In June I will be visiting the Bernese Oberland (12 day alpine plant tour) and then touring by train to other destinations in Switzerland for 7-10 days thereafter (not visiting Zurich) Considering multiple possible destinations including Lucerne, Bern, Fribourg/Gruyeres, Zermatt, Montreux, Lausanne…wondering if people have any recommendations for good eats in these areas .
Our preference would be for slowfood type local fare, well prepared dishes using local materials but also any good foreign food that crops up as opposed to high end international style fare. Would love get some suggestions and put some meat on the bones of our trip plan! thanks for any advice you can give!
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In the Bernese Oberland, we love the relatively quiet and “less discovered” (except by Europeans) Kandersteg, a village at the end of a valley – and lunches (local fish or sausage with fabulous pomme frites) at the simple mountain restaurants (reached after taking one of three lifts, and then a nice further hike of 15 min to an hour) located way up in the high mountain pastures. (Lots of musical cow bells to be heard.)
On the amazing ancient steep vineyard slopes of Lavax (above/ near Vevey, close to Montreax), overlooking Lac Leman, these – especially the last – pretty well qualify under your “slow food” quest. We enjoyed each of these in Sept 2019, and hope to return this July:
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In a very nice wine village, St Saphorin: Auberge de Onde, https://www.aubergedelonde.ch. The brasserie, open for lunch, has a terrace across street under chateau walls. Good local wines. Excellent separate/ upstairs restaurant, dinner only.
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Auberge du Vigneron, in the extra-lovely wine village, Epesse, Route de la Corniche 16, https://www.aubergeduvigneron.ch/ Good local wines, lovely terrace.
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Similarly nearly as lovely and nearby – and maybe even better dining, in Bourg-en-Lavaux/ Grandvaux: Auberge Grandvaux, http://www.aubergegrandvaux.ch/restaurant/ This is a family run hotel resto with a panoramic terrace overlooking the lake, serving both local and imported perch, and a good but small selection of local wines.
Elsewhere on your list: We have loved Zermatt (but too long ago for recs now), Lucerne and environs (esp on the lake near Weggis). But we have an especially fond memory of the (rather touristy) walled village of Gruyeres, where our small hotel offered, each morning at breakfast, 2 year, 12 month, and, most special, 1-week old Gruyere – wow. Then we hiked up/ across the shoulder of a nearby mountain to see the cows being milked and cheese being made in a huge copper post over a wood fire. Thanks for sparking these memories!
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Thanks these are exactly the sort of inspirations I was looking for!
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And just writing about them inspires us! The lac Leman places are relatively new discoveries for us. By contrast, we hope to return to Kandersteg for our seventh time this July. See https://www.doldenhorn-ruedihus.ch/ruedihus/
The cooking here (at the old chalet) is definitely old school, and not exactly light. But if you hike enough during the day, you earn it! The two dining rooms of the chalet are incredible — basically, as they were 250+ years ago. The flooring is rough cut bare wooden planks. Ancient porcelain furnaces in each room. Authentic ancient round blown leaded glass windows. There’s a low ceiling wine and beer bar downstairs, serving fondue, etc. Across the “street” — really, on the other side of the large meadow (take a look on Google maps) — is the WaldHotel Doldenhorn, which also runs the Chalet. You can also dine over there, in its continental dining room. The food over there tries/ aspires (not always totally successfully), and although we dine there sometimes, in this throwback location we tend to prefer the old school dining and the feel of the chalet. — Jake
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I am no expert on the region, but if you are going to be be anywhere near Vinzel, I highly recommend trying the beignet de Vinzel, (sometimes also referred to as a Malakoff, though incorrectly, I believe). I read about them years ago in Saveur and have been obsessed ever since - I make them at home occasionally and I’m dying to try the real thing in Vinzel. If my homemade version is even half as good as the real deal, they are worth a trip!
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I might add, we will not have a car if that factors into recommendations, we will be relying on public transport network and of course walking!
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The main places I have been discussing, Kandersteg, in the mountains
— and near Vevey, on Lac Leman / Lake Geneva — are easily accessible via excellent and efficient Swiss trains. In fact, that’s the way we first visited Kandersteg, and most recently, we made extensive use of trains even in 2019 in and around Vevey. Essentially the same goes for all of the other places you have mentioned. The Swiss train system is super.
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Sounds like a wonderful trip!
My recommendations are out-of-date.
This Slow Food IG account might help inspire
you. https://instagram.com/slowfoodschweiz
In Gruyere, go to Fleur de Lys and have the civet de chevereuil, the most tender venison stew you can imagine. It comes in a beautifully rich sauce with mushrooms, lardons, and pearl onions thickened with blood sausage.
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well, I completed my Swiss trip and would like to report back. Sadly I did not make it to Kandersteg or the Lake Geneva areas due to daughter’s travel limitations.
I started with 12 days in Wengen, travelling with a botanical group. Our hotel the Bellevue catered for all our breakfasts and dinners and our lunches were purchased and taken along. Highly recommend the hotel, the breakfasts, especially the breads were excellent, the dinners (evening prix fixe were all very satisfying, some very good indeed and the hotel was in a lovely location with fine views of the mountain range and Lauterbrunnen Valley. Traditional meat potatoes veg, well cooked. We purchased lunches at the local patisserie https://www.vincenz-wengen.ch/en/ and grocery stores, and stopped for many snacks, ice cream, coffees, cakes en route. Generally those offered at the local cafes in the mountains were very good (featuring seasonal fruits like rhubarb, red currants, or apple strudel). In the mountains one might come across an isolated refrigerator where cheese, apple juice and other local items might be purchased
The restaurant in the Eigergletscher railroad station (the stop before the Jungfroujoch) was quite nice. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Restaurant+Eigergletscher+2320+m/@46.5747227,7.9745336,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x7053309f2909255e!8m2!3d46.5747227!4d7.9745336 Having not had a chance at fondue, I ordered a stupendous swiss dish in a hot bowl with a thick slice of bread, covered with ham topped with a thick layer of delicious melted mountain cheese, eggs and bacon. Enough for two! eaten on a terrace overlooking the glacier. Much nicer than eating up in the jungfraujoch.
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Next stop, 3 nights in Bern. I was travelling alone (daughter marooned in Milan with Covid) staying in a nice old hotel in Nydegg (E end of the Altstadt, upper town. Unfortunately my visit corresponded with the two dead days of dining there, Sun and Mon and of course, being alone was less motivating. More planning and reservations would have made sense (I struck out several times when I tried to be spontaneous). On Saturday night I was lucky to snag a seat at Fischerstübli, a tavern/bistro in a scenic part of the lower town. https://www.fischerstuebli.ch/ There I enjoyed a delicious salad elevated with sauteed pumpkin and sesame seeds and croutons and a classic beef tartare (they offer several variations including fish versions; my classic was excellent) along with a fine Swiss Pinot Noir from Neuchâtel. I ended with an ample glass of Fassbind Vielle Abricot (aged apricot brandy) which carried the luscious flavor and fragrance of the fruit. Staff was professional and hospitable, a lovely experience on a warm summer evening.
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ps I tried to eat at Steinhalle and Mille Sens but struck out, the Swiss are deliberate about their dining plans, as well as other things! Great town and family youth scene along the river, where folks were swimming and floating down through the town.
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Final Swiss stop Lucerne - here I met up with daughter and son in law who had recovered from their Covid. What a beautiful town setting. They were eager to eat so we did! First up a casual meal at the Rathaus Brauerei. It was ok - I think there may have been better choices than their bratwurst and rosti - huge portions. Beer was good, very scenic. We had much better sausage the next day at Obere First, a farm restaurant we hiked to on Mount Rigi (its not all that far from the Rigi Kaltbad train stop). No English spoken but we managed to negotiate a delicious meal . When daughter and I asked for vegetables in lieu of fries we were each served a big plate of local vegetables cooked with care. Offered cider in addition to beer ad other drinks, Very simple place, inexpensive gem. Mount Rigi is wonderful, too.https://www.google.com/maps/place/Obere+First/@47.0404111,8.4748169,17z/data=!4m10!1m3!2m2!1srestaurants+near+Rigi,+Arth,+Switzerland!6e5!3m5!1s0x47855666241c4ae9:0x4223e9a2ce354e9c!8m2!3d47.0404113!4d8.4791941!15sCihyZXN0YXVyYW50cyBuZWFyIFJpZ2ksIEFydGgsIFN3aXR6ZXJsYW5kWigiJnJlc3RhdXJhbnRzIG5lYXIgcmlnaSBhcnRoIHN3aXR6ZXJsYW5kkgEQc3dpc3NfcmVzdGF1cmFudJoBJENoZERTVWhOTUc5blMwVkpRMEZuU1VOUExXUklURFJSUlJBQg?hl=en&authuser=0
I was convinced to take the kids to Restaurant Maihöfli - Oscar de Matos, https://www.restaurantmaihoefli.ch/ in lieu of the Old Swiss House - having lived for a while in Bonn on stodgy German food they wanted something less traditional - the tasting format here with the young Ferran Adria trained chef (we chose six courses with wine pairings) was a relaxing, charming, elevated totally different type of experience. Some pictures below. I was impressed with the delicacy and accessibility of this very technically beautiful , complex food. Sorry I did not take notes, it would have improved this summary Some pictures below.-
- amuse buche: croquettes with creamy cheese sauce in side, topped with truffle-oid cheese crisps
- first course - seems to be (1) grilled avocado on rice crisp - with finger lime (2) tiny fresh peas, presented on a creamy tart sauce with a touch of green chile, I believe
- second course - zucchini wrapped around I believe fish, with garnishes including tiny wasabi flavored puffs
- third course - extraordinary grilled asparagus dish with fruity tart sauce drizzled by the chef at table with coffee vanilla emulsion, garnished with tarragon, it miraculously it came off
- fourth course - halibut with tomato confit and asian garnishes - also I believe described below by the chef and very delicious
- fifth course - two ways with guinea hen meat (no picture)
- dessert course - variety of globes and puffs some meringue some cream filled or more jelly like, very pleasing
- after dinner treats - more kitchen magic - especially those mango globes
Wine were mostly spanish (maybe all) , including cava, orange, pink and white varieties,
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Quoting from a recent interview with the chef in Gault Millau -" WHAT IS CURRENTLY YOUR FAVORITE GEAR?
[The whole menu is good. But my favorite is the halibut with a lacto-fermented tomato beurre blanc. And the asparagus season is actually over. But I fermented Gian-Battista von Tscharner’s Reichenau asparagus and preserved it that way. I grill them with a sauce based on coconut milk and passion fruit with vanilla and coffee essence. The guests also say: is he kidding us? But it’s just wow!"]
(https://www.gaultmillau.ch/starchefs/oscar-de-matos-maihofli-luzern-ich-hasse-peterli-391357)
Yes its wow. But its a totally different kind of experience in its complexity and yes expense from anything else I would eat. It does not exactly read as food though it stimulates all the right sensory centers. Very highly recommended if you visit the stunning city of Lucerne.
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I remember traveling with a hunk of of Gruyère in ‘72 as I left Switzerland. Best part of that trip was I saw Paul McCartney and Wings in Montreux. Some guy on the sidewalk in Lucerne was selling tickets. The concert was under a casino. Maybe 200 people.
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Sounds like a wonderful trip, albeit Covid-marred. Hope you saw the botanicals you most wanted to see!!
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Has anyone visited Zermatt this winter? My friend departs for a week in Zermatt next week!
