CHEESE & WINE | SWITZERLAND

BROOKE & WILHELM GENN | THE NOMADIC NEWLYWEDS

Busted. Our 6pm request for dinner reservations has surely given away the fact that we are Americans.   As we sit down for dinner we have the entire restaurant all to ourselves! Not until we are served dessert does anyone else join the room to begin their evening. In the mean time, we enjoy the peace and quiet at an unassuming table with an unprecedented view of the snow capped Alps.   This dinner is our big splurge, a gift from my husband’s lovely, wonderful grandparents. Over pasta and wine at their favorite little Italian spot a week before our wedding, they told us the tale of how, at their wedding in 1959, a friend handed them a $50 bill – requesting that they spend it, specifically, on their honeymoon. They told us it made all the difference on their modest trip to Washington DC. Passing on this thoughtful gesture (and then some), they asked us to spend their gift on something special. We promised to pay it forward someday, when we are able to, as well!   We believe they’d appreciate that we have decided to spend it on the experience of a decadent dinner… Swiss cheese, Swiss wine, and any other delightful tastes this town has to offer!   The menu proclaims an array of dishes classified as “New Alpine” cuisine and each beautiful plate is designed around ingredients sourced from within a few miles of the restaurant. Eying the extensive wine list, it is difficult to choose – we decide to take advantage of the sommelier’s vast knowledge; she’ll pair them with our meal choices – which, of course, we cannot decide on either! Too many wonderful options. So, eight different courses for the table it is then. We’ll take a bit of it all!   Wilhelm begins with hors d’oeuvres of duck liver, accented with an apple coriander gel. Meanwhile, I delve into my first, and favorite, dish of the evening; an elegant cauliflower mousse paired with olive oil drizzled, chive covered bread chips. The following two courses include delight in the forms of savory white wine risotto (made with Adelboden Hobel cheese) and light, puff pastry encased vegetables (resting on mushrooms and potato sauce).   Though the accommodating and attentive staff keep the table spotless, and ever-ready for the endless parade of courses, our table still rapidly fills with glasses of pinot noir and chasselas based wines as we move on to our entrees. A rosemary accented veal shoulder and a juicy Irish filet find their way to us and we savor every morsel. Our night concludes with our overindulging (read: ‘stuffing ourselves’) on currant sorbet, berries and a king’s size selection of local cheeses.
Planning out this night we could never have anticipated how this simple restaurant would prove to be the most rewarding culinary experience we have had to date – it’s surely been a highlight of our honeymoon!