Tag Archives: expensive restaurants

holidays, Luxury

A little Swiss serenity: Three Michelin Stars at Cheval Blanc… part four

After we had our breakfast at Bachmann Confiserie, Bill and I decided to take a walk around the Rathaus area of Basel. I got some photos of the local scene, including the Saturday market, and the very cool courtyard in the Rathaus. I got videos of people who were busking, although they weren’t all that exciting. I think I was too focused on our 12:45 PM lunch reservation at Cheval Blanc by Peter Knogl, the Michelin three star restaurant at our hotel, Les Trois Rois. We went for lunch, because dinner was fully booked. It turned out to be a good thing we had lunch instead of dinner, given how long the lunch took to enjoy.

Below are some photos I took on Saturday morning. It was sunny, but cold and windy. I was really glad I bought more merino wool turtleneck sweaters from Celtic & Co. They really came in handy.

I loved the inner courtyard of the Rathaus, which was beautifully painted.
They must have to touch this up often, to keep it looking so fresh.

We ended up walking near the Basel Historical Museum, which was once a church. I took a few photos, and then on Sunday, we paid a visit, which I will write about in the next post. For now, here are some more photos…

I will write about our visit here tomorrow…
The local police make lots of PSAs for walking areas. This one was about protecting your bike.
Another shot of Les Trois Rois.

We went back to the hotel and got changed. We were advised that we should dress “smartly”, with no athletic wear, polo shirts, tennis shoes, or jeans. I noticed that this request wasn’t strictly enforced, although of the nine tables at Cheval Blanc, most people had dressed appropriately. I was originally planning to wear a dress, but decided it was too chilly. I wore pants and a sweater, accented with jewelry and a pretty wrap from Novica. Bill wore what you see in the below video…

When we sat down, the Maitre d’ immediately mentioned that he had gotten a note about my aversion to fungus. He offered substitutions that were suitable. We were surprised that he mentioned it from the start. The entire wait staff was so polished, friendly, and professional. It was extremely impressive! And just today, I have read about some of the staff members who found themselves becoming gastronomy experts because Chef Peter Knogl recognized their talent and promoted them!

We really enjoyed this experience, even though it was VERY expensive. I love watching Bill’s face when he eats something that blows his mind. That happens a lot when he eats cheese…

This lunch went on for about four hours, and it was course after course of exquisitely and immaculately prepared food. There were a couple of courses I didn’t want, because I don’t eat truffles or mushrooms, but I don’t think mushrooms were on the menu. We both substituted another course that featured foie gras. Bill had the course with truffles, while I had a hamachi course. And since I don’t eat much cheese, I had two desserts, while Bill enjoyed an array of cheeses. The service was absolutely impeccable, and the Maitre d’ was very charming. He reminded me a little of Justin Timberlake… or maybe Rick Astley.

Every time the staff put down a dish, it was delivered at exactly the same time. The staff members were always paying close attention to each other and coordinated everything seamlessly. Everything was marvelous, right down to the dishes used, which my German friend says was Limoges porcelain. We have been to several Michelin one star restaurants. This was our first three star experience. We did notice a difference, especially in the number of people dining at one time. Cheval Blanc only seats 30 people.

The whole “shebang” cost 320 Swiss Francs per person, just for the food. A slightly smaller experience was available for 285 Francs, but what’s the point of that? As long as you’re spending the money, you might as well go for the whole thing. We also had two bottles of water, a round of champagne, a bottle of wine, and armagnac. Check the photos for the eye-watering bill! It was totally worth it, though.

I think the Maitre d’ might have feared that I was going to be overly picky. He asked me if I had a problem with oysters. Since I grew up near the beach, I am a big oyster fan! I just can’t do earthy flavors.

He’s so debonair!
Olive bread
Oyster with sublime lemon sauce.
I loved this course… the avocado cream with jalapenos was delicious.
Bill loved it too!
This was a savory macaroon made with beet root and wasabi. It melted in the mouth!
Hamachi
Lobster with bergamot…
Red mullet with fried fish scales
Pigeon!
The cheese cart…
I really wish I liked cheese more.
This was my substitute… a very delicate chocolate cake.
Fruity mousse
Bill reacts to the cheese!
Yet another dessert…
Petit fours to soften the blow of the check…
Armagnac…
It went with the chocolates, presented for us at the end…
Wow!

By the time lunch was finished, we were both pretty tired, and in need of some time to rest and digest. It was starting to get dark outside. Dinner at Cheval Blanc starts at 7:00 PM, so I guess the wait staff was enjoying a break before the next meal. I was pretty glad we did lunch instead of dinner. Bill and I tend to want to stay in more at night, these days.

We went to the room and changed clothes again. Bill went out to find some wine and snacks. I took a few more photos of the Rhein/Rhine… We stayed in the rest of the night, absolutely shocked by how delightful lunch was. We missed turn down, and the housekeeping staff left us a note saying they were respecting our privacy and to call them if we wanted them to come back and turn down the room.

An Italian restaurant that bordered our balcony.
I think this is the Novartis building. It’s huge, and the sun hits it in an interesting way.
A photo of the Michelin Man in the kitchen window.
An immaculate kitchen!

Yes, we really spent about $1000 on lunch. That is the most we have ever spent on a meal. I never thought we would ever drop that much money on a meal, especially a lunch. However, we don’t regret doing it, because the food was truly earth shattering. I mean, there were so many flavors and they just burst in the mouth.

Service was flawless and meticulously coordinated; I heard the staff easily speaking German, English, and French. It was one of those incredible culinary experiences that most people just don’t have often… or at all. I feel extremely fortunate that we were able to dine at Cheval Blanc. We also met Chef Peter Knogl, who came around and spoke to everyone at the nine tables in the restaurant. I didn’t know he originally came from Germany. He really impressed us! I can see why he’s earned his stars.

Now, I want to book another stay at the Bareiss in Baiersbronn… They have a three star Michelin restaurant, too! We’ll have to see what the future holds. For now, I’m just so happy we’ve been able to have these experiences at all. And if you have the time and the means, and you like “haute cuisine”, I would absolutely recommend visiting Cheval Blanc. Just make sure you save up your Swiss Francs. Don’t think of it as eating a meal. Think of it as investment in your life experiences!

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Things aren’t bad in Baden-Baden… Part three

Friday, November 16th, was our anniversary.  We woke up bright and early and decided that since it was our special day, we’d eat breakfast at the hotel.  Brenners Park Hotel and Spa offers a lovely buffet breakfast at 41 euros a person.  However, I would say that as expensive as their breakfast is, it’s probably the most economical of all of the meal options there.  You get your choice of whatever’s on the buffet, which includes breads, cold cuts, cheeses, yogurts, fruits, cereals, and an array of fresh juices, sekt, and coffee or tea.  You can also order a hot dish, like eggs or pancakes.  It’s all you can eat, so if you play your cards right, you can eat enough in the morning to last you all day.  Service is, of course, impeccable.

We were seated at a nice sized round table and served excellent coffee.  Then we loaded up at the buffet.  I wasn’t thinking too much about having anything else until the very charming chef came out and asked me if I’d like him to make me some eggs.  It so happens that I love Eggs Benedict and was about to say yes to that, when he offered Eggs Florentine.  Eggs Florentine are pretty much like Eggs Benedict– a poached egg on an English muffin with Hollandaise Sauce.  Instead of bacon, you get spinach.  He offered to shave some black truffles on the dish, too, but I told them to save them for Bill.  I am definitely not a truffle fan.

Eggs Florentine, brought out by a very friendly chef.  I liked that he didn’t give me the stinkeye when I told him of my aversion to fungus.

Christmas trees are coming out…  We happened to see them putting up decorations for the big holiday.  Ours won’t be going up until we’re in our new house next week.

 

After breakfast, we decided to visit the fitness/pool area.  Brenners Park has a very nice spa, which we did use on Saturday.  On Friday, we were content to try out the very beautiful pool area.

The water was slightly warm and the pool was pretty deep.  At one end, it was over my head.  I loved that, since so many of the newer pools in the United States are shallow now.

As you can see, the pool is empty.  A couple of other people showed up a few minutes after we did.  I believe they allow children to splash to their hearts’ content from 4:00 to 5:00pm.  I didn’t see too many children at this hotel, though… only a few.  And the ones we saw were mostly beautifully behaved.  I liked the view at the pool, which offered a lovely view of the trees and the river.

Bill takes to luxury like a duck to water.  

 

After a couple of hours lounging at the pool, we decided to have lunch.  I noticed a sign for Osteria Stomboli and decided it looked like a good bet.  I was in the mood for pasta.  I did take note that at least two times on the front door and once in the restaurant, I saw signs that emphatically stated that this restaurant does NOT take credit cards.  Did you read that clearly?  Credit cards are verboten!  No plastic!  Cash on the nail!  Just so we’re clear.

Luckily, Bill is used to carrying cash.  He brought plenty so we could enjoy wine with lunch.

I had a tantalizing tagliatelle with salmon.  It came with a creamy tomato sauce and cherry tomatoes.  The sauce was delicious and the salmon was cooked perfectly.  It wasn’t too dry and went beautifully with the sauce.

Bill went with linguini with a white wine sauce and shrimp.  He liked his dish, which was also loaded with garlic, but I think we both agreed that my dish was the winner.

 Despite how good my dish was, I couldn’t quite finish it.  The waiter looked stricken when he saw that I had left about half of the dish uneaten.  What can I say?  I wanted dessert.  Also, I get to a point at which I can’t eat any more protein.  Luckily, Bill had room to finish what I couldn’t.  He didn’t want dessert.

This was a lovely Sicilian white we had with lunch.

I took this picture of Bill for his mom, who’s always wanted him to enjoy this lifestyle.

I had Limoncello gelato for dessert.  It was perfect because it was very light and refreshing.  Bill shared it with me and had an espresso.

Sign out front.  No credit cards.  None.

We kept passing this Konditorei and I noticed all the luscious desserts.  We didn’t try any there, but I sure was tempted.  On Saturday morning, we had breakfast at the Cafe Koenig, where these delightful sweets were on display.

A sunny shot of the church.

The building near the hotel.  For some reason, I never got around to taking pictures of the Brenners Park Hotel.  It is, in and of itself, a very beautiful property.  It’s decorated with lots of BMWs and Porsches, too.  This is a town where the rich like to congregate, even if it did sort of have a sleepy feel to it.

I took this photo from the balcony in our room.  This time, the mallards had some female friends with them.

Soon, the trees will be bare.

 

We were pretty full after lunch, so Bill went out and found a couple of bottles of wine and some snacks.  We stayed in and talked on Friday night, sipping wine and reminiscing the best parts of our marriage.  You’d think we’d want to hit a nice restaurant like we did last year.  But last year, we stayed local and celebrated our 15th anniversary in Nagold.  This year, we also stayed pretty local, come to think of it.

Bill did present me with chocolate, though.  He said, “These are for you.” as he held them out to me.  This kind of thoughtfulness may be why we’re still going strong after sixteen years.

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Baden-Württemberg, Nagold

Graduate level eating (and spending) at the Alte Post in Nagold…

Unfortunately, the Alte Post is now closed.

Bill and I currently live just five kilometers from an adorable town called Nagold.  These days, we spend a fair amount of time there, the same way we used to spend a lot of time in Tübingen when we lived in Germany the first time.  I used to think Tübingen was the bomb!  I still do, but in some ways, I like Nagold better.  It’s smaller, less crowded, less expensive to visit on weekends (on account of cheap or free parking), and there are some wonderful restaurants there.

Last weekend, we visited Luz Bistro, which is a casual but very nice restaurant in the old Alte Post hotel in the middle of town.  There is also a more formal restaurant called the Alte Post in the building.  The Luz Bistro and Bar is open every day for lunch and dinner, while the Alte Post restaurant is only open from Wednesday to Saturday from 6:30pm.  Edited to add: The Alte Post is now closed.

Although we’ve been eating at the Luz Bistro for a couple of years now, I hadn’t actually noticed the more formal restaurant until I started reading the Web site for Nagold’s charming hotel landmark (which, I gather, is no longer a hotel).  When I read about the more formal dining option, I decided Bill and I needed to pay a visit.  Last night, we went… and we had a glorious five course meal!  And we also spent lots of euros!  Fortunately, credit cards are allowed at the Alte Post.  Otherwise, we might have had to wash dishes!

Bill approaches the impressive front door.  Last night’s menu was posted outside, but it’s also posted online.  The Alte Post restaurant offers tasting menus, which means that diners are all offered the same thing.  For that reason, I recommend checking out the menu before you book a reservation to make sure you’ll like what is being offered on a given night.

I love this old building and its ornate decorations.

We reserved a table for 7:00pm, but we were about twenty minutes early.  It was not a problem.  The proprietor, who is ever present whenever we’ve visited, led us to a large table set for two.  Looking around the dining room, I could see that there were only a few tables set up for five different parties.  Besides us, there were two other couples.  There was also a group of three and another, larger group in the next room.  This is the kind of restaurant where you really should book ahead to avoid disappointment.  I would go as far as saying that reservations are a must.

A first glance at the dining room.  The vibe is different upstairs than it is in the downstairs bistro.

Last night’s menu…  They do have menus in English, for which I was grateful.  I still ate calf’s brains, though.  

Patrons can choose between three and seven courses and portions are sized accordingly.  A three course menu was 68 euros per person.  The whole seven course menu was 128 euros.  We also opted for the wine pairing, which added another 40 euros per person, but was well worth doing.  If you opt for only a few courses, you don’t get to choose which ones you get.  At the bottom of the menu, there is an explanation of which courses come with the 3, 4, 5, or 6 course meals.  Bill and I went for five courses because we thought it would be enough… and also, there were a couple of courses that I had a feeling I wouldn’t enjoy.

We started with glasses of locally produced sekt and some very interesting Spanish almonds that appeared to have been fried in some type of Parmesan.  I had to restrain myself from eating too many of those, especially when I saw the amuse.

This was the very elaborate amuse.  I admit to simply nibbling the foie gras to say I’d tried it.  It was surprisingly tasty, but I have a bit of an aversion to foie gras.  

 

We had a small panoply of little treats.  A lime rind was stuffed with ricotta cheese and tuna and topped with roe.  There was a spoon full of foie gras, which tasted curiously like chocolate pudding and cherry ice cream and was topped with a piece of popcorn.  A shrimp chip, the same kind you might find in a bar, was topped with a shrimp.  There was also a piece of  sushi and an eggshell full of red carrot soup.  The bread you see pictured above was absolutely heavenly.  It was a potato bread, lightly salted on top and served hot with butter.  Oh, it was sooo good.  In fact, I think the bread might have been my favorite part of the meal, but I love bread.

Our first course was raw lamb marinated in tomatoes, garlic, and basil.  Bill loved it and I thought it tasted really good.  The meat was very fresh.  Bill is more adventurous than I am, so he enjoyed this course very much.  I appreciated it, but like my meats more well done.  We drank a locally produced white wine with this course.

 

Had we ordered all seven courses, the next selection would have been lobster with ox tail and truffle. Bill loves truffles, but I don’t care for them at all.  And judging by the fact that I could smell them all the way across the room, it was probably a good thing we skipped the lobster.  Had Bill been dining with a truffle fan, it would have been a big hit.

Next came turbot with Jerusalem artichoke, onion, and kalbskopf…  Kalbskopf is calf’s brain.  Believe it or not, it was actually very good.  I was temporarily entertained by the sperm like decorations on the plate.  A chardonnay, heavy on the butter and sour apples, paired quite nicely with the turbot.

Next came salmon with chickpeas, eggplant, and miso.  I loved this course for its simplicity and the crispy little wasabi flavored bits on top of the fish.  This course came with an impressive Riesling made exclusively for the Alte Post.

Course number four was veal, which was served with broccoli, delicious smoked fish, and barley.  The barley reminded me a bit of polenta.  It was very good.  I don’t usually eat veal, but I will say the little bit we had last night was beautifully prepared and could have been cut with a spoon.  This was paired with a delightful rioja, heavy on the cherries.

 

We skipped the next course, which was dove served with olive, cranberry, and vegetable sauce.  I might have been open to trying dove.  Maybe some other time I’ll get the chance, now that I’ve tasted calf’s brains.

Ahhh… dessert!  My favorite course!  This was chocolate and passionfruit with a bit of banana sorbet and topped with little crunchy cookies.  Delicious!  And there was nothing too foreign about it, either.  This was paired with a lovely sweet sauternes.  

And finally, another little amuse… this one full of sweets!  There was a lemon rind full of cardamom and curry scented cream (which is a lot better than it might sound), apricot with cream, and Turkish delight.  We also had espresso.

Just before the bill came, the proprietor offered us a digestive of locally produced Mirabelle, which is a brandy from Alsace made of plums.  It was delightfully smooth.  I think she told us it was also made specifically for her restaurant.

The wines went beautifully with each course, although the pairing did add a significant amount to the final bill, which totaled over 300 euros before the tip.  We also had sekt and two bottles of water, which added to the bill.  Needless to say, partly due to the cost, this is not an experience we will enjoy often, but I do think the Alte Post restaurant would make for an excellent splurge or special occasion place.  The Alte Post also has special dinners regularly that feature wines or are in celebration of certain holidays.  I could certainly see us coming back again for any of those! I am especially intrigued by their wine dinners, which are usually advertised on their Web site.

Overall, we had a lovely dinner and we both ventured a bit outside our culinary comfort zones.  Everything I tasted, even the stuff I wouldn’t normally choose on a menu, I enjoyed to some extent.  I generally hate the taste of foie gras, but last night, I would not have known I was eating foie gras if no one had told me.  Ditto for the calf’s brains!  I may have to add the Alte Post to my list of great date night restaurants, although I also really enjoy the Luz Bistro downstairs, which offers less expensive and somewhat less exotic choices.

This was us before we left.  No one makes me smile the way Bill does.  

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