Steve Willié: Gstaad as a home
Edouard Amoiel
20 août 2026
He arrived in Gstaad for one season and ended up building a whole life there. As chef at the Grand Chalet for twenty-five years, Steve Willié has seen guests’ tastes evolve, the village grow, and certain dishes become timeless classics. Without chasing trends, he has made time, loyalty, and tradition the cornerstones of a cuisine that has become inseparable from the restaurant.
A classified ad posted by a professor… Sometimes, life hinges on the smallest of things. After graduating from the Strasbourg Hotel School in 1992, the young man from Alsace, in his early twenties, arrived in Gstaad to work at the Olden. A year later, military service called him back to France. His story in the Bernese Oberland could have ended there. But the young chef had only one thing on his mind: returning to the region. Following a newspaper ad, he joined the Grand Chalet in 1994. He would never leave.
Swiss-Alsatian
More than thirty years after his arrival, Steve Willié has become as Swiss as he is Alsatian, just as attached to these mountains as he is to his roots. What first drew him here at age twenty hasn’t changed much: nature, wide-open spaces, and that unique alchemy found in Gstaad, where the wealthy and the locals mingle without any visible barriers. “No matter how big the chalet is, you remain true to yourself.”
The Grand Chalet restaurant serves elegant, traditional, and quintessentially French cuisine created by Chef Christophe Chastellain. For three seasons, Steve worked as a chef de partie before becoming sous chef—without any specific career plan or obvious ambition to become a chef. That is, until the fall of 2001, when everything picked up speed. When Christophe Chastellain announced he was leaving for the winter season, the keys to the kitchen were handed over to Steve. The adventure began…
Louis Outhier in the kitchen
This story also features an encounter—with Louis Outhier, a legendary chef who brought French cuisine to prominence far beyond its borders. The chef at L’Oasis in La Napoule used to spend every summer in Gstaad. Then the story continued into the winter. For nearly ten years, Outhier returned to work for a few days at the Grand Chalet alongside Steve Willié—simply for the joy of cooking and sharing his knowledge.
“He used to cook in my kitchen,” recalls Steve Willié, with a look in his eyes that still seems to convey a sense of wonder. What remains of that bond are gestures, memories, and dishes. In particular, Louis Outhier gave him permission to use the recipe for one of his fish dishes and to include its name on the menu.
And then there’s that bouillabaisse we made together, which has become one of the dishes Steve Willié has kept on the menu. The idea might almost make you smile—except that some people from Marseille now travel all the way to Gstaad just to taste it. With turbot, John Dory, sea bass, and red mullet, the South has made its way into the Alps, to the point where it’s almost become a local specialty.
Classic Cuisine
The cuisine at Le Grand Chalet remains classic—bourgeois in the noble sense of the word—generous with its sauces, fish, cuts of meat, and dining experience. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t changed. Pedro Ferreira, a longtime member of the dining room staff, had fun doing the math: in twenty-five years, about a hundred dishes have been replaced. But some have become untouchable. Customers demand them. They now belong as much to the Grand Chalet as they do to the chef who prepares them.
While Steve Willié was making his mark at the Grand Chalet, Gstaad was expanding. Cranes began to spring up everywhere, and so did real estate prices. The chef observes this transformation without excessive nostalgia, but wonders, “You have to wonder where this is all headed.”
Tourism Is Taking Off
Steve Willié now refers to “climate tourism.” While some regions of Europe are sweltering in the heat, Gstaad is enjoying mild summer weather and cool nights, attracting a new clientele. In the past, it was enough to make a reservation just a few days in advance during peak season. Now, the restaurant can be fully booked more than a week in advance.
We need to organize without industrializing. We need to stagger arrivals, cater to an international clientele, and, above all, not sacrifice either the food or the hospitality. We can only rejoice in the success. “It’s positive stress. I think it’s my adrenaline, but it’s at the end of the dance that the musicians get paid.” A phrase that suits him quite well.
Just a few more seasons…
No need for unnecessary excitement. No nostalgia, either. We work, we observe, and we judge once the work is done. At 54, Steve Willié prefers to look ahead rather than back. When asked, “What can we wish for Le Grand Chalet?,” he doesn’t mention awards or numbers. Health, first and foremost. Friendship. Sharing. “For the next fifteen years, I’ll still be here.” Which means there are still a few seasons and a few bouillabaisse dishes to enjoy in Gstaad!
