As soon as the weather permits, we hoist the large sun sails and move the restaurant outdoors. In the Park, we serve delicate dishes that often smell of the sea; you can tell chef Manuel Astuto is half Sicilian, half South Tyrolean. The air is cooler under centuries-old trees than in the narrow city streets. And who knows? Perhaps the rose that scales the mighty cedar tree (higher than anywhere else in the Alps) will be in bloom.

Manuel Astuto is a restless man, possibly because he moves between two worlds. His father is Sicilian, his mother from South Tyrol. In 2010, at the age of 26, he became head chef at the Laurin after cooking for Ferrari in Formula 1. Manuel describes himself as ‘unbearable’ until the moment he lights the gas and starts to cook. Instantly, he slows down … and it takes four hours for the tomato sauce to reach perfection. Today, he compares it to an opera. But when he began watching cooking shows on TV, he was too young to know what an opera was.

In 2015, a German guest from Hollywood was so taken by Manuel’s truffle risotto that he asked Manuel to cook it at his daughter’s wedding in Milwaukee, USA. Since then, Manuel has become the go-to risotto chef for the stars. He was invited to the Locanda Portofino in Santa Monica, and has visited Berlin on several occasions. Risotto is on the menu every day at the Laurin – sometimes with truffles, sometimes with mountain pine or as a carbonara. It fits well on a menu that is known for the way it combines Alpine aromas with Mediterranean finesse. “We cook for guests with and without allergies, sensitivities and preferences so everyone can eat from the same menu,“ says the chef. Fair Cooking reflects this philosophy. Manuel Astuto likes to buy his ingredients from fair trade suppliers. Or at the farmers’ market around the corner, when he’s not cooking risotto elsewhere on the planet.