in Fürstenau, Switzerland, since 2003. The Schauenstein Castle restaurant has been awarded three Michelin stars and 19 GaultMillau points and has been on the “World's Best Restaurants” list since 2011. In December 2015, Caminada’s second restaurant brand “IGNIV by Andreas Caminada” was launched, opening at the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz. In December 2016, the second IGNIV restaurant was inaugurated at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel and future opening are planned in Zurich and Bangkok in 2020. Also in 2015, Andreas Caminada founded the “Fundaziun Uccelin” to promote young Swiss and foreign chefs and service talents. His book magazine "CAMINADA DOCUMENTA" is published every six months in German and English. Andreas Caminada is married and has two sons.