GO SWITZERLAND: Already renowned for its chocolate, the Swiss city is fast building a reputation as a culinary capital, with a panoply of intercultural eating houses offering Thai, Indian, French, American and local cuisine, writes MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBY
FOR MOST PEOPLE, chocolate bars are primarily either milk, dark or white, but for Rudolf Zehnder, general manager of the Ambassador hotel in Zurich, there are seasonal variations. “I have an autumn chocolate, but it gets too hard when I go hiking in winter; in general I like a dark, crisp chocolate in summer and milk chocolate in winter,” he says.
They take their chocolate very seriously here in this most picture-perfect of Swiss cities, which lies on the river Limmat as it flows into Lake Zurich, with the majestic Uetliberg mountain as a backdrop.
The first ever 100 per cent Swiss chocolate was produced at Zurich Zoo last year, using beans grown in the zoo’s Madagascar rain forest exhibit. The plants took six years to bear fruit and the harvest was tiny.
Just 150 premier cru Madagascar pralines were made, and they sold for CHF200 (€165) each, with the profits supporting the preservation of the Indian Ocean island’s Masoala National Park.
On another scale altogether, the giant Lindt chocolate factory perfumes the air in a most delicious way from its lakeside location at Kilchberg, a few miles outside the city, while in town, you’re never more than a few paces from some superlative chocolate.
You can sip a molten hot chocolate while listening to classical favourites being played on the grand piano in the gloriously decadent red velvet salon of Conditorei Schober, the city’s oldest coffee house. Or treat yourself to a Luxemburgerli, Zurich’s answer to the French macaron, at Confiserie Café Sprüngli, on the city’s main shopping street, Bahnhofstrasse.
These tiny meringues, smaller than the French macaron, glow like jewels in the chocolate-scented boutique, and some – the champagne variety – are even painted with gold lustre. They got their name, according to local lore, because the modest, puritanical Zurichers couldn’t bring themselves to call them by the original name, “baiser de mousse” or foam kiss, so they asked instead for the cakes made by the Luxembourg confectioner. This was Camille Studer, who brought the recipe to Zurich when employed by Richard Sprüngli.
BUT EVEN ZURICHERS cannot live on chocolate alone, and it comes as quite a surprise to find that this most conservative Swiss city has a vast panoply of intercultural eating houses, from meat- and cream-rich traditional menus in the city’s ornate Guild houses, to Asian buffets and French brasseries, Spanish tapas and – bet you weren’t anticipating this one – a Chinese takeaway served in an ornate temple garden gifted to Zurich by its twin city of Kunming in south west China in thanks for technical assistance in setting up the city’s drinking water supply.
Chinagarten is one of 11 catering outlets run by Kramer Gastronomie that also includes Thai, Indian, French, American, and traditional Swiss restaurants. Which is why I’m not altogether surprised to find myself sipping delicious mango juice flavoured with cardamom and cooking Indian food early on a Sunday morning in Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant . . . and yes, I’m still in Zurich.
Hiltl is a Zurich institution, occupying a prime corner site just steps from the dizzying parade of luxury brand boutiques on the Hauptbahnhof. It has been open since 1898, and Rolf Hiltl is the fourth generation of his family to run the business, which includes a 440-seat restaurant, catering company, and coffee bar and lounge that morphs into a nightclub several nights a week, when the departing stragglers bump into chefs coming in for the early shift.
It’s all very hip and cool, with lots of concrete, wood, glass and steel, and the restaurant’s live Twitter feed is projected on one wall. The nerve centre is a giant buffet table groaning with all manner of dishes, so varied that you’re never tempted to ask, “Where’s the beef?” There’s a camera trained on the buffet, so kitchen staff can keep an eye on what needs replacing.
Once you’ve made your selection your plate is weighed and you’re charged for what you’ve taken. It’s a clever concept, and you can try it out a little nearer to home at the London outpost of Tibits, a spin-off of Hiltl, with branches across Switzerland as well as in Heddon Street, near Regent Street in W1.
But before we can sample Switzerland’s most celebrated vegetarian food, we must assemble in the company’s bright and airy Cooking Atelier, where chef Anna Schlatter demonstrates patience levels worthy of beatification as she takes us through a hands-on session during which we make samosas with ginger raita, karahi paneer with chapatis, and for dessert, a curd cheese, saffron and garam masala concoction called Shrikhand.
It is all incredibly tasty, and quick to put together. By the time we’re finishing lunch, we’re sharing the cooking studio with brunch guests, obediently arriving for their very Swiss-like reservation times. Table for four, 12.55pm, reads the sign on an adjacent table.
Hiltl cooking classes run on a regular basis, often in English, with dates and details available at hiltl.ch. Like most things in Switzerland, it’s not cheap; the next English language class, on October 30th, will be a four-hour one at which a six-course menu will be prepared and the cost is CHF 200 (€165), including the class, dinner, drinks, wine and service.
But, like most things in this most elegant and sophisticated city, you really do get what you pay for.
Get there
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) and Swiss (swiss.com) fly from Dublin to Zurich. To get to the city from the airport, the train is the quickest and cheapest option, costing CHF6.40 (€5.20) and taking about 12 minutes.
Zurich where to . . .
Stay
* Hotel Ambassador, Falkenstrase 6, 00-41-44258-9898, ambassadorhotel.ch. A comfortable 45-room hotel in a great location near the city’s opera house. The hotel restaurant, À l’Opéra, specialises in fish from sustainable sources, including Irish organic salmon. You can get to and from the airport from the adjacent Stadelhofen station in just 16 minutes. Rates start at CHF295 (€237) for a double, and there are quite a few generous sized singles, from CHF220 (€180).
* Lady’s First Design Hotel, Mainaustrasse 24, 00-41-44380-801, ladysfirst.ch. Bad grammar notwithstanding, a hotel that bills itself “for the dynamic woman and modern men” and reserves its top two floors for women only, with a spa and beauty salon, is an interesting concept. Rates from CHF290 (€237) for a double, but online specials sometimes available.
* Ibis Zurich City West, Schiffbaustrasse 11, 00-41-4427-62100, ibishotel.com. In hip and up-and-coming Zurich West, an urban regeneration zone and home to the city’s edgier night-time scene. The city is easily reached by tram, and there are plenty of restaurants and bars in the vicinity. Rates from CHF129 (€105).
Go
* Take the 30-minute train trip from the city’s main station up the mountain to Uetliberg, for dinner at Restaurant Uto Kulm (Uetliberg, 00-41-44457-6666, utokulm.ch). You’ll have to walk uphill for about 10 minutes when you get off the train, and once you catch your breath at the top, the stunning views towards the city and the lake with the Alps in the distance will have you hyperventilating again. It’s best to go up in time to enjoy the view by daylight, and as you leave after dinner, the lights of the city will be spread out before you.
* Visit the thermal baths and spa in the former Hürlimann brewery (Brandschenkestrasse 150, 00-41-44205-9650, thermalbad-zuerich.ch) and take part in the strangely named – and nobody could explain it to me – Irish/Roman spa ritual, which involves moving through mineral-rich pools of water at varying temperatures before emerging at a rooftop outdoors infinity pool looking down over the city. The spa is in the 100-year-old stone vaults of the former brewery, built right inside the mountainside. But be warned, signage is only in German, and for a spa novice such as me, it was all a little confusing, not least where the customers eating lunch and drinking Prosecco in swimwear at the bistro kept the cash to pay their bills. (They swiped their admission bracelets and were charged on exiting the spa, I later discovered.)
* Have a meal in one of the city’s often highly ornate Guild houses. Zunfthaus zur Zimmerleuten (Limmatquai 40, 00-41-44250-5363, zunfthaus-zimmerleuten.ch) is home to the Guild of Carpenters and has a wonderful location on the right bank of the river Limmat. The building, which showcases the craftsmen’s skilled work in its ornate cherry wood panelling, was severely damaged by a fire in 2007, but has been fully restored. This is the place to eat Zurich’s signature dish, Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, or veal in a cream and mushroom sauce, served with rösti. But be warned, when you’ve polished off that first plateful, you’re only halfway there; seconds are offered and are expected to be eaten.
Get around
Trams are the best way to get around the city, and a Zurich card, costing CHF20 (€16.40) for 24 hours or double that for 72 hours, is valid for travel on all public transport, including the airport trains, as well as entry to all Zurich museums. They can be purchased at the airport.
The big cheese for chocolate
* Lindt:Mass produced, but the Swiss stuff is infinitely better than that made under licence in other parts of Europe. Try the famous Lindor balls. Widely available.
* Sprüngli:Home of the Luxemburgerli, but also the place to buy kirsch liqueurs, and make sure to try the daily truffle special. Café and shop at Bahnhofstrasse 21, and branches in many city centre locations as well as train stations and at the airport.
* Teuscher:Widely believed to make the best Champagne truffles. Three branches in the city centre.
* Frey: The best selling Swiss chocolate, with a 45 per cent market share. Available from supermarkets including Migros and Denner.
See zuerich.com