PRADA – or nada
(but a mental breakdown)

Ever since 2023 started, my heart has skipped a beat so many times, it’s a miracle I’m still alive (exaggerating much?). Apart from a weekend in the mountains (read on) and Prada’s menswear show yesterday, it’s been mostly desperate gasping. But let’s not get into that. Because here I am, and here you are.
So… said Prada show. Not that I ever questioned Miuccia’s and Raf Simons’ exponential force, but damn do they have a good game going these days. Their new campaign with Vincent Cassel is pretty smooth, but their Fall 23 Menswear collection? With those razor sharp silhouettes, color combinations and tailoring, I’m low key wishing I was born a) a guy and b) rich. What – or who – stole the show, however, were Enhypen, a K-Pop boy band who were invited as guests. They had seven thousand teens screaming for them outside the venue. At least they brought gifts for Miuccia and Raf, otherwise I might have not forgiven them.
Prada.com
© Prada

RØDLAND
returns

«More Than Tongue Can Tell» by photographer and artist Torbjørn Rødland has been one of my favorite exhibitions in Zurich to date. It was the beginning of 2021 when I went to see the show at Galerie Eva Presenhuber with a former work colleague, and let me tell you, it was a long lunch break. Instantly captivated by the amalgamation of beauty and discomfort, I’ve been attracted to his work ever since. Last weekend marked the start of the Norwegian artist’s newest show «Old Shep» at Presenhuber – this time at Maag Areal, the gallery’s other spectacularly huge location. «Superficiality is not his thing», the art dealer says of his work. «The sense of slowness in Rødland’s work is diametrically opposed to the insane pace and immense overproduction of the medium today, making the palpable old theme of death inherent in photography still relevant—all the more so in an era where images disappear faster than they can unfold in space and time.» Go see for yourself.
Presenhuber.com
© Torbjørn Rødland

New York knew first – the Swiss INN to book now

It is common knowledge by now that the Financial Times’ «How To Spend It» supplement has become my Sunday’s North Star. The weekday equivalent to that is The New York Times’ «T Magazine» newsletter. Scrolling through it the other day, I stumbled across a place called Mammertsberg, a «renovated inn» that was praised for its culinary experience as well as its interiors. You guessed it – Mammertsberg is a brand new restaurant and guesthouse in the Swiss canton of Thurgau and the latest playground of iconic chef Andreas Caminada. For this project, he brought on his colleague and protégé Silvio Germann, who previously ran IGNIV in Bad Ragaz, and who, together with the Danish design duo Space Copenhagen, created his own little oasis in the countryside – because sipping cocktails and indulging in Michelin-starred cuisine on a De Sede sofa just hits different. The villa from 1911 also offers six guest rooms to stay in, for all those who like to roll into bed after dinner, instead of rolling back home on four wheels. Bloody New Yorkers. Aren’t they just always a step ahead.
Mammertsberg.ch
© Mammertsberg

A blissful mountain ESCAPE for all senses

Talking about extraordinary culinary experiences in the Swiss mountains – here’s another one! Because last Sunday, I found myself in the restaurant of Hotel Guarda Val, a little alpine paradise in the Lenzerheide area. And while I thought that sitting in the outdoor hot pots and sleeping in a cozy mountain hut (or «Maiensäss», to be precise) would mark the highlight of my stay, it was really that dinner by chef Salvatore Frequente that swept me off my (snow covered) feet. An experience for both taste buds and eyes – the plating was simply stunning –, I hopped from tartar to black salsify soup and from sea bass to a sous-vide tenderloin. Dessert was a chocolate declination of dreams, followed by a few more mignardises, because why the hell not. Sitting on the outdoor terrace, wrapped up in blankets and staring at the night sky, my blissful thoughts were alternating between that menu and the hay beds that were waiting for me at the spa the next day.
So… maybe life hasn’t been so bad after all.
Guardaval.ch