The Alpina Gstaad Set To Open

The Alpina Gstaad, the first luxury hotel to be built in 100 years in Gstaad, a Swiss Alpine village, is set to open Dec. 1. Marcus Lindner, the award-winning executive chef of 18-Gault Millau-point and two-Michelin-starred Mesa in Zurich, will be the hotel's executive chef.

The 56-room hotel will include three restaurants: the first European outpost of Japanese restaurant MEGU, a traditional Swiss stübli, and a yet-to-be-named international restaurant open for all-day dining. A bar-lounge and a dining terrace round out the hotel's culinary offerings.

MEGU, which means "blessing" in Japanese, will offer modern Japanese fare in a space decorated in a fusion of Japanese and Alpine aesthetics, with antique kimonos, Alpine fir wood, and a vermillion palette. Designed on multiple levels, MEGU has a sushi bar on one level, the dining area and its large, white 10-seat communal table located a few steps above, and an additional level extending out to a terrace that overlooks Saanenland in the heart of the Bernese Alps.

MEGU's menu includes some of the finest and rarest ingredients from Japan, like Satsuma beef from Kyushu, smelts from the Mukawa River in Hokkaido, and handmade tofu from the Saga prefecture. Signature dishes include hamachi carpaccio and crispy kanzuri shrimp, made with kanzuri, a chile paste from Arai in Niigata prefecture that is cured is snow for four days and then aged for three years. The menu will also include a sake specially produced for The Alpina Gstaad.

While the precise menu offerings for the Swiss stübli are still being worked out, the menu will include raclette, fondue, and rösti. Lindner plans to give the traditional meals a more modern touch.

The $337 million property designed in the traditional Swiss style includes two chalets as well as private apartments. Hotel amenities include a 21,000-square-foot Six Senses Spa, indoor and outdoor pools, a cigar lounge, a private cinema, a wine tasting room, a ballroom, and meeting rooms.

Lauren Mack is the Travel Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @lmack.