Xavier Rey de Lasteyrie on the Pleasure of Sharing Possibilities for People

EVERY BITE IS A STORY
Ever wonder how the tender raw bison tartare could get you talking about your great-grandfather’s meat trade? I didn’t either until I tasted it ... And oh, don’t even get me started on this shrimp cocktail, which, for me, brought back the wonderful 70s festive party atmosphere of my parent’s home... where no meal ever ended without a Colonel (Qavjar has two of them).

A catalyst for connection, storytelling and bonding, that’s what food at Qavjar is. Sharing delicious dishes and travelling around the world on a plate, gathering the best ingredients from every point of the compass, not only offers a momentary escape – it becomes an interlude where people open up and discover more about each other through the experiences and memories that surface with the flavours. Xavier wants his space to be like a caravanserai, where people of all kinds come together to share food, memories, and a good time.

Qavjar Restaurant & Seafood Bar offers possibilities, not just perfect dishes. The magic happens when people grasp what pleases them, depending on their sensitivities, and make it their own. Xavier sees a parallel with the real estate and hotel family’s activities, where the clients turn the living or holiday space into their own haven, which he loves. To help the client play chef, experimenting with combinations almost like in a little culinary lab, Qavjar offers a fantastic choice of champagnes, matching and enhancing flavours. Or the alchemist behind the counter can guide you through the variety of the slightly different characters of the whiskeys from the Talisker TM “Made by the Sea” collection or unexpected Portuguese gin.

EVERY SIP IS HISTORY
If you think the food at Qavjar is about travelling your memories and touring the world on a plate, wait until you taste the past: Just one sip of “Nr 2” and you are transported to the banks of the Danube in 1908, enjoying a vodka as authentic as it gets. No. 2 vodka is made on precisely the same machine, in the same distillery, with the same products and recipe as in 1908. Nothing has been tampered with. The recipes Xavier & his dad, Christian, found (with pepper and herbs...) date back to when sturgeon meat went to royal tables and the fishermen ate the dried eggs – and they made vodkas with various tastes to pair with these eggs.

TIME IS YOURS
“Respect & Gratitude,” says Xavier, for the time put into each gesture and each step the artisans took to produce, whether it is caviar, vodka, dried meat, smoked salmon, bison meat, or herbal teas. That is why at Qavjar, they also take the time to prepare your plate (cutting just before serving) and invite clients to take all their time to taste it.

SAVOUR AND SOOTHE IN THE COSY CORNER
This exciting opportunity emerged in October: While Florence manages her Maison Dehesa business from her caring home this winter, taking a little break from the Gstaad Shop, Xavier steps in with Qavjar’s pop-up boutique & restaurant. The Qavjar brand has been growing for a few years, and it is on sale at main airports in the UK and Switzerland, at Rey Group hotels or in some Geneva’s Shop. This little Gstaad restaurant is a standalone, but not for long … I heard something was cooking in Geneva starting this spring. The rush of preparations was exhilarating (I met Xavier in November, before the opening, him standing in the empty space behind the shop), a whirlwind involving the whole family – Valentine, Xavier’s wife, even getting her hands on the curtains herself for the final touch of interior decoration, as well as lending some barstools from their living room. The result is a tremendous cosy alpine caravanserai.

FLYING BISONS
Real estate and hotel development & management are at the core of the Rey family business in Switzerland and abroad. But when Covid hit, Xavier and his father took the opportunity to think strategically about future developments. This led to exciting projects with the Kazakh government’s Food Security programme, which aims to reduce the country’s import dependence. They reintroduced bison to the Kazakh steppes (where they had disappeared). The bison were flown in from Europe. The bison breeding programme and the sturgeon farm by the Caspian Sea have been developing over the last few years. Xavier and his father regularly fly to Kazakhstan, a country they have fallen in love with.

A SILK ROAD
Xavier’s career has been, well, smooth as silk. Since the age of 15, he’s been learning the ropes from his father, who involved him this early in his business so that young Xavier could make informed choices. Ever since, his career has been an evolving corridor of innovation, expanding into new territories and connecting industries and people. Today the group can also count on Alexandra and Eleonore, two of the three of Xavier sisters, but Victoria, the third one, is never far away.

TWO COLONELS
Father and son are both colonels in the Swiss army. It’s no coincidence that their business is run with the same level of rigour, transparency, and solidarity. These values have helped the Reys build lasting relations with clients and employees. Many of their staff have been with them for 10 to 15 years – and some for 30. The family dynamic within the business gives it a sense of authenticity. They are inspired each time by the moment, the places, the people. This gives a little side of spontaneity to things and with a very strong identity.
The Coupe des deux Colonels, a dessert where caviar marries lemon sorbet and vodka, is named after the father-son duo. It’s a fitting tribute and, not to mention, deliciously perfect.

ALPINE FLAVOURS BEYOND THE PEAKS
This winter in Gstaad, at the Qavjar Restaurant & Seafood Bar, every dish is a passport to new flavours, and every moment feels like a celebration. It is a very Swiss experience in some ways: many ingredients are locally sourced, from signature bread to dried meat, locally cold-smoked salmon, the most fantastic sour cream ever, and even ... edible flowers. A long-time Gstaad regular with fond memories of his childhood and school years here, Xavier thoroughly enjoys the fruit of his team’s labour.

He’s curious to see how this season unfolds and whether criticism or praise it will only inspire them to improve. Are there any limits to Qavjar projects? Only the limits of our imagination, Xavier smiles – always looking for the next horizon to chase, bringing us back hidden treasures to be shared.

GISELA VAN BULCK

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