GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – “Floris” in Anières, canton Geneva, and “Mesa” in Zurich, are the newcomers to Michelin’s list of Swiss two-star restaurants. Floria is headed by Claude Legras and Mesa by Marcus Lindner. They bring the number of eateries with two stars to 18.

Switzerland now has a total of 96 restaurants with stars from the famed French guide, more than any other per person among European countries. The new edition, 520 pages, is on sale in Switzerland, Germany and Austria 17 November, for CHF33. It includes hotels as well as restaurants.

Just two restaurants have three stars: Philippe Rochat and Benoît Violier’s “Hôtel de Ville” in Crissier, canton Vaud, and Andreas Caminada’s “Schauenstein” in Fuerstenau, Graubuenden.

Seventy-six one-star restaurants make up the bulk of the list. Eight restaurants lost their stars for the 2012 Guide which is available Thursday 17 November. Eleven new retaurants joined, with one star.

The other two-star restaurants the Lake Geneva area are:

• “Le Domaine de Châteauvieux“, Philippe Chevrier, Satigny, Geneva
• “Georges Wenger“, Georges Wenger, Noirmont, Jura
• “Le Cerf“, Carlo Crisci, Cossonay, Vaud
• Beau-Rivage Palace, Anne-Sophie Pic, Lausanne, Vaud
• “Le Pont de Brent“, Stéphane Décotterd, Brent/Montreux, Vaud
• “Denis Martin“, Denis Martin, Vevey, Vaud
• “Hotel Terminus“, Didier de Courten, Sierre, Valais.

Dark chocolate with pecans, chez Tristan, Bougy-Villars, Switzerland

Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – You still have a couple days left to sample artisanal chocolates and buy them at a discount at several chocolate boutiques in the region. Chocolate Week, the brainchild of Neuchatel’s chocolate-makers several years ago, was adopted by Vaud five years ago and more recently by Fribourg and Geneva. The idea is to introduce local chocolate lovers to hand-crafted chocolates, which not only taste good, but tend to use better products, have less sugar and lower fat content. Here’s the list of who is participating and what they’re offering in 2010. The chocolate week ends Saturday 6 November. Some of my favourites don’t take part officially, but they won’t object if we celebrate by stopping by.

Personally, I’ve done my bit by stopping in at Tristan’s chocolate boutique in Bougy-sur-Villars, one of my favourites in the region, where I stocked up on presents for the family (including me). He has two new chocolates which are now on my “best” list since my last visit in July, a dark chocolate with pecans with extraordinary flavour and a Cambodian pepper chocolate which is quite different from his Tasmanian or pimiento pepper chocolates. Less bite, more elegant pepper flavour and feel. I also bought rosemary, green tea in dark chocolate and myrtle chocolates.

Swiss pavé sesame, chez Tristan, Bougy-Villars, Switzerland

Myrtle, if you’re not familiar with it and are seeing “myrte” in the shop, is not myrtille, or blueberry. Myrtle comes from a shrub, and is akin in flavour to juniper and rosemary. It was used years ago in making Italy’s famous mortadella, but juniper is more commonly used for that now.

I am heading out the door to Morges soon to try one of the Vaud bouchon specialties, which I’ve never had. I’ll report back soon on that, with a photo.

And lucky for me, one of the participating chocolatiers is in Saint Prex, Boillat, and they’re offering 10 percent off on chocolate, a dangerously good deal. We’re doubly blessed, with a second excellent chocolate maker, Alexandre, right in the old town section of Saint Prex, and his busy, tiny shop is one of the nicest places around for morning coffee. With a bit of chocolate, of course.

Not bad for a town of 5,000.

Warning: once you develop a taste for this kind of chocolate you may find it extremely difficult to settle for the popular big commercial brands, although I did just receive a last-minute additional request from an overseas family member to whom I am shipping some of Tristan’s chocolate, at his request: “The Lindt chocolate in the red package is really good. Like… Lindor but in bar form? Creamy in the middle? That one was really good, feel free to send some of that. I have finished all the chocolate you brought over by the way.”

Related news story on Barry Callebaut financial results, the International Cocoa Agreement, 4 November 2010

La Savoie, with chef Philippe Chevrier

Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The CGN boat company’s summer schedule goes into effect Sunday 13 June, which means the tourist cruise boats will be operating fully. Among the special offers are fine dining cruises, with wonderful meals from the Geneva port prepared by the kitchen staff working under one of the region’s best chefs, Geneva’s Philippe Chevrier (four-course meal CHF98, three courses for CHF85) and from Lausanne by the Beau-Rivage Palace.

You can dine at noon or in the evening.

Garlic man, Lausanne (photo: vinylmeister on flick, reproduced with permission)

GenevaLunch is looking for contributors to our revised food blog, now called Savouring Switzerland! We are opening up some of our blogs to the local international community in the Lake Geneva region, to give more people a voice and an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience. We have a small group of writers lined up to write about food and we are looking for more.

If you are interested, please write to savouring-switzerland@genevalunch.com, including a link to online samples of your work. If you want to send attachments, please make sure they are not bigger than 2MB.

Here is what we are looking for:

• published writers (this can mean your own blog as long as there are enough entries for us to judge the writing): reliability, good writing, a love of all things related to food
• food photographers
• contributors who will write 1-2 times a month, anywhere from 50-300 words, with accompanying images as a general rule
• wide variety of topics: food news, Switzerland and food, regional dishes, shopping, markets, recipes (not our main focus, however) of interest to the international community, food sources for a variety of national cuisines, food trends, seasonal, cooking with children – the possibilities are wide open.

We can offer you the most widely-read source of news and information in English in the region, with an excellent reputation for quality, as a platform. We will provide a link to your own blog or web site if you are a regular contributor. Please note that, as with all blogs, we do not edit and there is no payment.

Our thanks go to Jonell Galloway-White, who  has done a wonderful job of writing The Rambling Epicure in this space for the past year, will now be setting up her own independent blog (and contributing, when she has time, to Savouring Switzerland) to focus more on European cuisine.

Lausanne’s prestigious hotel management school EHL is holding a blind wine tasting dinner on 2 June 2010 at 19H30 in its gourmet restaurant, Berceau des Sens, which is run by the EHL students.

The hotel manager and students have chosen wines to go with each gourmet dish, but all wine tasting is “blind”.

The person who guesses the name of the most wines will win a prize.

The dinner goes for CHF 150, including wine. Reservations are necessary.

Contact EHL for more information.

Recent tweets @RamblingEpicure and @SwissFoodies

Restaurants

THE RAMBLING EPICURE Dining in France: reviews by professional food writers.

THE RAMBLING EPICURE Theosophical dining in Crissier.

SwissFoodies THE RAMBLING EPICURE Look at this list of all the Michelin- and GaultMillau-listed restaurants in Geneva. Impressive!

THE RAMBLING EPICURE Lake Geneva Region restaurant listings.

SwissFoodies THE RAMBLING EPICURE You can eat food designed by Italy’s top chef right here in Geneva, at the Hotel Richmond!

THE RAMBLING EPICURE Loads of info about restaurants, recipes, food, etc. in last week’s tweet list.

Read more…

This week’s foodie overview

I spend a lot of time reading, researching and tweeting about food and restaurants these days, so I thought I’d jot down my tweets from the last few days. These are from both The Rambling Epicure and Swiss Foodies and should give you an overview of what’s going on in the foodie world this week, in Switzerland and around the world.

These tweets are often focused on Switzerland, but also include a lot of links to Swiss, French, German, British, American, Canadian and other research on food.

Sometimes I couldn’t resist writing about the snow and skiing conditions, because that determines how a lot of us in Switzerland plan our weekends, and therefore what restaurants we go to or what recipes we cook up. And of course occasionally, watches and wine . . . and this week, the Vancouver Winter Olympics and those cute wooly pigs you see in the photo.

Read more…

This week’s foodie overview

I spend a lot of time reading, researching and tweeting about food and restaurants these days, so I thought I’d jot down my tweets from the last few days. These are from both The Rambling Epicure and Swiss Foodies and should give you an overview of what’s going on in the foodie world this week.

These tweets are often focused on Switzerland, but also include a lot of links to Swiss, French, German, British, American, Canadian and other research on food.

This week was the countdown to Valentine’s Day, so I listed oodles of Valentine’s dinners, weekend packages at hotels and chocolate shops. You can find the Valentine’s venues I tweeted last week in the 20 Valentine venues, posted earlier this week.

Sometimes I couldn’t resist writing about the snow and skiing conditions, because that determines how a lot of us in Switzerland plan our weekends, and therefore what restaurants we go to or what recipes we cook up. And of course occasionally, watches and Alinghi . . .

Remember, these are just tweets

Remember these are just tweets, so they are short and sweet. They are not particularly orderly; I just tweeted the information as I found it.

I suggest you skim over the headings, and if you’re interested, just click on any of the links that interest you in order to read the detailed article.

Who knows, this might even tempt you to start tweeting yourself!

This week’s tweet list

Valentine’s

20 Valentine venues: restaurants, chocolate and hotel packages for the “big day”!

Valentine’s events in La Gruyère.

Valentine’s package at Bernard Ravet, CHF500, hotel, champagne, 9-course dinner, breakfast for two, Relais & Châteaux.

Restaurants in French-speaking Switzerland w/ Valentine’s specials; just click on your canton! NOT TESTED BY THE RAMBLING EPICURE.

GenevaLunch: Lake Geneva Valentine’s cruise.

Ramada Geneva offering Valentine’s Day brunch as well as candelit dinner.

Hôtel des Armures in Geneva: special Valentine’s package, rooms, champagne, breakfast and chocolate.

Valentine’s package at Hotel Royal Geneva. Le Duo, chic delish restaurant & brasserie, chef trained by Bernard Loiseau.

Jamie Oliver’s Valentine’s Day menu, along with recipes and tips for a romantic feast.

GenevaLunch: Valentine’s for the “older” crowd.

Read more…

The Rambling Epicure’s chocolate notes: countdown to Valentine’s Day

Comprehensive list of chocolate shops and visits to chocolate makers in Geneva area. Each chocolate maker makes its own special chocolate creations for Valentine’s Day, so check out the chocolate works of art at your favorite local chocolate maker.

A chocolate heart from Chocolatier Durig in Lausanne.

Organic, fair-trade chocolate at Chocolatier Durig in Lausanne. Online ordering.

From chocolate lollipop to cup of organic dark hot chocolate. Just dip lollipop into hot milk and stir for few moments et voilà, a delicious cup of hot Swiss chocolate! List of sales outlets at La Cuillère Suisse.

How did chocolate get to Switzerland anyway? They don’t grow chocolate in the Alps! Read about it here.

How to make a chocolate heart for your sweetie, but please substitute Swiss chocolate! Buy the chocolate at your favorite local chocolate maker.

Photo courtesy of Once Upon A Time.

History, ecological tourism and regional food products all in one

The Lausanne tourist bureau is supporting the efforts of three wine estates around Lausanne to provide rooms on a B & B basis, meals, receptions, cocktail parties, and wine tastings. These include the Château de Rochefort, the Abbaye de Mont and the Domaine de Burignon.

Each estate offers different amenities, but all have shops selling local food products.

Rooms go for CHF 50 at the Château de Rochefort, including breakfast.

The Abbaye de Mont has reception rooms, including one that can welcome groups of 8 to 20 people for meals or buffet teas. Cocktail parties for up to one hundred people can be organized in the wine press room or the courtyard. The cellar can hold up to fifty people for catered meals. It is located in Mont-sur-Rolle, between Lausanne and Geneva.

In addition to its spectacular view over Lake Geneva and the Alps, the Domaine de Burignon, located in Lavaux between Vevey and Lausanne, uses local Vaud ingredients to prepare meals, which are served with wines made on the estate. They have a capacity of 8 to 20 for meals, while they can handle up to 40 people for stand-up receptions.

They have two apartments with bathrooms, going for CHF 60 for one person or CHF 100 for two people, including breakfast. The rate is cheaper for children and according to the length of the stay.

This effort is made in the context of encouraging sustainable eco-tourism.

Rooms are fitted out simply, with an emphasis on natural materials. Furniture is made from wood coming from FSC-certified forests, much of it from the Lausanne Forestry, Estates and Vineyard Service.

Related link: Lausanne tourist bureau