Dining out? Where to go? Part I

This blog in two parts aims to clarify things so that you’re not walking around with the feeling there must be all these restaurant insider tips out there and you can’t put your finger on the info. The situation for English-speakers is actually pretty clear-cut. Here’s a summary. 

Restaurant guides

The big two, in Switzerland, are the Michelin Red Guide (hotels and restaurants) and Gault Millau (restaurants), updated annually. The first uses a one to three star rating; if you hear anyone referring to a “starred” restaurant in Switzerland, that is the rating they are referring to.

There are only two Michelin 3-star restaurants in Switzerland, and they are both in Vaud: the Hôtel de Ville in Crissier and the Pont de Brent near Montreux.

Gault Millau uses a 20 point system, e.g. 13/20. Even the top restaurants are usually rated no higher than 19.

As for the information: Michelin includes the three official Swiss languages and English in one volume; Gault Millau has only French and German editions of their guide but addresses and ratings are crystal clear to anyone.

For Zurich and Geneva, there is a third option: Zagat Survey’s Europe’s Top Restaurants, updated annually. I should hasten to add that I am what is called a “participating authority” for this publication, in that I select the Geneva restaurants listed.

However: my reviews may be accessed by some 17,000 globetrotting volunteer Zagat winers and diners, who then e-mail their impressions of whatever restaurants they’ve visited to the editors in New York. Compilations of their comments and their ratings (on 30) are what actually appear in the book.

Consistently highest-rated over the years have been Domaine de Châteauvieux in Geneva and Petermann’s Kunststuben in Zurich - in the 2009 edition, 29/30 and 27/30 respectively.

I also am partial to Karen Brown’s guide to “charming” Swiss inns and hotels. It is in a different category, because nothing is rated in that sense. However, the selection is very sure-footed, and a number of the choices have wonderful in-house restaurants many of them specializing in traditional Swiss food.

With some exceptions, the restaurants in all these books tend to be in the upper-middle to very expensive category.

Guides to Switzerland

I am a big believer in consulting the major guides to Switzerland for restaurant tips. Just perusing - a lot of the selections overlap.

Some of the best English-language guides, in alphabetical order, are: DK Eyewitness Travel, Fodor’s, Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, Michelin Green Guide, and Rough Guide.

Some post their restaurant selections on their website. The New York Times site www.nytimes.com (click on Travel, then enter Switzerland) also posts Frommer’s selections.

Let’s be clear, these guidebooks do not provide foodie “ratings” as such (although they may dub a place a “favorite” or single it out for some other virtue, like good value) - just choices by compilers who usually have a decent overview of what’s available and who aim to give readers the best and truest dining experiences in a given place.

Restaurants in upper price ranges tend to match Michelin and Gault Millau selections. The budget and middle ranges tend to be authentic friendly places (not touristy venues).

Illustration courtesy of Tiffany Hotel, Geneva

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Swisster (ww.swisster.ch) offers a unique service: expert David Moginier, a professional food critic for a Lausanne paper, at your disposal. There are reviews in his blog “Table Talk”, and answers to your questions are no more than an e-mail away. (Non-Swisster subscribers can access his blog by copying  http://blog.swisster.com/tabletips/ and pasting it in a Google search box.)

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