Fürstenau, Switzerland

Schloss SchauensteinThe tall window stands open and the light lands on stone tables

Old glass is divided into small panes, and the daylight that comes through them is warm. It falls along the stone edge of the table, across the frames of the paintings, onto the rim of a bowl.

The restaurant stands in the Domleschg valley, on that stretch of the Hinterrhein, in the village of Fürstenau. The dining rooms are inside the village's old castle.

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PlaceFürstenau, Switzerland

StyleThree to five courses

KitchenAndreas Caminada

RoomsTwelve in the castle

Three to five courses, inside a castle

Fürstenau, Switzerland — Graubünden cooking in a castle.

The homepage puts it in one line: the taste of the Graubünden mountains, plenty of curiosity, and a little longing for somewhere far off. The larder is named too, and it is the garden, the fields and the woods at the door. Rooted here, hands reaching out. What is at hand gets cooked, and the plate changes with the season.

Lunch runs Thursday to Sunday and dinner Wednesday to Sunday. Courses are counted rather than set out in advance: three, four or five, and both services work the same way. Ask for a pairing and two are offered, one with alcohol and one without.

Andreas Caminada runs the house together with his partner and head of kitchen Marcel Skibba. Twelve of the castle's rooms are kept for guests, so nobody has to drive afterwards. Zürich is about an hour and a half away, Milan about three.

On a grey-green stone table, a tall glass of pale pink wine, a shallow bowl of cream dusted with pink powder, a white plate of orange fruit segments and a pink quenelle, and a small clay pot topped with a pastry lid dusted with icing sugar — A glass of pink wine and three sweets on stone

A vaulted room with tall wood-framed windows, beige curtains hanging at both sides, bare trees and tiled roofs outside, a round table with dark wood-framed chairs, and sunlight drawn in long strips across the floor — A round table under the vaulted ceiling

A deep white bowl with fine ridges running round the inside wall, a pool of purple-red juice at the centre holding down dark purple chicory leaves, a purple-red quenelle and clusters of off-white grains, a small drop of orange oil on the rim

The purple-red pool

Inside a white bowl with fine ridges running round the wall, a pool of purple-red juice holds down a few dark chicory leaves, a quenelle the same colour and clusters of off-white grains. One drop of orange oil sits on the inner rim.

A deep white bowl of amber consommé with milky-white thin slices, one small toasted cube and a few red specks floating on the surface, the shadow of a leaf falling across the inside wall

A shadow on the soup

A second white bowl holds an amber consommé. Thin milky slices float on the surface with one small toasted cube and a few red specks. The shadow of a leaf falls across the inside wall of the bowl.

Gold-framed landscape paintings set into dark green panelling, a ring chandelier hanging low, a white door standing open onto a stone staircase, bottles lined up on the left and a grey velvet sofa on the right

The salon

Landscapes painted on wood are set into the dark green panelling, each one in a gold frame. A ring chandelier hangs low. The white door stands open onto a stone staircase, bottles lined up on the left and a grey velvet sofa on the right.

A black-and-white photograph of two villages and patchwork fields on a valley floor, a cloud-covered ridge behind them, and further peaks showing through a gap in the middle

Route

Walk into the valley afterwards

Lunch opens at 11:45, which leaves half an afternoon: the Rhine runs below the castle and the Viamala gorge is up the valley. Dinner starts at 18:45 and ends in the dark, so a room upstairs is the easier finish.

A few rooms inside the castle

The restaurant is in the village's old castle. Inside the door is a foyer panelled in wood, small photographs hung close together, and the wooden leaves of a tall window pushed open so that light lands on two round tables with pale stone tops. Olive-green chairs are drawn up to them, and a bench runs along the wall.

Further in, a vaulted room with a white plaster ceiling, tall wood-framed windows and beige curtains at the sides. The table top is pale and a thick round column carries it. Beyond that is a salon in dark green, landscapes painted on wood set into the panelling, a white door standing open onto a stone staircase.

The menu is counted in courses

Courses are counted at both services, three, four or five, and the menu is written from what lies at the door: the garden, the fields, the woods. A new season therefore changes more than the plating. It changes where the shopping comes from, and a dish in June and the same dish in October have little left in common.

There is also a long table for twelve, set in front of the open kitchen so the pass and the cooks stay in view from the first course on. It can be booked from six people. What arrives at it is the same menu as everywhere else in the house, counted the same way.

Also worth knowing

When it opens, how the courses are counted, and where to sleep.

Lunch and dinner

Lunch runs Thursday to Sunday and opens at 11:45. Dinner runs Wednesday to Sunday and opens at 18:45. Both services come from the same kitchen and the same method: three courses, four, or five.

Two pairings

There is one wine flight with alcohol and one without, both matched across five courses. Mention it when booking, and the kitchen builds the pairing around the courses actually ordered.

The long table

Twelve seats at most, six at least. It stands in front of the open kitchen, so the pass stays in view through the meal, and the official site calls the atmosphere a drawing-room one.

Twelve rooms upstairs

The castle keeps twelve guest rooms, so the evening does not have to end with a drive. Dinner can run to its last course, and the valley is still there when the shutters open.

Getting there

Zürich is roughly an hour and a half away, Milan about three hours. The village sits in the stretch of valley that takes the most sun in this part of Graubünden.

Address and telephone

Obergass 15, CH-7414 Fürstenau. The telephone number is +41 81 632 10 80.

Putting a meal here into a trip

Two services, courses counted rather than chosen, and twelve beds in the same building.

Cuisine

Graubünden cooking drawn from the garden, the fields and the woods at the door. Three, four or five courses, at lunch and at dinner.

Booking

Online through the official site, or by telephone. The long table in front of the kitchen takes six people or more.

Hours

Lunch Thursday to Sunday from 11:45, dinner Wednesday to Sunday from 18:45. Four lunch services and five dinner services a week.

Dress and diet

No dress code is listed on the official site. The kitchen cooks what the season brings, so say in advance what you cannot eat.

Plan this into a journey

Tell us the dates and who is travelling, and we can talk through whether lunch or dinner fits the rest of the route.

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