August 2019
The Restaurant RitzCoffier is located in the legendary Palace Hotel on the Bürgenstock with a spectacular view over Lake Lucerne. Personalities such as Sophia Loren, Sean Connery and Jimmy Carter visited the hotel. Audrey Hepburn even got married on Bürgenstock and Sophia Loren lived in a chalet near the hotel for seven years. Sean Connery stayed there for a month during the shooting of the James Bond film “Goldfinger”. The hotel belongs to the group “The Leading Hotels of the World”.
The name of the restaurant recalls the famous Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz and the French pioneer of haute cuisine, Auguste Escoffier, who worked together at the end of the 19th century in nearby Lucerne, among other places like Paris, London, Madrid, Cairo, Johannesburg, Rome, Frankfurt, Palermo, Biarritz, Wiesbaden and Monte Carlo.
The 31-year-old chef Bertrand Charles from Metz, France, now cooks a modern interpretation of French cuisine at a high level. He is supported by Mike Wehrle, the culinary director, and Marc Häberlin, who runs L’Auberge de l’Ill, one of the most famous restaurants in France.
When we ate at the RitzCoffier in August 2019, the restaurant was awarded 16 Gault Millau points and 1 Michelin star. After the meal it was clear that the restaurant had earned at least 17 Gault Millau points and indeed in October 2019 the restaurant received 17 Gault Millau points.
Although retired, Hubert Erni, whom I already knew from the restaurant Rathauskeller in Zug, acted as host.
After our trip by boat and funicular to Bürgenstock, we first enjoyed the fantastic view over Lake Lucerne and the city of Lucerne from the restaurant “Spice”.
The Restaurant RitzCoffier at the Palace Hotel
We chose the 5-course menu “Dégustation” with the wine pairing.
The Amuse-Bouches
Alluvial wood from Lake Lucerne: filo dough-cornet, tartar from smoked char, sorrel cream, sweet apple, finger lime, lemon thyme, char roe, bronze fennel
Wooden block with moss and cone from Bürgenstock: wholemeal bread, pulled pork from wool pig, brown butter, horseradish, red currant, roasted juniper, wood sorrel, pine salt
Stone from the Bürgenstock: souffled potato, smoked sour cream, onion compote, chives
Four different types of butter
Foie Gras: Goose liver terrine, peach, verbena, almond, roibos
The goose liver tranche is smoked cold with Verveine tea poured in at the table. Wonderful and surprising!
Flamed carabineros a l´Americaine: carabineros tail, cherry tomatoes, tomato bread chips, cucumber, carpaccio, basil, tomato gazpacho
Wild turbot: turbot, Fregola Sarda, saffron sauce
Côte de Veau: Swiss Prime Dry Age veal chop wood, asparagus, mashed potatoes, port wine jus
After this filling main course I went to the terrace where I enjoyed the impressive evening atmosphere.
Predessert: Shot of grapefruit granité and Rum-foam
Autour de l`été: strawberry, cranberry, rhubarb sorbet, white chocolate
Friandises: Champagne lollipop, lemon, Snickerspraline, hazelnut tartelett, watermelon, basil
The Restaurant RitzCoffier offered a culinary experience that impressed me very much. Also the wine pairing was on a high level.
For me it was the gourmet highlight of the year 2019. The price of CHF 613 for two persons is reasonable.
This text is an automatic English translation from the German original by deepl.com