June 2019
I wanted to visit this restaurant before, but the grand menu is only available for two people or more. One of my hikes led me past Ernen, so that one afternoon I decided to stop by the “Erner Garden”. After a chat with the waitress and after consultation with the boss she assured me that I could order the menu for myself on the same evening as well, because not many guests are expected and the boss would have enough time.
The chef and cook Klaus Leuenberger wants to show his skills here in idyllic Ernen after years of working on the luxury liner Queen Elisabeth II, in the Canadian wilderness, in the luxury hotel Bristol in Warsaw and at the court of the Emir of Qatar. The Erner Garten restaurant focuses on organic products, which often come locally either from its own garden or from the adjoining farms. With his “original kitchen of mountain and valley” he wants to innovatively interpret old dishes in the sense of the Slow-Food philosophy. Gault Millau has awarded him 15 points.
The entrance
The menu (in German only)
The restaurant is kept in a rather straightforward style.
But I found a cozy place.
Outside the menu I was served these ravioli with asparagus as Amuse Bouche.
1st course: Leg sausage-alp cheese carpacio with ribwort plantain and cloves
2nd course: Organic salmon boillabaisse with asparagus and rye dumplings
3rd course: Stuffed morels and primrose risotto with spinach and rosemary
4th course: Marscaplin with rapeseed and dandelion seed tempura
5th course: Three kinds of Capricorn: Ravioli with minced meat of Capricorn, braised and fried. I have already cut off a piece of the roasted capricorn until I remembered to take a photo.
The dessert course: coltsfoot cream tart with berry smoothie and popcorn ice cream with a sweet Petite Arvine, a typical Valais wine.
Every course of the menu was excellent, but the highlight for me was the popcorn ice cream. It was very unusual and interesting to experience this intense popcorn taste in an ice cream. Chef Klaus Leuenberger explained to me that he grinds fresh popcorn and then processes the popcorn flour in a cream ice cream. Ingenious!
After my meal I admired this mountain panorama from the entrance of the restaurant.
Chef Klaus Leuenberger has succeeded in reinterpreting conventional dishes in an innovative way. I can recommend a visit to his restaurant.
The 6-course menu cost CHF/USD 98. The recommended Valais wines were CHF/USD 4 – 5 per decilitre.
This text is an automatic English translation from the German original by deepl.com