S.Pellegrino Sapori Ticino 2026: Twenty Years of Great Chefs and a New Future

From 13 September to 15 November 2026, the twentieth edition of Sapori Ticino will celebrate Swiss cuisine. On 5 October, Chronos will be the wine partner at Seven Lugano, alongside Reto Brändli, Emanuele Bertelli and the wines of the Manfredi winery, presented personally by the producer.

Twenty years is an era in the world of gastronomy. Restaurants, guides and culinary languages change, as does the role of the chef, whose time is now divided between service, travel, television, interviews and new projects.

S.Pellegrino Sapori Ticino has witnessed all these changes.

Founded in 2007 from an idea by Dany Stauffacher, the festival has brought hundreds of chefs, kitchen brigades and leading figures from the world of haute cuisine to Ticino. Today, Dany and the Sapori Ticino team are fully engaged in preparing the twentieth edition, which will once again bring fine dining to the canton’s leading restaurants from 13 September to 15 November. The year 2026 marks the conclusion of the format as we have known it, but not the end of Sapori Ticino’s story: the first details of the project’s new direction will be revealed by the end of September.

Over 600 Michelin Stars in Ticino

The figures provide a sense of the scale achieved by S.Pellegrino Sapori Ticino: more than 400 Michelin-starred evenings, over 600 Michelin stars represented and more than 5,800 GaultMillau points brought together in Ticino over twenty years of the event.

These figures are complemented by more than two thousand participants each year and a media value exceeding CHF 13 million over the past decade. In 2021, Sapori Ticino was also named Best Gastronomic Event at the Food&Travel Italia Awards.

But the numbers tell only part of the story. For several weeks each year, Lugano, Ascona, Locarno and the rest of the canton become a meeting place for international cuisine. The guest chefs do not simply come to put their name to a menu: they work alongside the resident chefs, meet the Ticino kitchen teams and create a new dinner inspired by the exchange between different restaurants and culinary cultures. This will happen once again in 2026, with a programme dedicated entirely to gourmet Switzerland.

From Michelin-Starred Restaurants to the Best Restaurants in the World

Exploring the history of Sapori Ticino means journeying through an important part of contemporary gastronomy.

Dany Stauffacher has brought to Ticino Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Mauro Colagreco of Mirazur in Menton, Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Rasmus Kofoed of Geranium in Copenhagen, Gaggan Anand from Bangkok, Ana Roš of Hiša Franko in Kobarid, as well as Andreas Caminada, Niko Romito, Franck Giovannini, Pascal Barbot and Christian Bau.

Many of these names also belong to the history of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, the international ranking of the world’s finest restaurants sponsored by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.

Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana was named the world’s best restaurant in 2016 and 2018. Joan Roca’s El Celler de Can Roca took first place in 2013 and 2015. Mauro Colagreco’s Mirazurbecame The World’s Best Restaurant in 2019, while Rasmus Kofoed’s Geranium received the same distinction in 2022.

Gaggan Anand reached fourth place in the world ranking in 2019 and was named Asia’s best restaurant five times. Ana Roš of Hiša Franko was named World’s Best Female Chef in 2017.

Italian cuisine has also been represented by an impressive selection of chefs: Antonino Cannavacciuolo of Villa Crespi, Enrico and Roberto Cerea of Da Vittorio, Mauro Uliassi and Moreno Cedroni from Senigallia, Enrico Bartolini of Mudec in Milan, Giancarlo Perbellini from Verona, Pino Cuttaia of La Madia in Licata, Davide Scabin, Anthony Genovese of Il Pagliaccio in Rome and Claudio Sadler.

Sapori Ticino has therefore hosted not only famous and Michelin-starred chefs, but also some of the finest restaurants in the world—often at the height of their success.

Dany Stauffacher’s Work Behind the Scenes

At first glance, Dany’s work might seem almost simple: board a plane, dine at the restaurant of a great chef in Brazil, Thailand, France or Spain and invite them to Ticino.

Naturally, it does not work that way.

Behind every evening lie years of travel, meetings, personal relationships and trust. Persuading a chef such as Bottura, Colagreco, Gaggan Anand or Ivan Ralston to take part does not simply mean reserving an evening in their diary. It means asking them to leave their restaurant for several days and bring part of their kitchen brigade—and sometimes their front-of-house team—with them.

Ingredients must be organised, preparations adapted to a different kitchen and the chefs must work with a team they may have met only a few hours earlier. In some cases, they have had to reduce service or temporarily close their own restaurant.

As Dany has often explained, the chefs are welcomed as guests but receive no fee for taking part. They therefore accept a considerable organisational and financial commitment because they believe in the project and in the person inviting them.

This detail says more than any ranking ever could.

The most important asset Dany has built is not simply a calendar of Michelin-starred dinners, but an international network founded on trust, which continues to be nurtured and expanded. As the chefs’ profiles have grown, this work has become more complex each year. Yet Sapori Ticino continues to attract leading figures from Europe, Asia and Latin America, and the 2026 edition once again confirms the quality of this work.

A good idea and a few messages on Instagram are not enough. It takes credibility, perseverance and a certain amount of healthy recklessness.

Sapori Ticino 2026 Celebrates Gourmet Switzerland

Following editions dedicated to countries including Spain, France, Germany and Brazil, the theme chosen for 2026 is “Gourmet Switzerland”.

The Sapori Ticino 2026 programme will bring together eleven guest chefs, 21 Michelin stars and 199 GaultMillau points. Including the chefs of the host restaurants, the total will reach 32 Michelin stars and 558 GaultMillau points.

The line-up will bring to Ticino Franck Giovannini of the Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in Crissier, Tanja Grandits of Restaurant Stucki in Basel, Stefan Heilemann of the Widder Restaurant in Zurich, Marcel Koolen of 7132 Silver in Vals, Reto Brändli of Restaurant ECCO in Ascona, Pascal Steffen of roots in Basel, Paolo Rota of Da Vittorio St. Moritz, Silvio Germann of Mammertsberg in Freidorf, Gilles Varone from Savièse, Stéphane Décotterd of Maison Décotterd in Glion and Kevin Fernandez of Talvo in St. Moritz-Champfèr.

This edition looks within Switzerland’s borders to showcase the breadth and contemporary character of Swiss cuisine—from French-speaking Switzerland to Basel, from Zurich to Graubünden and all the way to Ticino.

Chronos Wine Cellar and Sapori Ticino

At these events, wine has never been merely an accompaniment. Over the years, Sapori Ticino has collaborated with names such as Laurent-Perrier, Château Palmer, Château Angélus, Biondi-Santi, Jermann and Cantina Terlano, as well as prominent Ticino and Swiss producers including Castello Luigi, Gialdi, Tamborini, Delea, Vinattieri Ticino and Castello di Morcote.

Chronos Wine Cellar has participated in several editions of Sapori Ticino as a wine partner, selecting wineries with strong identities and bringing the producers themselves to Ticino.

As wine importers and distributors in Switzerland, we do not want merely to deliver bottles. We build direct relationships with producers and create opportunities for the public to meet the people behind each label.

Our history as a wine partner reflects an ongoing collaboration: in 2021, we brought Biondi-Santi; in 2022, Armand Heitz; in 2023, Domaine Chavy-Chouet for the evening with Mauro Colagreco; in 2024, Tenuta di Trinoro; and in 2025, Domaine du Puy de l’Ours. In 2026, this journey continues with the Manfredi winery. Six editions and six producers personally involved, always with the aim of introducing the Ticino public to the people behind each wine.

In 2025, we took part in the evening dedicated to Brazil with Ivan Ralston, chef of Tuju in São Paulo, which holds two Michelin stars and a Michelin Green Star and is ranked number 70 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Top 100. At Ristorante La Baia in Muralto, we presented the wines of Domaine du Puy de l’Ours from Savigny-lès-Beaune together with producer Jean Orsoni, who travelled personally from Burgundy. Read the article about the 2025 event.

This is how we like to participate: not simply as a logo on the menu, but as a living part of the evening.

Manfredi Comes to Seven Lugano on 5 October

The event in which we will be directly involved is the Official Night on Monday, 5 October 2026, at Ristorante Seven in Lugano.

The evening’s featured chef will be Reto Brändli, Executive Chef of Restaurant ECCO at Giardino Ascona, awarded two Michelin stars and 18 GaultMillau points. Brändli will work alongside Emanuele Bertelli, chef of Seven Lugano, to create a four-hands dinner.

Chronos will be the evening’s wine partner, presenting the wines of the Manfredi winery. For the occasion, Manfredi will travel personally from Marsala to meet the guests and share the story of his work.

The Manfredi winery was founded in 2020 and has a limited production of approximately nine thousand bottles. It works with grape varieties closely associated with Sicily, including Grillo, Catarratto, Zibibbo, Grecanico, Nocera, Corinto, Nerello Mascalese and Nero d’Avola. Fermentation occurs spontaneously using indigenous yeasts, with an approach that seeks to guide the wine without obscuring the character of its terroir.

As the importer and distributor of Manfredi in Switzerland, we wanted the producer himself to present the wines. No one can tell the story of a vineyard, a harvest or a winemaking decision better than the person who experienced it firsthand.

It will be a meeting between Reto Brändli, Emanuele Bertelli and Manfredi; between Ascona, Lugano and Marsala; and between Swiss haute cuisine and Sicilian viticulture. Exactly the kind of connection that Sapori Ticino has created for twenty years.

A Renewed Format, Sapori Ticino Continues

The twentieth edition has yet to begin, and Dany Stauffacher and the Sapori Ticino team are fully committed to making it happen. It will be an important edition not only because it celebrates twenty years of history, but also because it demonstrates that the project is still very much alive and capable of bringing together great chefs, restaurants and partners around Ticino and Swiss gastronomy.

The year 2026 marks the conclusion of the format as it has been known until now, but not the end of Sapori Ticino’s activities. Dany has announced that the project will take on a new identity and follow new paths. The first details will be revealed by the end of September, while the wealth of relationships, credibility and experience built over two decades will continue to provide its foundation.

The best way to honour Dany’s work is not to draw up a final balance sheet, but to experience this new edition: to fill the restaurants, meet the chefs, listen to the producers and recognise the quality of a commitment that continues to this day.

We will be at Seven Lugano on 5 October, together with Reto Brändli, Emanuele Bertelli, Manfredi, Dany Stauffacher and the Sapori Ticino team.

To celebrate the first twenty years of Sapori Ticino and, with a certain sense of curiosity, raise a glass to what is already taking shape.

Programme and reservations: dinner on 5 October at Seven Lugano