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by Mara Bivone
I’m in Zurich, with Giorgio - my husband - and Nick Ross.
Giorgio and Nick are here on business and, wanting to taste the food that Nick extols all the time as well as being curious about Nick’s friend Joseph “the Swiss Gnome”, I decided to travel to Zurich with them. It is my first visit and, compared to Venice, I find Zurich a “buttoned up” city. But the food is great.
The first evening, Joseph took us to Le Pavillon (Ermitage am See Hotel, Seestrasse 80, Küsnacht). It is an elegant hotel restaurant and the food is decidedly Mediterranean. The lake views are stunning. This is a very good kitchen; dinning is very enjoyable, the staff is attentive, if you wish to spoil yourself this is without a doubt the restaurant to choose!
The very next evening we went to Blaue Ente (Seefeldstrasse 223). A very fashionable, “in” restaurant frequented by an upscale crowd. The kitchen is vaguely French/International and some of the dishes were very good, while a few were disappointing. We were a large group, so I had the chance to taste a number of different courses; though I have to admit that picking little bits from my husband’s and Nick’s plates seemed to upset at least one of the other wives. But I was here to taste the food and write about it. There were so many other, better restaurants in the city, as we found later during our visit that the few discordant notes here were not significant.
Joseph decided that we had enough mediocre food (his decision it was mediocre) that he thought that a classic Swiss kitchen was in order. So we went to Petermann’s Kunststuben. And yes, it is one of Europe’s great culinary experiences. This is innovative dinning at its best. The food thoughtfully prepared by top toque Rico Zandonella surpasses many of the “creative” dishes I’ve had in my own town, Venice, one of the culinary meccas of Europe. In addition, the superb wine list has such depth, it equals a number of “wine heavens” I have experienced. The service is attentive without being overbearing. Definitively a highlight of the trip.
Joseph surprised us! He brought along his “lady”, his longtime business and life partner, that normally stays well in the background. It was just the 4 of us, Nick was meeting with other business associates. We went to Jacky’s Stapferstube (Culmannstrasse 45), a wood paneled clubby establishment in Oberstrass. I would consider this the closest Zurich has to a New-York-style steakhouse, where the meat is outstanding and so are the red wines. The wines are mainly based on Gamay and Pinot Noir, but there is also a very good Merlot. This is the domain of Joseph’s business circle where excellent post-prandial digestifs are accompanied by cigars and banking deals are closed at the end of the meal. The staff welcomed Joseph like a long lost brother; he must be spending a lot of time and generous tips in this restaurant.
© August 2006 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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