Mauro Capelli & Ilario Zefinetti

Born in Le Locle in the Neuchâtel Jura to Italian immigrant parents, Mauro Capelli will be 100 in 2057…

Born in Bergamo, Italy, Ilario Zefinetti joined the kitchen team in 2016 and will be 100 in 2089…

At the age of 20, Mauro Capelli devoted himself to his great passion: cooking. Trained in Switzerland by the great chefs of the 80s (Bernard Ravet, Hans Stücki, Gérard Rabaey…) and Willy Wegmann, a little-known post-war saucier genius, he successfully developed his culinary signature over a period of twenty years at Le St-Christophe restaurant in Bex. Attached to the people and contrasts of the Chablais region, since September 2005 he has been continuing his career as a restaurateur in Monthey at the “Restaurant du Théâtre”. Today an honorary member of the Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe, he helped found the association’s Swiss section in 1989. He perpetuates the fundamental values of Talent, Passion and Friendship.

Since the 2020 vintage, Ilario Zefinetti has been fully in charge of the organization of the kitchen and the menu. Our restaurant has taken a family turn in the transmission of my cooking philosophy, as he is my nephew. Trained in Italy in the culinary expression of Slow Food, a year in Copenhagen at the Amass restaurant and 2 years as second chef in Provence at the Bacchanales restaurant in Vence, his signature dishes will focus all year round on the local produce of our rich region, with fruit and vegetables from the Rhône Valley, game and mushrooms from the Val d’Illiez and Lake Geneva.

In the modern setting of the Théâtre du Crochetan, we offer epicureans and visiting artists alike seasonal cuisine featuring products selected for their freshness, authenticity and taste.