Badrutt’s Palace Hotel welcomes Santiago Lastra
Santiago Lastra, of London restaurant KOL, is set to grace the kitchens of Badrutt’s Palace Hotel for two special weeks.
Under the title A Taste of Mexican Innovation Meets Swiss Elegance, the Mexican chef presents KOL’s visionary cuisine for the first time in a residency outside of London.
Chef Lastra has amassed international recognition in a very short space of time, placing 17th in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2024, the highest placed UK restaurant.
KOL opened in October 2020, in partnership with Jake Kasumov and Marco Mendes of MJMK Restaurants. Its name is taken from the word ‘col’, which means ‘cabbage’ in Mexican Spanish and represents Lastra’s belief that the simplest things can be made extraordinary if you believe in them.
The restaurant is committed to replicating Mexican flavours, using seasonal, local ingredients. In St Moritz, Lastra will present signature dishes such as his take on Nicoatole, a custard created using an indigenous technique, reimagined with bright yellow pepper and served with crème fraîche, caviar and seasonal flowers.
The Langoustine Taco, inspired by the tacos of Puerto Nuevo, a seaside village in Baja California, features chipotle cream in a hand-pressed sourdough tortilla, with sweet lobster head juices injected with sea buckthorn and squeezed over the dish tableside.
“I’m looking forward to cooking in such a historic and quality-conscious hotel and bringing Mexican soul to the Swiss Alps, ” says Lastra. “I believe there’s a great brand synergy between Badrutt’s Palace and our ethos at KOL and I’m excited to cook in one of my favourite landscapes – the snowy mountains. ”
“In our pop-up restaurants, we attach great importance to quality and in bringing a cuisine that is unique in St. Moritz,” concludes Richard Leuenberger, Managing Director of Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, currently one of the nine, three Michelin Key Hotels in Switzerland. “We are delighted that Santiago will be on hand throughout the pop-up period, inspiring our guests and delivering the true dining experience of KOL.”
