Every Salvia has two gardens. One at the house — on the roof, in the courtyard or behind the terrace — for the herbs that are cut at the last minute. And a partner farm within forty kilometres that sows for this one house.
That is why the menu in Locarno is not the one in St. Gallen. What is already growing in Ticino in March still lies under snow in the Rhine Valley.
At the house: Courtyard with twenty raised beds — sage, lovage, hyssop, marigold
Partner farm: Market garden in the St. Gallen Rhine Valley · 28 km · since 2011
Ribelmais, root vegetables, potatoes, and in winter vegetables stored in the root cellar.
At the house: Roof garden above the restaurant, with beehives
Partner farm: Organic farm on the eastern shore of Lake Zürich · 19 km · since 2013
Salad leaves, tomatoes, berries and the flowers for the garden salad.
At the house: Herb terrace by the water
Partner farm: Vegetable and fruit farm in the Seetal · 24 km · since 2016
Apples, pears, pumpkins and the rhubarb for the spring dessert.
At the house: Vegetable garden behind the terrace
Partner farm: Market garden in the Geneva countryside · 14 km · since 2019
Cardon épineux, leeks, Swiss chard and the Gamaret grapes for our house wine by the glass.
At the house: Roof garden overlooking the lake
Partner farm: Market garden on the Magadino Plain · 12 km · since 2021
Tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, figs — and the Ticino rice for the risotto.
At the house: Herb garden between the lakes
Partner farm: Mountain farm in the Bernese Oberland · 21 km · since 2024
Alpine cheese, lamb, mountain herbs and potatoes grown above a thousand metres.
Fish, meat, cheese, wine
- Fish · Fishers on the lakes outside our houses
- Wild-caught whitefish, perch and lavarello from the lakes outside our houses, and char from a fish farm in the Bernese Oberland too. What the nets do not bring in does not go on the menu.
- Meat · Switzerland, pasture-raised and free-range
- Whole animals, not just the fillets. That is why there is a meat of the day at lunchtime.
- Cheese · Cheese dairies near each house
- Three cheeses on every board, each from less than fifty kilometres away.
- Wine · Every wine region in Switzerland
- Swiss wines only, in the wine pairing too.
What is not from here
- Coffee
- It does not grow in Switzerland. We buy from a small roastery that knows its farms.
- Lemons
- For the lemonade and the fish. Organic, from Italy and Spain.
- Chocolate
- The cocoa comes from far away; it is made into chocolate in Switzerland.
- Olive oil
- For the garden plate. From Liguria, from a cooperative.
We write down what does not come from here, because an honest list is worth more than fine words.