Lisa Oestreich is already well-established in her profession. As a pastry chef at IGNIV by Andreas Caminada, she is partly responsible for leaving a lasting impression with guests. She personally crafts the delicate dessert creations and tempting IGNIV Candy Store sweets. However, Lisa herself does not particularly enjoy sweets, and she did not grow up dreaming of becoming a pastry chef. “Where I was born, the Serfaus-Fiss-Ladis skiing region in Austria, my options for the future were pretty clear: either I would work ‘on the lifts’ or in the restaurant industry”, says Lisa, who has lived in Switzerland for seven years.
Neither option appealed to her. Instead, she began training as a baker and moved step by step in the direction of confectioner: “On a professional level, I was fascinated by the complexity of today’s desserts. Guests of all ages look forward to this highlight at the end of the evening.” The active young woman honed her skills and acquired a broad knowledge base on her own initiative with professional development and training courses. In line with the sharing concept, at IGNIV, five dessert creations are served at once. If someone particularly enjoys a certain dessert, they are well advised to reserve a table again quickly because one of the desserts is replaced every few weeks. The classics – the Zuckerkugel, the Ei Royal and the soufflé – only change in terms of flavor. The other two plated desserts are always seasonal and demonstrate the patisserie’s range: “I’ve even worked with Smacks, which is a kind of breakfast cereal. The flavor was similar to Kinder Country chocolates – simply the best childhood memories.”
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« If the guest is happy, then it was a perfect dessert. And if the head chef is happy, then it was really perfect.”»
From hand-blown spheres made of isomalt to cakes decorated with flowers Lisa gathered herself, her desserts are true works of art. Despite the delicate presentation, however, Lisa doesn’t see herself as overly perfectionist – she prefers to work with her hands rather than with precision tweezers. At the end of the day, whether or not a dessert is perfect is not only a matter of its consistency, flavor or appearance: “If the guest is happy, then it was a perfect dessert. And if the head chef is happy, then it was really perfect.” Lisa particularly values opportunities to exchange knowledge and ideas with her colleagues, both as part of the team at Bad Ragaz and within the larger IGNIV family. For example, there is a WhatsApp group chat for the pastry chefs where they can exchange recipes and tips between Bad Ragaz, St. Moritz, Zurich and Bangkok. For Lisa, this support within the team and across locations is the best motivation. Unfortunately, she does not write any recipes down because it would be too complicated: “But they’re definitely all in my head.”
