Cabaret Foodstories in St. Gallen: Dinner & Show
Author: Eat Well · Feel Well · Live Well Editorial Team
Cabaret emerged as a gathering place for artists and poets in late nineteenth-century Paris. The tradition of enjoying performances around a table, over food and conversation, continues in many forms today. At Cabaret Foodstories in St. Gallen, eastern Switzerland, food and performance take turns in the spotlight, shaping the story of an evening.
The venue, Gut & Güter, stands in St. Gallen’s former goods station district. Acts ranging from acrobatics to burlesque and drag unfold between courses. After each performance, guests return to conversation at the table before the next dish arrives. There is time to enjoy both the food and the show.
Meet Chef Maurin Böni
The food is led by Chef Maurin Böni. While working at Hotel Hof Weissbad in the Appenzell region, he reached the final of the cooking competition at SwissSkills in 2022. At Cabaret Foodstories, he and his team create a new four-course menu for each season.
One dish sits at the centre of a deep white plate, with space around it that invites you to pause and look. Another layers ingredients and delicate crisps over a vivid green base, drawing the eye to its contrasting colours and shapes. Two small creations arrive wrapped in paper, making the moment of opening them part of the pleasure.
Guests choose each course from an à la carte menu. Alongside meat and fish, there are vegetarian and vegan options, while allergies can be discussed in advance. People at the same table can choose different dishes and then watch the same performance. What arrives on each plate gives the conversation another direction to take.
For its fifth season, beginning in November 2026, Cabaret Foodstories plans to enlarge the stage and refresh the venue’s décor. Some performers will also appear among the audience. One moment, your attention is on the plate; the next, the performance begins around you. It offers a distinctive way to spend an evening in St. Gallen.
Where Did Cabaret Begin?
The French word cabaret originally referred to a small tavern. Some nineteenth-century cabarets offered songs, but artistic cabaret—bringing poetry, music, visual art and theatre together in an intimate setting—took shape in Paris in the 1880s. Performers and audiences shared a closeness that a large theatre could seldom offer.
A turning point came in 1881, when Le Chat Noir opened in Montmartre. Poets, painters and musicians gathered there for readings, songs and satire; shadow theatre was added later. Its founder, Rodolphe Salis, shaped both the programme and the atmosphere, turning the venue itself into a stage for the arts. The magazine published by Le Chat Noir helped carry its ideas beyond the cabaret.
Switzerland’s Own Cabaret Story
In 1916, poets and artists gathered at Zurich’s Cabaret Voltaire. Poetry readings, music and experiments in performance came together there, giving rise to the avant-garde Dada movement.
Cabaret continued to find its own voice in Switzerland. From Cornichon, which emerged in the 1930s, to the performers and groups active across the country in the 1950s and 1960s, its stages made room for song, humour and satire. The forms changed with the times, but the culture endured.
Cabaret’s appeal lies in more than a dazzling performance. Music, humour and the experience of sharing a room with others are part of it too. At Cabaret Foodstories in St. Gallen, food brings another dimension to the evening.
Stay at a hotel in the city after the show, then spend the following day exploring the Old Town and Abbey District. With Cabaret Foodstories at the heart of the trip, a weekend in St. Gallen becomes an opportunity to enjoy both its culture and its food !
Cabaret Foodstories
Cabaret FoodstoriesVenue: Gut & Güter, St. Gallen
2026/27 season: November 2026 to January 2027, Wednesday to Saturday evenings
Performance details and bookings: Official website
Photos courtesy of Pfefferbeere AG
