Interview with Simona Forni, pâtissière

Simona Forni was born in the Ticino village of Ambri, half an hour south of Andermatt. As a fully-fledged baker, pastry chef and confectioner, she began her practical training in the luxury gastronomy scene: “After seeking experience further afield in Gstaad, I returned to the Gotthard region and became sous-chef pâtissière in the Hotel The Chedi Andermatt.” Soon after, the talented young professional was presented with a great opportunity. The patisserie production for all Mountain Food restaurants in Andermatt and in the SkiArena was centralised and 26-year old Simona Forni has headed its operation since December 2018: “It was a challenge that I didn't want to pass up, and one that my team and I enjoy enormously.”

The morning is devoted to the mouth-watering cakes and pastries that will soon attract rapt attention in the glass display cabinet of the Biselli restaurant, followed by delicacies destined for the other Mountain Food restaurants. Popular products include various cakes and sweets, often delivered in mini dessert cups. Simona Forni also devotes a lot of her attention to orders from private customers and companies: “Making wedding or birthday cakes for those special occasions is a wonderful job, as is catering for meetings and special events, when I am free to dream up creative ideas for mini pastries.” True to the Mountain Food credo, the head pâtissière takes care to use regional and seasonal ingredients. Alpine yogurt mousse with blueberries from the Gotthard or sweet Uri specialities are also very popular with guests. So what are Simona’s personal favourites? She grins as she reveals her special passion: “I’ve tried countless different cakes and pastries, but at heart I’m still a fan of the cookies we call guetzli in Switzerland. Our official signature sweets, though, are the crispy almond-topped Andermatt cookies with a surprise filling and the warm hazelnut and chocolate cupcakes served with vanilla or yogurt ice cream.