Anton Mosimann
OBE,
DL (born 23 February 1947) is a Swiss chef and
restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspec ...
who was ''Maitre Chef des Cuisines'' at the
Dorchester Hotel
The Dorchester is a five-star luxury hotel on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious and expensive hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its ...
for thirteen years, during which time its restaurant achieved a rating of two stars in the ''
Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...
''. After leaving The Dorchester Mosimann took over a private dining club called The Belfrey and created Mosimann's, a cookery school, and other enterprises in the hospitality industry. He has also presented television programmes in the UK and Switzerland. In 2016 a museum dedicated to his life and culinary arts was opened in the César Ritz Colleges, located on the shores of Lake Geneva (lac Léman), in the town of Le Bouveret.
Mosimann terms his culinary style ''cuisine naturelle'' as it emphasises healthy and natural ingredients, avoiding additions of fat and alcohol.
Early life and career
Mosimann was born on 23 February 1947 in
Solothurn
Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...
, in the foothills of the
Swiss Jura
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Swiss people
Places
*Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
*Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss International ...
,
to Otto and Helga Mosimann.
From his childhood he assisted in a restaurant that his parents ran in
Nidau
Nidau is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.
History
Nidau is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Nidowe''. In 1352, it was recorded in Latin as ''Nydow''.
The remains of a number of sti ...
.
He was an only child.
When he was 15 he began an apprenticeship at a local hotel, and he received his diploma as a ''
chef de cuisine
A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is ...
'' at the age of 25.
During his twenties he worked at hotels in Rome, Montreal, Japan and Belgium.
During
Expo '70
The or Expo 70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...
in Japan Mosimann was Head Chef at the Swiss Pavilion.
The Dorchester
Mosimann was appointed ''Maitre Chef de Cuisines'' at London's
Dorchester Hotel
The Dorchester is a five-star luxury hotel on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious and expensive hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its ...
in 1975, when he was only 28 years old.
His predecessor, Eugène Käufeler, had asked for advice on the appointment from Adelrich Furrer, a Swiss expert on gastronomy.
Mosimann had come to Furrer's attention when he won a gold medal for his cooking, at a competition in
Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
.
When the Dorchester's restaurant achieved a two star rating in the ''Michelin Guide'' it was the first hotel restaurant outside France to do so.
''Cuisine naturelle''
Mosimann has said "I created what I call ''cuisine naturelle''. Its main characteristic is that it does without such ingredients as butter, cream, and alcohol. The focus is concentrated even more on the flavour of the individual ingredients. The dishes are only lightly cooked. In ''
nouvelle cuisine
''Nouvelle cuisine'' (; ) is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to cuisine classique, an older form of haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased e ...
'' and also ''cuisine naturelle'', enormous emphasis is put on the presentation of the dishes."
[ His book, ''Cuisine Naturelle'', was published in 1985.
]
Later career
After leaving the Dorchester Mosimann opened a private dining club in a converted Scottish Presbyterian church in Belgravia
Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...
in 1988. His business interests also include Mosimann's Academy and Mosimann's Party Service. In 2000, he received the Royal Warrant of Appointment to HRH The Prince of Wales for catering.
His English television work includes the ''Food and Drink
''Food and Drink'' is a British television series on BBC Two. First broadcast between 1982 and 2002, it was the first national television programme in the UK to cover the subject of food and drink without cookery and recipe demonstrations.
Histo ...
'' special ''Anton Goes to Sheffield'' in 1985, which won a Glenfiddich Award in 1986, ''Cooking with Mosimann'' in 1990, and ''Anton Mosimann – Naturally'' from 1991 to 1992.[
Mosimann has cooked for five British prime ministers at No. 10 Downing Street for visiting heads of state, he has cooked for four presidents of the United States of America and four generations of the British royal family. In 2011, he was chosen to cook for the 300 guests at the evening reception of the in ]Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
. In 2016 The Culinary Arts Academy of Switzerland opened a three-storey wing in Le Bouveret, on the shores of Lake Geneva, with a permanent display of The Mosimann Collection of Culinary Heritage. His extensive library of cookery books is displayed alongside over fifty gold medals he won at various international competitions and an array of memorabilia reflecting his long and illustrious career. As he quipped at the launch: "What a privilege to be alive when a museum dedicated to you is opened!" It was fitting that it should open the same year that he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award Hotelympia.
Mosimann visited the V. M. Salgaocar Institute of International Hospitality Education in Goa, India, on 7th January 2023 as a special guest and demonstrated some dishes to the students.
Honours
In 2004 Mosimann was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(OBE), "For services to the Tourist and Food Industries". and the Catering Industry's Lifetime Achievement Award. ITV's ''This Morning'' included Mosimann as one of the UK's six iconic chefs in 2007. He is also a chevalier of the French Ordre National du Mérite Agricole
The Order of Agricultural Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite agricole) is an order of merit bestowed by the French Republic for outstanding contributions to agriculture. When it was created in 1883, it was second in importance only to the ...
.[ and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London in 2011.] In 2011 he received the Carl-Freidrich von Rumohr Lifetime achievement award from the Gastronomic Academy Deutschlands eV and was awarded Médaille du Mérite, Société Suisses des Cuisiniers 2012 and the Gastronomische Akademie Deutschlands Rumohr Ring, 2013.
Selected publications
*''Cuisine à la Carte'', 1981
*''A New Style of Cooking'', 1983
*''Cuisine Naturelle'', 1985
*''Anton Mosimann's Fish Cuisine'', 1988
*''The Art of Mosimann'', 1989
*''Cooking with Mosimann'', 1989
*''Anton Mosimann – Naturally'', 1991
*''The Essential Mosimann'', 1993
*''Mosimann's World'', 1996
*''Natürlich, leichtes Kochen mit Anton Mosimann'', 1996
*''Mosimann's Kulinarische Schweiz'', 1998
*''Mosimann's Vegetarische Küche'', 1999
*''Mosimann's Natürliche Küche'', 2001
*''Mosimann's Fresh'', 2006
*''25 Years Mosimann'', 2013
*''Life is a circus'', autobiography 2017, Anton Mosimann/Willi Näf
See also
*Swiss cuisine
Swiss cuisine is influenced by Austrian cuisine, Austrian, French cuisine, French, German cuisine, German and Northern Italian cuisine, as well as by the history of Switzerland as a primarily agricultural country. As a result, many traditional Sw ...
References
http://indiamediamonitor.in/ViewImg.aspx?sMv6Qtd4+2btHcDn352pW1SHh14k2ir+EcT0Pf73ubdDUATJXqcu9meAyIrXRCxjbyM6TglDCElTGPzDGdzlAVKxfVZdAzqM8oez2fQXFqE=
https://www.phoenixmedia.co.in/2023/01/anton-mosimann-chef-who-cooked-for.html
External links
*http://www.mosimann.com – Official site
Anton Mosimann's recipes at bbc.co.uk
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosimann, Anton
1947 births
British Royal Warrant holders
People from the Bernese Jura
Swiss chefs
Living people
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Swiss expatriates in England
Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London
Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants