The Swiss Hotel by the river

Dear friends,

Some of you might already know that but I moved to Zürich about 3 weeks ago to start a new job. The moving-out from Milano, in Zürich thing explains the lack of posts lately (the fact that I now have to attend office hours as well!). So after my series about Geneva and before talking to you about all the cool places I have been these last 4 weeks, I am going to start with where I was last night. After a quick trip to Basel in order to visit Baselworld and the Segantini exhibition in Bayeler (btw, Segantini is also a great restaurant in ZHR, soon on the blog), my friend Vicky and I decided to try a place both of us had never been before in Zürich.

Since we were both alumni from Lausanne, it is always complicated to find someplace we really enjoy. We choose to go and try the restaurant of the Helvetia hotel. It is one of those hype, but good cuisine places people have been recommending me here. We first started with a little drink at the bar downstairs, which is very delightful. I have to say that on top of that, the barmen really know what they are doing there since my Hendricks-Tonic arrived served with cucumber slices and black pepper and this without me mentioning anything!

We then went upstairs to eat in one of the little booth (I strongly recommend you to ask for those booths if you go there) that really make you feel as if you had the restaurant for yourself. The menu was not really furbished, but everything looked delicious on it. Honestly, that is what I prefer now when I go to a restaurant: a small or minimalist menu where everything looks amazing rather than a dictionary.

Vicky decided to order some delicious Veal “paupiette” stuffed with foie gras and I choose their version of the “Pot-aux-feu”. But, while ordering we still decided to share a little plate of truffle tortellini because we just couldn’t resist it! All of the dishes mentioned above where good, although I have to say that Vicky’s main course was much better than mine (my meat was a little bit overcooked for my taste, but still nice...I am very picky). The pastas were really tasty and for once not swamped in cream. But, as I came to realize, they were a little overcooked…like most pasta in Switzerland (but then, I spent two years in Italy and became really an extremist of the “Al Dente” cooking or a so-called “Al-Denterrorist”).

While sipping a very nice Spanish red wine called “les cousins” that we didn’t knew before and that was recommended by the manager, we just couldn’t resist to order the chocolate “moelleux” done with Valrohna cacao (well, Vicky really insisted, you all know by now that I hate desserts and chocolate ! lol). The “moelleux” was a real killer: perfectly cooked, really dark, crispy on top and served with a great yoghurt ice cream and some crème de gruyere (anyone said Calorie-bomb?). After finishing our glass of wine on the terrace, which we really need to try in the summer, we promised ourselves to come back soon to try the other dishes or the menu and taste the wine list (which by the way is very creative and original).

I strongly recommend you this restaurant for a date (in a little booth), or a dinner with friends (at a bigger table). It is really popular in Zürich so you’d better book in advance. The rooms of the hotel also seem to be really cool so now you even know where to sleep!

I am looking forward to post more about Zürich! This city has a huge potential and I haven’t seen anything of it yet!

From Seefeld with love,

Mr. Nico

Restaurant Hotel Helvetia

Stauffacherquai 1

8004 Zürich

+41 44 297 99 99

www.hotel-helvetia.ch