Tetsujiro Ogata has been appointed Japanese Head Chef at Megu at The Alpina Gstaad
For the upcoming winter season, The Alpina Gstaad will welcome a new chef to its Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant. Tetsujiro Ogata will take the reins as Japanese Head Chef of the resort's award-winning Megu on December 6. An experienced culinary professional with more than 20 years' experience, he has held senior chef positions at luxury hotels and top restaurants in ten countries including the U.S. and Switzerland. Chef Ogata has supervised Japanese cuisine at properties of such luxury brands as Rosewood, Ritz Carlton and Atlantis.
His experience working around the world in Asia, the Middle East and Australasia will prove useful in preparing Japanese cuisine for The Alpina Gstaad's discerning international clientele. Chef Ogata served as Japanese Executive Chef at the Rosewood Phnom Pen in Cambodia when it was awarded the Condé Nast Traveler's Readers' Choice Award in 2018.
Hailing from Fukuoka, Chef Ogata graduated from the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka where he learned culinary principles of Japanese, Chinese and Western cuisines. He began his career as a sushi chef at Tanigawa Sushi in Hamamatsu. In 2001, he moved to San Diego and became kitchen chef at Tajima Restaurant, one of the city's top Japanese restaurants. Continuing his travels, he headed to Sydney to become Sushi Head Chef at Masuya and then to the Bahamas as Head Sushi Chef at Nobu at the Atlantis Resort. In Bahrain, he served as Executive Sous Chef at the Ritz Carlton's Bushido Restaurant which received "Best Japanese Restaurant" and "Best Business Lunch" during his tenure.
Chef Ogata has enjoyed working in Switzerland before having served as Japanese Executive Chef at Le Mirador Resort & Spa in Vevey opening their new Asian restaurant. His cooking style is based on Japanese cuisine that incorporates techniques, ingredients and seasonings from other cuisines and he looks forward to experimenting with two local ingredients - cheese and butter - not usually found in Japanese cooking.
Megu's sophisticated dining experience offers dazzling dishes that are artfully presented. The cuisine is a modern take on authentic Japanese cuisine designed to bring out the best of the high-quality ingredients the chefs use. What sets Megu apart is its focus on sourcing the most pristine and most unusual ingredients. The chefs like to say, the ingredients are the stars.
In addition to sparklingly fresh sushi and sashimi, some of the dishes on the seven-course Omakase menu include: Crispy Asparagus Battered with Japanese Spicy Rice Crackers, Tuna Tataki with Kanzuri Radish, Kangero Wagyu Beef Steak and Marinated Beet Carpaccio with Truffles. And dessert lovers will enjoy the Green Tea Crepe with a delicious filling between 21 paper-thin layers of crepe, Chocolaté Fondant with Azuki Bean, Yuzu Crème Brûlée or Wasabi Cheesecake.
"We are delighted to welcome Tetsujiro Ogata to The Alpina Gstaad as Head Chef of Megu," announced General Manager Tim Weiland. "He is an experienced international chef who has stayed true to his Japanese roots. His expertise fits well with the Megu philosophy as it reflects the contemporary and innovative cuisine that combines different flavours with the authentic Japanese dining experience."
Megu's interiors are appealing to the eye as well. Designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance was inspired by the traditional houses and temple architecture of Japan in designing the restaurant. For Megu, which means "blessing" in Japanese, he adapted some of the principles of Japanese design to the Swiss Alpine environment playing with filter, frame and composition, with nature as the common thread.
Antique kimonos accented in vermillion are matched with traditional alpine fir wood to create a sense of two different alpine cultures. Borrowing from the concept of different levels found in traditional Japanese homes, Duchaufour-Lawrance created an open, yet more intimate space. The sushi bar is on one level and a few steps below is the main dining area with a large communal table. Still another level extends up and out to a terrace where diners can take in the gorgeous alpine views.
Megu received its Michelin star in October 2016. For further information and high resolution images, please visit The Alpina Gstaad.
