Dominik Hartmann of Magdalena in Rickenbach, in the canton of Schwyz, has been named Chef of the Year 2027 by Gault&Millau Switzerland. It is the first time the guide has given its top individual honour to a chef whose cooking is entirely vegetarian. The title was announced on 5 October as the guide unveiled its 2027 edition, which rates restaurants across every language region of the country.
Hartmann switched Magdalena to fully vegetarian menus in 2022. The restaurant, which he runs with friends Marco Appert and Adriana Hartmann and which has its own bakery, was already on the guide’s radar as its Discovery of the Year in 2021. It now holds 18 out of 20 Gault&Millau points as well as two Michelin stars, recognition from both of the main guides followed by Swiss diners. Urs Heller, the guide’s editor-in-chief, summed up the approach as “Vegi 2.0”, while the guide described the food as tasty and full of surprises.
The award comes as the 2027 edition of the guide is published with 870 restaurants, 84 of them new entries. Over the past year, 98 chefs gained a point and 31 lost one. At the very top, seven chefs share the maximum score of 19 points: Franck Giovannini in Crissier, Philippe Chevrier in Satigny, Tanja Grandits and Peter Knogl in Basel, Andreas Caminada in Fürstenau, Heiko Nieder in Zurich and Marco Campanella, who runs two La Brezza restaurants in Ascona and Arosa.
There was movement further down the rankings too. In Zurich, Daniel Zeindlhofer’s Igniv climbed to 18 points. In Ticino, Franco Palladino of Enoteca Cuntitt in Castel San Pietro was named the region’s Revelation of the Year with 17 points, while Alessia Salvini and Baldo Lopez of Ristorante 3 VIE in Motto, in the Blenio Valley, entered the list of the year’s discoveries with 14 points.
For Swiss diners, Hartmann’s win signals how far plant-led cooking has moved into the fine-dining mainstream. Magdalena sits outside the big cities, in a village near the cantonal capital of Schwyz, and the award puts it alongside long-established names such as Caminada and Grandits in the national conversation. The recognition is likely to draw a fresh wave of diners making the trip to central Switzerland for a table, and to encourage other kitchens experimenting with meat-free menus.
