Legandary Chef Anton Mosimann to Create a Royal Champagne Wedding Dinner for Kate and William

When it's a royal wedding, only the best will do, especially when it's combined with a regard for both innovation AND tradition. And no one but no one can create that blend better than Chef Anton Mosimann.

Born in Switzerland, Chef Mosimann first ventured into the kitchen at the age of six when he first assisted his parents in a Nidau based restaurant. By the time he was 15 he was apprenticed to another regional restaurant in the Hotel Baeren in Twann. He would go on to receive his chef de cuisine diploma at the early age of 25!

Soon thereafter he was working in restaurants ranging from Rome’s Cavalieri to Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel and from the Swiss Pavilion at Japan’s Expo 70 to Belgium’s Villa Lorraine. Each position offered him a fresh opportunity to discover new ingredients and techniques.    

Using his new insights the young chef won a gold medal in the culinary competition in Lucerne in 1973. This achievement brought him to the attention of Adelrich Furrer, who recommended him Eugene Kaufeler, the famed chef of London’s grand Dorchester Hotel. 

Several interviews later Mosimann found himself the Head Chef of the legendary Dorchester Hotel at remarkable age 28! But several problems lay ahead for this young and very talented chef.

On arrival the Swiss chef discovered that the cuisine of the Dorchester was classic but dated and many among the staff of over 100 employees wondered at the wisdom of appointing such a young chef to a position of high responsibility.

Slowly but surely he won them over, centering all culinary changes around “La Nouvelle Cuisine”. Each dish was to be prepared from only the freshest food and never preped in advance. 

The goal of each assisting chef was to preserve the original taste of the ingredients involved – a chicken should taste like a chicken and not be buried under heavy sauces.

Mosimann also believed that the diner should not be limited to the cuisine of a single nation. Under his direction, French trained chefs learned to appreciate and prepare classic Japanese dishes and visa a versa. With a clarity of flavors and an embrace of diversity, Mosimann chose to reduce portion sizes and also favored a more leisurely paced dining experience.

The result? The first Michelin stars awarded outside of France! But the honors didn’t stop there. Mosimann would go on to receive the esteemed Order of the British Empire from the Queen of England in 2004 as well as to become a favorite of both Prince Charles and many other royals and celebrities who also appreciated his fresh and healthy approach to matters traditional.

Today Chef Mosimann holds court at his own private dining club Mosimann’s. But on the evening of April 29^th, he and his staff will be busy creating the evening wedding dinner being hosted by Prince Charles for Kate and William.

It will be memorable and the champagne to be served is rumored to possibly be Pol Roger, the bubbly favored by another London legend, Winston Churchill.

What a night to remember! Good Luck Kate and William!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011