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Switzerland is a country where you can generally eat well and whilst never cheap, there are many restaurants which can afford a good quality/price ratio. This was brought home to us many years ago, when we calculated that you could fly to Geneva and back from London, rent a car to Crissier, near Lausanne, (and back to the airport), eat at what was then universally recognised at the greatest restaurant in the world, Giradet, and stay at a nearby hotel for less than it would cost for dinner bed and breakfast at The Manoir aux Quatres Saisons in Oxfordshire. And we did it!
Alas, Freddie Giradet has long since retired and we haven’t had the opportunity of visiting his protégé and successor, Philippe Rochat yet, but one day we will as we understand that it is just as good.
Currently, our favourite Swiss restaurant is Motto del Gallo, situated in a rather nondescript village a few miles outside Lugano, although the property itself has a great deal of character and has the added bonus of having overnight accommodation available in one of their four charming suites. It’s also a handy stopover for your final assault on Northern Italian destinations the next day if you travel via Belgium, Germany and Switzerland in order to avoid those tiresome French péages.
The Motto del Gallo building has been converted from three separate 15th century dwellings – all higgledy-piggledy with tiny windows, little nooks and crannies and a plethora of staircases and beautifully and tastefully decorated rooms with rich brocades and antique furniture. In the summer there is a lovely terrace where you can eat al fresco and in the winter, a succession of little dining rooms gives a feeling of cosiness and intimacy.
Alas, Freddie Giradet has long since retired and we haven’t had the opportunity of visiting his protégé and successor, Philippe Rochat yet, but one day we will as we understand that it is just as good.
Currently, our favourite Swiss restaurant is Motto del Gallo, situated in a rather nondescript village a few miles outside Lugano, although the property itself has a great deal of character and has the added bonus of having overnight accommodation available in one of their four charming suites. It’s also a handy stopover for your final assault on Northern Italian destinations the next day if you travel via Belgium, Germany and Switzerland in order to avoid those tiresome French péages.
The Motto del Gallo building has been converted from three separate 15th century dwellings – all higgledy-piggledy with tiny windows, little nooks and crannies and a plethora of staircases and beautifully and tastefully decorated rooms with rich brocades and antique furniture. In the summer there is a lovely terrace where you can eat al fresco and in the winter, a succession of little dining rooms gives a feeling of cosiness and intimacy.
...The place is run and owned by Piero Tenca, a local Swiss-Italian and José De La Iglesia, a Spaniard who had worked in Switzerland and stayed! Piero runs the Front of House with a great deal of professionalism, whist José has earned his spurs as one of the finest chefs in the country. Perhaps it is his Spanish roots that sets his cuisine apart from many other Swiss restaurants – perhaps a little less akin to French Haute Cuisine and more to tasty Mediterranean flavours. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of Haute about his cuisine!
In a typical Italian form, the menu is divided into antipasti, prima piatti and secondi of either fish or meat dishes. Ingredients are sourced from throughout Europe, so for an antipasto, you might have warm goose foie gras with apple and chestnut with a Malaga sauce (get the Spanish bit!), or cold duck foie gras with scampi and a Marc de Champagne sorbet, a paté of Castellicio lentils and Breton Lobster with caviar, or de-boned quail with porcini mushrooms and polenta.
Prima piatti are not confined to pasta dishes. You could have a “Cappuccino” of fennel and mango with caviar, a risotto “Gran Riserva Gallo” with foie gras and white balsamic vinegar, as well as ravioli-stuffed with potato and pancetta with black truffles and rosemary and gnocchetti of Amaretto-flavoured marrow with a spinach velouté and tiny sliced of roe venison – to name but four!
In a typical Italian form, the menu is divided into antipasti, prima piatti and secondi of either fish or meat dishes. Ingredients are sourced from throughout Europe, so for an antipasto, you might have warm goose foie gras with apple and chestnut with a Malaga sauce (get the Spanish bit!), or cold duck foie gras with scampi and a Marc de Champagne sorbet, a paté of Castellicio lentils and Breton Lobster with caviar, or de-boned quail with porcini mushrooms and polenta.
Prima piatti are not confined to pasta dishes. You could have a “Cappuccino” of fennel and mango with caviar, a risotto “Gran Riserva Gallo” with foie gras and white balsamic vinegar, as well as ravioli-stuffed with potato and pancetta with black truffles and rosemary and gnocchetti of Amaretto-flavoured marrow with a spinach velouté and tiny sliced of roe venison – to name but four!
