On 4 October 2026, GaultMillau Switzerland named Stefan Beer its “Green Chef of the Year 2027”. The title goes to cooks who work with particular consistency in a sustainable way, and Beer, executive chef of the Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken, has built his restaurant Radius around a rule that is easy to state and hard to keep: every visible ingredient on the plate comes either from the hotel garden or from no more than 50 kilometres away.
A pantry on the doorstep
What the rule puts on the plate is more varied than one might expect. There is alpine cheese from the Haslital, saffron from the Emmental, Swiss alpine caviar and fish from Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, plus roasted beetroot from Tschingel and quinces from Heimberg. Prawns from Burgdorf, wood sorrel from Uetendorf and house-made vinegar complete the list. Mirabelles, walnuts, herbs and honey come straight from the hotel garden, where the hotel also keeps its own bees. The cooking is modern and tells the story of the region anew, without long transport routes.
“The Bernese Oberland is like a richly laid table,” says Beer. The network behind it has grown over years. His concept “Menü vo hie” depends on close cooperation with hunters, fishermen, cheesemakers, farmers and small producers, and many of them now approach the restaurant on their own; some even grow new varieties specifically for its kitchen. The wine pairing by head sommelier Torsten Noack stays regional as well, concentrating on Lake Thun and Lake Biel and reaching to the edges of the canton of Bern. Vegan guests have their own nine-course menu.
From Shanghai to the Bernese Oberland
Behind Radius is a six-strong kitchen team that has worked in almost unchanged form for years. As executive chef, the 48-year-old also oversees the culinary side of the whole five-star hotel, with a brigade of about 70. Beer returned to Switzerland in 2016 after roughly ten years in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Dubai. The abundance of nature on his own doorstep inspired “Menü vo hie”, with which Radius opened in September 2022. Today the restaurant holds one Michelin star, the Green Michelin Star for sustainable gastronomy and 17 GaultMillau points.
The Victoria-Jungfrau, between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz with an open view of the Jungfrau, is part of Michel Reybier Hospitality and counts among the leading alpine resorts in Switzerland, with Spa Nescens at its heart.
Radius by Stefan Beer, Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa, Höheweg 41, Interlaken (Switzerland) · victoria-jungfrau.ch
Roger Hohl
Roger Hohl has been at the helm of Luxvisor since 2006. From his base in Switzerland he travels to test what the luxury travel industry promises, from the seat at 40,000 feet to the last course of a tasting menu, and writes about it with an independent eye.
Comments