Come dine with me
More and more watch brands are finding a recipe for success in collaborations with world-class chefs, restaurants, even culinary competitions. After Blancpain, a pioneer in the matter (read the interview with Dani García), others are serving up gourmet partnerships. We look at just some of the projects that are bubbling away.
Baume & Mercier and Michel Roth
In May 2016, the brand officially launched its partnership with “Les Grandes Tables de Suisse”, an association of Switzerland’s best restaurants, and duly celebrated the announcement at Le Pérolles in Fribourg, which scores 18/20 in the influential Gault&Millau guide. Chef Pierre-André Ayer was presented with a Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar for the occasion. In Baume & Mercier’s view, a gastronomic dish and a timepiece both entail the careful apportioning of tradition and creativity, and moreover a complete mastery of time. In watchmaking as in cooking, it takes passion to create a masterpiece.
Just recently, at end October, Michel Roth joined Baume & Mercier as a friend of the brand. Born in Moselle, France, and distinguished as a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, for a number of years this talented chef ran the kitchens at the Ritz in Paris. When the hotel closed for renovation, he accepted an invitation from the President Wilson in Geneva where, since 2012, he delights in his role as executive chef… as do guests of the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant. Michel Roth can expect to remain in the spotlight when Editions Favre publishes a compilation of his recipes. Together with gastronomic cruises, charity galas and managing his restaurants, Chef Roth has plenty to keep him busy over the coming months.
Hublot's fusion food
It’s a confession Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot’s CEO, is happy to make: “It’s no secret that I’m an epicurean. When I discovered Andreas Caminada’s cuisine and when I met him, I was struck by the obviousness and simplicity of his approach. The way in which he makes gastronomy less complicated whilst imbuing it with even more nobility”. Caminada, who originates from the Grisons region of Switzerland, is the youngest chef in Europe to have earned a third Michelin star, seven years ago, and scores 19 Gault&Millau points. He joined Hublot’s “kitchen brigade” in March this year. A château in Fürstenau is where he indulges diners’ appetite with unexpected textures and bold combinations. Also this year, Hublot gave in to the charm of Norwegian cuisine when it teamed up with Chef Christian André Pettersen – a “fusion” once again dictated by friendship, authenticity and a sense of daring. Not forgetting that Hublot has also been a sponsor of the Bocuse d’Or competition.
JeanRichard and IWC too
Meeting Luca Manfé, winner of the fourth season of MasterChef USA, was all it took in 2014 to convince Bruno Grande. The managing director of JeanRichard immediately recognised the young chef’s story as a match for the brand’s “philosophy of life”.
Last summer, IWC Schaffhausen was delighted to announce its partnership with Gault&Millau “Chef of the Year” Nenad Mlinarevic. The new brand ambassador, who presides over the Focus restaurant at the Park Hotel in Vitznau, Switzerland, boasts two Michelin stars and 18 points in the Gault&Millau guide. One of the most promising young chefs around, he intends to reinvent Swiss luxury cuisine. IWC was won over by the precision this new “friend” demonstrates in his kitchens.
