Zuoz · Engadine
A warm breath of the south, high in the mountains.
Alegría brings Spain to the Engadine. Head chef David Arellano, born in Seville, cooks to an old Spanish idea: mar y montaña, the sea and the mountains in a single dish. Rock octopus meets potatoes and eggs from Zuoz, tuna from Cádiz meets beef from the valley's pastures. Add long lunches, warm evenings, tapas to share and a glass of wine.
Andalusia, one evening away.
Salt water, mountain water
Our fish comes from two directions. From Spain: rock octopus grilled over the embers, tuna from Cádiz, and corvina – prepared the San Sebastián way or as a ceviche in coconut leche de tigre. From Switzerland: salmon trout, as a marbled carpaccio with grilled citrus and its own caviar, or on a delicate fennel cream with sautéed samphire. Mar y montaña, in the fish as well.
From the mountains
Outside lies the Upper Engadine: larch forests that turn gold in October, lakes in the clear light of altitude. From the valley come the eggs from the farm in Zuoz and the beef from its pastures; from the oak groves of the dehesa comes Jamón de Bellota, aged sixty months and carved by hand. Spain and the Alps share more than you might think: patience, craft and respect for the product.
Embers and time
Every meat and rice dish is cooked in our traditional charcoal oven. Open heat, embers and time: surfaces caramelise, the inside stays succulent.
Paella is prepared for two and takes forty minutes. It arrives at the table in its pan, to be shared – and smelled before the first bite.
From the pasture
Our beef comes from Spain, Argentina and Switzerland. The rib, from Engadine pasture-raised cattle, is grilled on the bone in the charcoal oven and served on a hot stone. Then the Swiss beef fillet with Périgueux sauce, the entrecôte with a reduced bone jus, the Graubünden beef tartare on brioche. And the carpaccio of aged beef – vaca vieja, the way Spain loves it.
Crisp, tender, melting
Good cooking begins with looking: the scales of a fresh fish, the suckers of the rock octopus tightening and crisping over the embers, the fine grain of the meat, the lines in a fillet. David works with what the product brings – crust, melt, bite – and lets you see it.
David Arellano
Head chef · born in Seville
His cooking is bold, creative and fusion in the truest sense: Spanish tradition, modern technique and regional produce, brought together with a clear signature. Every dish has character – and a touch of southern temperament.
One team, one table
Behind every plate there is a team: in the kitchen, at the oven and on the floor. People who love to cook, love to pour and love having guests.
Finished at the table
Some things only happen at the table. Cheese is grated fresh, the jamón carved by hand, the paella shared from the pan. With it, wines from Spain, Switzerland, France and Italy, cocktails with a Mediterranean accent and, to close, a carajillo.
From the hot oven
Alongside the Spanish menu we bake Neapolitan pizza: long-fermented dough, fierce heat, artisanal ingredients from Italy, Switzerland and Spain. The Pizza Engadina with raclette and farm eggs from Zuoz. The Speziale with Pata Negra aged sixty months. And the classics, as they should be.
Two menus
For those who prefer to be guided, one of our tasting menus.
Alegría
The flavours of Spain and the finest produce of the Engadine.
Diversión
A journey between the Mediterranean and the Engadine, where tradition, produce and creativity meet in every course.
Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday12 noon – 9.30 pm
Closed on Mondays
Open all year
In October also open on Monday 12, 19 and 26 October.