New tables for an old guide

There are two events in the year for the best chefs in Romandie: one is the publication of the new edition of the Michelin guide, and the other is the new GaultMillau. Who will climb? Who will arrive? Who will fall? A distinction in one of the two guides can bring about a 25 percent increase in the number of clients. That’s why they all wait for the new rankings with hope and fear.

This month, the GaultMillau 2009 has come up with more good news than bad.  Even if a lot of restaurants closed over the past year, the new guide is generous, with 30 new tables in the area and 20 cooks earning an extra point. That’s much more than the 15 restaurants that disappeared. Geneva hosts the “Cook of the Year”, Dominique Gauthier, who presides over the kitchen at the Chat Botté, the gastronomic restaurant of the five-star hotel Beau-Rivage (18/20). He’s French, learned his trade at the best French tables, and arrived at the Chat Botté 12 years ago as deputy. He has been the boss since 2001 and shows a lot of invention and freshness in his dishes.

The laureate of the “Promotion of the Year”award lives in Neuchâtel, cooking in the Maison du Prussien, an old house surrounded by a nice park in the middle of the city (17/20).  Jean-Yves Drevet resorts to very nice products to come up with a mix of traditional and “molecular” cuisine, a very interresting approach. The “Discovery of the Year” is another Frenchman, David Tarnowski (picture), who opened recently his own restaurant in Chardonne, above Vevey, Le Montagne (15/20). He was cooking in the five-star Montreux Palace before deciding to become his own master. His restaurant offers a very nice view on the lake and very distingued dishes.

Le Chat Botté, Hôtel Beau-Rivage quai du Mont-Blanc 13, Geneva. Phone 022 716 69 20. Open 7/7.
La Maison du Prussien, Au Gor du Vauseyon, Neuchâtel. Phone 032 730 54 54. Closed Saturday for lunch and Sunday.
Le Montagne, rue du Village 21, Chardonne. Phone 021 921 29 30. Closed Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday for lunch.