Müsella — Restaurant in La Punt Chamues-ch

The Restaurant Müsella is one of my absolute favorite places in Engadina, even on this planet! It hast to do with the mystic location, which originally was just a little ski hut at the bottom of a little skilift and beside the cross country ski track. Since about 1998, when the actual owners Franco & Sabrina Palmisano took over the place from Mario Fluor, this place saw many good changes and add ons: they systematically built and improved what was originally a little ski hut to a secret recommendation among the conaisseurs of the whole Engadina! The fact that you park your car in the village along the river Chamueira and then walk over a little bridge the last approx 300 meters trough the dark on a small road in the snow makes it even better, since you get to see the stars and the milkyway!

Franco and Sabrina welcome you heartyl once entering the beautifully lit house and will show you your table - and yes, it is absolutely recommended to call and make reservations, since the place is usually booked out during high season! But if you wanna try it spontaneously, you might have a chance for a late table after 21:00 :-)

The food is very italian, and to be more precise: from the very south of Italy, Apuglia, which is the heel of the boot on the map. I love Mamas Antipasti (which come hot and cold!) as a starter, homemade with love, but you can easily share one portion with someone. My favorite main course is the Tagliata di manzo, which is the entrecote from Angus beef, grilled on the open fire in front of your eyes, then sliced into fine slices, served on a bed of rucola salad with thin slices of parmigano cheese! Absolutely divine! Of course I like it together with either grilled vegetables, polenta (a typical italian corn dish) or the risotto (which is not on the menu and which they only do on request and if there is enough time!). My son usually prefers the grilled calf meat with fettucine (noodles), which he often gets pretty quick after ordering, since they have own kids they know how to treat the kids and make them happy! As a desert, I strongly recommend the semiliquid chololate cake (soufle!), which is absolutely devine! And if you like good wines you will find everything from Tignanello, Le serre nuove etc. but my hint and favorite wine is Il Falcone from Rivera, which is produced in Apuglia as well and even liked by Robert Parker, since he usually gives him 92 points! If you are into strong wines, then you should absolutely try the 'Es' from Gianfranco Fino - very very tasty and - I believe - not yet rated by Parker and therefore an absolute secret hint still :-)

You will be amazed by the good service and the heartly goodbye - they really make you not only feel good but also feel like home and that you wanna come back and see your newly acquainted friends Franco and Sabrina again! So do a lot of others beside you, and you can meet Giorgio Armani (which has his house only about 500 meters from there) as well as members from the Berlusconi family (which have their house only three villages away) or even Hugh Grant (which I met at my last visit in January 2014 there!).

If you wanna know more, feel free to write me - hopefully meet...

Ein Abend mit Nicola – Service auf Italienisch, Liebe auf den ersten Blick

Wenn man das italienische Restaurant betritt, mag man vielleicht kein Wort Italienisch sprechen – aber keine Sorge, Nicola spricht fließend die Sprache des perfekten Service. Sein Deutsch? Nun ja, sagen wir, Goethe würde weinen. Aber sein Lächeln, sein Charme und seine Fähigkeit, jeden Wunsch von den Augen abzulesen, machen das mehr als wett.

Schon beim Betreten fühlt man sich, als hätte man eine italienische Großfamilie geheiratet – mit Nicola als liebenswertem Schwager, der einem die besten Speisen des Hauses empfiehlt, als hätte er sie eigenhändig mit der Nonna in der Küche gezaubert. Die Speisekarte? Überflüssig. Nicola weiß eh, was man will, bevor man es selbst weiß.

Die Pasta? Ein Gedicht. Ein Meisterwerk! Der Wein? Wahrscheinlich von Nicola selbst mit zärtlichen Liebkosungen geerntet. Und wenn man sich fragt, was genau in der Soße steckt, bekommt man nur ein wissendes Augenzwinkern – das Geheimnis bleibt in Italien.

Egal, ob man seinen Namen kennt oder nicht – nach einem Abend hier ist man mit Nicola per Du. Und spätestens beim dritten Besuch gibt es einen Handschlag, eine Umarmung oder, wer Glück hat, eine herzliche Wange-zu-Wange-Begrüßung à la „Mamma Mia!“.

Fazit: Nicola ist kein Kellner. Nicola ist ein Erlebnis. Wer hier nicht hingeht, verpasst nicht nur gutes Essen, sondern auch die wahrscheinlich charmanteste Service-Offenbarung seit...

Musella is probably trying to reinvent itself. The plates became huge whilst the portions shrank. 10 small green leaves with 1 blackberry, 1 sprig of redcurrant and a couple of other berries will set you back CHF 16. The outside seating is higgledy-piggledy, set in the middle of fields with climbing frames for kids. Nice staff,...