A historic villa with a modern culinary vision
The house dates to the 17th century, but its transformation into a restaurant is much more recent. Located just minutes from Schaffhausen’s old town, with the Rhine flowing just across the road, the villa looks more like a stately home than a setting for Michelin-starred cuisine.

«Most star kitchens tend to be in modern buildings, almost hidden away,» says Dan. «Here, we have this traditional building with its big garden, and most people would never guess what’s behind it.» For the team, the setting is part of the experience. «The river, the garden, the birds – people don’t come only for the food, but for the ambience, too,» says Alejandro.

 

Three roads to the same kitchen
Three chefs, three very different paths – all leading to the same kitchen at Villa Sommerlust. Dan and Alejandro first met at Disfrutar in Barcelona (named The World’s Best Restaurant 2024), while Alejandro later crossed paths with Kati in another kitchen in the city. When the three eventually reunited in Schaffhausen, the fit was immediate.

Kati studied gastronomy in Costa Rica before continuing her career in Colombia and Spain, where she unexpectedly discovered her passion for pastry. «I didn’t like it at first, honestly. It looked boring to me. Everything had to be exact, down to the gram.» After being hired for a pastry position she had explicitly tried to avoid, she eventually fell in love with it and specialized in the craft.

Dan grew up on the Canary Islands and moved to Switzerland as a teenager. He once dreamed of becoming a car designer, and that creative instinct still influences his cooking. «The colors and the construction of a dish today, it reminds me of that design instinct.»

For Alejandro, cooking began in his grandmother’s kitchen in Spain. «My favorite thing as a kid wasn’t playing soccer outside, it was being at my grandmother’s house, watching her cook.» At 16, he enrolled in culinary college.

Their different backgrounds shape a cuisine that looks beyond a single tradition. «We don’t want to be closed off,» Alejandro says. «We’re open, we love all cuisines. On our menu, you might find a paella, a ceviche, a mole.» At the same time, the kitchen stays rooted in its surroundings, working with regional ingredients and changing the menu every few months to keep experimenting and give guests something new to discover.

 

 

 

Tradition with a modern twist
The idea of combining traditional flavors with modern techniques is perhaps best illustrated by their take on salsa verde, a traditional Spanish sauce. Alejandro prepares the classic base, while Dan looks for a new way to present it. For one dish, the team transformed the sauce into a spaghetti-like form using agar.

«When guests tasted it, they’d say: ‘This tastes exactly like salsa verde, but I never could have imagined it looking like this.» It is a simple example of what defines Villa Sommerlust: familiar flavors, rooted in tradition, presented in unexpected ways.

Villa Sommerlust, 30,000 feet up
Bringing their cuisine to the skies is a natural extension of the restaurant’s international outlook. «It makes us incredibly proud,» Dan says of the SWISS partnership. «Our creations get to travel around the world, and people from so many different backgrounds can find something familiar in our dishes, but also something that surprises them. In a way, we get so many new guests all at once. It’s honestly the greatest thing that has happened in my career so far.»

«We put so much love into everything we do,» Kati adds. «It’s an incredible opportunity for people to get to know us and what we’re passionate about.» Alejandro agrees: «We’re so grateful to SWISS, and we’re really proud of what we’ve created.»

Bringing a Michelin-starred menu to 30,000 feet comes with its own challenges, but the team wanted to create the best possible experience in the air. Fresh and light, the menu was designed to work just as well on board as it does in the restaurant, giving guests a great meal and a taste of something unexpected along the way.

What keeps the three chefs inspired is a shared love of food, travel and discovery, and above all, the people they cook for. With SWISS, they can now share their cuisine with people around the world. Spanish, colorful and fresh, it is rooted in tradition and inspired by the world.