French and Swiss culinary traditions marry honorably in the Vaud region of Switzerland

Located in the French canton of Switzerland, Vaud naturally nods to Gallic tradition in its cuisine. However, most menus take advantage of regional and seasonal Vaudois provender, dairy products, meat and seafood. Although the latter is largely dependent on imports, Lake Geneva/Lac Léman abounds in trout, perch, willow and the marvelous arctic char, a cold water arctic char that lives in cold alpine lakes.

Waldensian cheeses are world famous, monk’s head(“monk’s head”) and raclette, melted on bread and used in fondues, Gruyère and Emmenthaler.

Restaurants in cities like Vevey and Montreux proudly serve traditional dishes as well as bright innovations on French and Swiss cuisine.

Here are three that give an idea of ​​their scope.

Moreover, in Swiss restaurants, tipping is not compulsory, although it is customary to leave between 3% and 5% of the bill.

GRAND LAKE HOTEL

Italy Street 1

Vevey

+41 21 925 06 06

In the lakeside town of Vevey, my wife and I stayed at the aptly named Grand Hotel du Lac, which stretches along the lake with views of the Dents du Midi Alps. A slow stroll along the Quai Perdonnet is always as inspiring as it is breathtaking, especially when the passenger boats sail slowly and the swans take flight.

Built in 1868, the hotel has since welcomed most of the personalities coming from Vaud, from the youth of the Grand Tour to the aristocracy in exile, including artists in search of calm and those seeking refuge in times of war. The heroine of Anita Brookner’s 1984 comic novel Lake Hotel stays here after a prying ‘mistake’ in London in an effort to ‘grow up’. This plan does not work so well, because the hotel’s romantic cast, with civilized length corridors, crystal chandeliers, a wide terrace and a flowery lawn, a fountain and exquisite appointments everywhere is as much a temptation banter than anywhere in Europe.

In need of a complete facelift, the 50-room hotel was closed in 2005 and modernized, beautifully retaining all the features that make it such a peaceful place, with all the modern conveniences of a 43-inch LED TV, free Wi-Fi, pillow menu, marble bathrooms and Guerlain products. The decorator was Pierre Yves-Rochon, who designed the Four Seasons Hotel George V in Paris.

The chic intimate bar done in chinoiserie is cozy and neat, and the 25-seat restaurant Les Saisons, run by chef Thomas Neeser, is considered one of the best in Switzerland. When my wife and I stayed at the hotel, Les Saisons was closed, but we had the great pleasure of sampling Neeser’s cuisine at La Veranda, which is described as a brasserie – although you would never confuse it with the one of those great fast paced restaurants. Parisian brasserie. The Verandah is full of softness and light, which streams in from the high windows and enhances the pastel colors of the beautifully decorated room.

We asked Neeser to choose our candlelight dinner – lunch is 39CHF or 59CHF; dinner 85CHF, remarkable for a cuisine of this quality, starting with a salad of candied leeks and a light potato mousse with truffles, accompanied by a cabbage-stuffed sausage fritter. Our two starters were a “lobster composition” with celery, potatoes and black truffles, and a “opera» of foie gras touched with sweet limoncello liqueur, caramelized turnips and toasted brioche. Tender ravioli oozed rich Vacherin Mont-d’Or cheese with truffled artichoke cream, walnut and celery vinaigrette and fried parsley. The perch fillets from the lake – “according to arrival” – were bathed in a miller butter with gnocchi and toasted hazelnuts.

The meat dish was a Swiss beef tenderloin with its own silky marrow whose richness was cut by an assertive vinegar Juice, with braised rutabaga puree, salsify and beet chips. For dessert there was a nice hazelnut shortbread yarrow and dark chocolate mousse with coffee cream, liquorice and clementine.

Dinner was so impeccably rendered that we couldn’t imagine how the food at Les Saisons could be any better. And at breakfast La Veranda is a cheerful enough room to eat anyone who laments when leaving the Grand Hôtel du Lac.

THE 3 WHISTLES

1 Rue du Simplon

Vevey

+41 21 921 14 13

Fondue is easily the most identifiable Swiss dish, especially back when fondue pots and utensils were all the rage as wedding favors. For the real deal, plus a show and marching band on the thirty-second floor, you need to head to Les Trois Sliffets (The Three Whistles), tucked away in the winding streets of Vevey.

You’ll spot his red sign hanging outside, and through the windows you’ll see what you’re getting into: in a series of cozy little rooms there’s always a table of people laughing, for every few minutes there is the effusive presentation of the fondue as the staff perform a little routine waving gigantic pepper mills and Swiss flags as the national anthem plays to applause. It’s a whimsical ceremony well worth attending whenever you’re in the mood for a real fondue.

Despite the cheese cauldron ahead, we started with a fried cheese fritter called

a Malakoff (16CHF), whose name comes from the battle of Malakoff in 1855 during the siege of Sebastapol by Swiss mercenaries.

We had dinner with an acquaintance who told us that fondue is always best enjoyed with Swiss white wine, not beer, as the acidity of a wine like Chasselas helps reduce the richness of the cheese. Soaking bread in the bubbling liquid is a big part of the common enjoyment, and the flavor is so good you might consider finding that old wedding present at home and using it.

Another new dish for me was paper (28CHF), a large fatty sausage stuffed with cabbage,

leeks, potatoes, cream and white wine, which one is traditionally supposed to crack open, scrape out the insides and discard the skin. It was very heavy but quite delicious.

The dessert was a little lighter: a meringue with double cream (10CHF).

The fondue is 24CHF-27CHF per person. The menu also offers fried fish with

salad and fries for 45CHF, and a plate of the day at 19CHF, trout miller(32CHF) and other dishes.

At this time you can dine outside on the terrace.

BRENT’S BRIDGE

Blonay Road

Brent

+41 21 964 52 30

You’ll need a driver or a reliable GPS to find this lovely chef-run restaurant in the town of Blonay, about 20 minutes from Vevey or 11 from Montreux. Once in the village you will find a neat little house with a welcoming front door that leads to two pale gray dining rooms, both minimally decorated, with widely separated tables and very fine cutlery.

Here, chef Stéphane Décotterd, with his lovely wife Stéphanie, has established himself as one of the young masters of modern Franco-Swiss cuisine, with each dish clearly his own. The restaurant opened in 1980 under Gérard Rabaey who passed the torch to Décotterd in 2011, making him swear to keep the style and quality of haute cuisine intact. Working with local farmers, fishermen, pickers and winemakers, Decotterd has certainly kept the faith and he relishes local produce.

We started our meal with a bite of whipped Vacherin wafer and a little bon bon with honey and saffron mustard. Small beef ravioli were sprinkled with Swiss-farmed sturgeon caviar and a ginger and cucumber jelly, followed by the delicious Arctic char sausage in a court-bouillon deeply flavored with fennel and dill . Fried studs of monkfish were drizzled with a shrimp sauce. All the fish had that remarkable flavor unique to their species which is a rarity this side of the Atlantic when European fish are flown in.

Then a salsify salad with cheese puree and black truffles with a wonderful aroma. The dessert included intense seasonal sorbets and wild raspberry meringue and cream. The lemon sorbet was flavored with verbena picked from the garden and ended with a light and modern version of the Black Forest chocolate cake with cherries.

It’s always a joy to find a couple married as much to their labor of love as to themselves, and the Décotterds work very, very hard to stay at the top of Swiss gastronomy.

Lunch menus 95CHF and dinner 245CHF.