The world’s smallest city is hiding an extraordinary food festival
- Toyo Odetunde
Published: May 22, 2026 at 10:17 AM
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Discover this unique food festival located in a fairytale Swiss hamlet
I take the skewer with both hands. It’s almost the length of my arm, still hissing from the fire and passed over by a burly, cheerful man. Behind him, generous slabs of beef are being threaded onto spear-like wooden sticks, rubbed in a fragrant orange seasoning and rotated over roaring flames until charred at the edges but blushing within. I dig in eagerly, the aromas of woodsmoke, cumin, curry leaf and hot fat hitting my nose. I tear off a piece of beef, tuck it into a soft bread roll and look around.
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I’m at the annual genussmarkt (gourmet food market) hosted by renowned Swiss chef Andreas Caminada in Fürstenau – billed as 'the world’s smallest city'. Though granted city status thanks to centuries-old trading rights, it feels less like a city and more like a fairytale hamlet, home to only a few hundred residents and small enough to walk around in minutes.
Fürstenau sits in the Domleschg valley in eastern Switzerland, tucked among fruit-laden orchards, mountain peaks, steep Alpine slopes and almost impenetrably dense pine forests split open by pale green rivers. For the past nine years, on one day every September, this tiny village in the canton of Graubünden transforms into one of Europe’s most joyful food destinations.
I flew from London to Zurich the day before the festivities, and travelled east by car towards Graubünden. As you drive, the landscape begins to shift, with the motorway slipping into mountain roads that offer a front-row seat to the region’s cinematic backdrops.
Credit: Toyo Odetunde
When I arrive, I’m immediately won over by the almost implausibly romantic setting: stone buildings cluster around narrow lanes, many of which are fronted by dark green wooden shutters and window boxes bursting with a rainbow of geraniums and petunias.
The village unfolds around Schloss Schauenstein, chef Andreas Caminada’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant housed in a 12th-century, ivy-clad castle. Since opening in 2003, the restaurant has maintained a reputation for precise, top-tier cooking. Caminada also runs Oz, located just a few steps away, which serves refined, vegetable-forward plates, and Casa Caminada, where I stay during my visit. The neat, minimalist rooms combine old timber beams with soft, contemporary design touches, while the communal areas downstairs echo the warmth of an Alpine inn – all polished wood and earthy tones.
The atmosphere at the food market sits somewhere between harvest festival, village fête and world-class food fair. You can amble along 60 stalls dotted throughout the town, representing different farmers, suppliers, artisanal producers and restaurants that range from the more casual to upmarket.
Credit: Toyo Odetunde
I quickly notice how intergenerational the crowd is: little children weave energetically between stalls while young parents ease prams through fast-moving queues and elegantly dressed older couples amble through the storybook scenes.
With a backdrop of accordion music drifting from a nearby bandstand and the hum of merry chatter, Fürstenau locals, residents of neighbouring regions and international visitors all move through the alleys together. I hear snippets of German, Romansh, French, Italian and English floating around in the crisp – and now spice-scented – mountain air.
At the heart of it all is Andreas himself, who is hardly able to take a few steps without local and foreign fans excitedly approaching for photos. He's present throughout the day, chatting animatedly with guests and stallholders.
But, most importantly, the food is excellent. At one stall from Igniv, Caminada’s elevated sharing concept restaurant group (which spans three sites across Switzerland and one in Bangkok), I eat cubes of rich, tender pork belly with crisp lacquered edges. Plating and passing out the dishes at impressive speed is Daniel Zeindlhofer, head chef at Igniv’s Zurich location. I devour the best sticky spare ribs I’ve had to date – rich with molasses, smoke and peppery flavours – followed by trout belly, which is balanced with citrussy acidity. Elsewhere, cooks scoop dollops of creamy beef tartare or slice freshly baked slabs of apple strudel.
New to me is capuns, a Graubünden specialty of chard leaves stuffed with a flour-based filling of meat, herbs and cheese, then simmered in cream, milk or broth. It's deeply savoury, with the indulgent comfort that's characteristic of Alpine cuisine. One of the pleasures of the festival is the oscillation between sophisticated restaurant food and rustic regional cooking.
Credit: Toyo Odetunde
The produce stalls aren’t to be missed either: winemakers offer local vintages from surrounding wine regions such as Bündner Herrschaft, which is 20 minutes north of Fürstenau along the Rhine Valley. I chat to a honey producer, who shows me jars ranging from pale gold to deep amber. He offers me a taste of each and explains their differing flavour profiles, from the more floral to fruity or caramel-like. I end up with all three. There are also cured meats, pungent cheeses wrapped in cloth, smoked fishes, fresh berries, apples and pears stacked in crates, carrots with thick green fronds and plenty of spreads and preserves that you can buy to enjoy a taste of premium Alpine produce at home.
I spend much of the day drifting between stalls, eating an insensible amount of food and feeling buoyed by the clear sense of community spirit that permeats throughout. I see how the event enriches Fürstenau, rather than overwhelm it.
As the day edged towards late afternoon, sunlight beginning to soften, I headed to nearby Lake Canova to take in more of the scenery. You can reach the turquoise-hued swimming lake via a picturesque 20-minute bike ride or very short drive from Fürstenau’s centre. It’s bordered by lush, postcard-perfect forestry.
Credit: Toyo Odetunde
Belly and soul full, I recline against the mossy banks, watching as intrepid young children swing into the lake from ropes tied around sturdy tree trunks, and reflect upon what made my experience at the festival so memorable. The concept is brilliantly democratic: hyper-local producers and teams from some of Switzerland’s most acclaimed kitchens stand side by side, with dishes all priced at an affordable five Swiss francs (just under £5).
As well as widening access to quality cooking, the festival champions regional growers by providing a platform for them to present their produce. I’m welcomed as a visitor, but it's clear from the turnout of local residents that the event is a highlight for their community. They are not relegated to the sidelines while others take over, but instead the natural synergy between people, produce and place is celebrated, and underpins the whole jolly affair.
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Authors
Toyo Odetunde
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