We learned in kitchens where everything was made from scratch. Whole animals, boned in house. Sauces reduced over hours. Herbs picked the same morning.
That is unusual now. For us it stayed.
2016
Founded
600+
Events
2–1'500
Guests per event
98 %
Returning clients
Zürcher Engrosmarkt
Our kitchen, Aargauerstrasse 1
What the film is about
Michele talks about his morning. Getting up early, going into the Zürcher Engrosmarkt and seeing what is good and fresh, and at which trader.
Ten years at the market have let relationships grow. He knows who is best for what.
Seeing and smelling what arrives new each morning inspires his menus. He knows what is new and what is in season, and that is exactly what turns up in his ideas.
A host, not a supplier
Michele grew up in the countryside, in a house where guests came not for the good air but for his mother’s cooking. Simple but luxurious, as he puts it. Yeast pastries whose smell filled the house. Suckling pig on a spit. Swabian buffets.
At sixteen he did an internship at a nearby Michelin-starred restaurant and spent his summer holidays at the stove. That is where he learned how a professional kitchen works, and how to make a hollandaise. Later he kept learning while travelling, from chefs whose paths he kept crossing.
He founded MicheleKocht in 2016. Today he is above all a host: he holds the first meeting with you, and above all wants to know who you are and why you are celebrating. What still moves him is how people react to honest, well-made food.
What the film is about
As a young boy, Felix gave his sister a private restaurant for her birthday. In an apron and a chef’s hat he turned the kitchen table into a restaurant table, cooked her favourite food and invited her to dinner.
Even then he knew this was what he wanted to do. Cooking is still his way of showing he cares, and he brings the same passion and energy to every meal he makes.
Starred-kitchen standards, applied on a Tuesday
When Felix was eight he wanted to give his sister something special for her birthday. He turned the dining table into a restaurant table, put on a chef’s apron and served her favourite dishes in courses.
He brings the same care to every table now, whether it is a banquet for three hundred guests or breakfast for fifteen staff in the office.
His training began at fifteen at Hotel Waldhaus in Sils-Maria, under head chef Kurt Röösli. Everything there was made from scratch. Animals arrived whole from the surrounding farms and were boned out in the kitchen. Wild herbs were picked together in the forest and were on the plate the same day.
He went on to cook at the Widder Hotel in Zürich and at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Port Isaac, which held two Michelin stars at the time. As head chef he helped develop two hospitality concepts, one for vegan cooking and one for a restaurant group serving Lappish food.
Felix cooks with meat, and just as gladly without. If you want a vegetarian or vegan menu that stands on its own and does not taste like a substitute, he is the right person.
A settled team that works together
Depending on the size, up to 40 people are on an event. We work with a settled group of chefs and professional service staff who have been with us for years and know how we work.
Good people, above all on the floor, are what decide whether an event works. It is the thing we are most often praised for.
Ten years of relationships you cannot buy
What we do not buy ourselves at the market comes from suppliers we have known for years.
Partners for the event
Who cooks at our event?
Michele or Felix leads every event personally, with the kitchen and service team. Whoever planned it with you is there on the night.
Do you have experience in starred kitchens?
Yes. Felix cooked at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Port Isaac, which held two Michelin stars at the time, and at the Widder Hotel in Zürich. He trained at Hotel Waldhaus in Sils-Maria under Kurt Röösli.
How long has MicheleKocht existed?
Since 2016. Michele began as a one-man operation and learned a great deal doing it. Today we are a broadly based, established company when it comes to events people remember.
Where is your kitchen?
Inside the Zürcher Engrosmarkt, Aargauerstrasse 1, 8048 Zürich. Kitchen and office are in the same place.
Do you cook vegetarian and vegan?
Yes. Felix helped develop two vegan cooking concepts and trained further in the field. A plant-based menu here is a menu in its own right, not a substitute.
How many people work at an event?
Up to 40 depending on size, from a settled group.
Which areas do you cover?
Focused on Zürich and the lake. Regularly also in Zug, Schwyz, on the Obersee, in Baden, Aarau, Olten, Lucerne, Basel, Bern, Winterthur and Schaffhausen. In principle we cook and deliver throughout Switzerland, and abroad on request.