Sunday, October 6, 2013

Le Chiberta, Paris

Le Chiberta is a trendy restaurant in Paris, just off the Champs Elysées. It is one of famed chef Guy Savoy's restaurant. It has one Michelin star.
The short menu, that you can see on http://www.lechiberta.com/ does not offer many vegetarian options. I booked on a Thursday for the following evening and the friendly lady on the phone assured me that she would inform the chef about the vegetarian diner.
We arrived at the restaurant at 19:30 and of course it was empty, as Parisians tend to dine much later. I hoped that would give the kitchen time to come up with something original.
Instead the usual discussion with the waiter took place. It always goes like this:
-What can you suggest for a vegetarian?
-Uhm, do you eat fish?
- No, I am a vegetarian.
-Well in that case I'll have to ask...
He came right back with the suggestion of cépès mushroom as a starter and truffle risotto as a main. Both were on the menu but the mushrooms came with ham for the meateaters. The suggestion was accepted.
As an amuse-bouche we had a carrot curry cappuccino soup that was presented as vegetarian bu might have been made with a shrimp base.
It turned out the the mushrooms were bland and even the risotto was not outstanding. I was also surprised to notice that for once the vegetarian dishes were actually more expensive than the meat ones.
I had an excellent shrimp starter and equally impressive pork main course, with the meat presented in three different ways. I had excellent wine by the glass.
The conclusion: an excellent choice if you like meat, but don't bother if you are vegetarian




Friday, November 9, 2012

La Veranda, Grand Hotel du Lac, Vevey

The Grand Hotel du Lac, ideally located in Vevey on the Lac Leman, is home to Les Saisons restaurant, which is open for dinner and and has been awarded one Michelin star. La veranda is more casual and open for lunch, too. The short but captivating menu includes one vegetarian starter and main. This is classic-contemporary French food, prepared with great care and served with a smile. We went there last summer and enjoyed a satisfying light meal. It is best to check the menu online, because there is no variety unless you eat meat or fish.


The dining room is light and airy, but weather permitting I recommend sitting outside. The picture above is not the view from the restaurant but from the promenade nearby.

http://www.hoteldulac-vevey.ch/en/restaurant/restaurant-la-veranda.html

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Tse Fung, Geneva

The hotel La Reserve, just outside Geneva, has been completely renovated and now caters to an international upscale crowd. The Tse Fung is one of five restaurants on the premises and offers an excellent Chinese cuisine.
While by no means a vegetarian restaurant, it offers some tasty options without meat. As a starter, the whole table can share a dim sum selection: mushrooms, spinach (both steamed and grilled) as well as mixed vegetable.
Too bad the amuse bouche was deep fried calamari, even after the waiter had been informed there were two vegetarian diners. This lack of attention is disappointing in a restaurant of this kind. Because you have to keep in mind that the Tse Fung is an expensive restaurant, with the duck topping at CHF 200.-
The wine list is also impressive with all the French finest offering and in particular Cos d'Estournel, whose owner also own la Reserve.
Going back to the dinner table, there are 6 vegetable dishes to chose from, but you should not miss the Szechuan style eggplant and the Deep fried tofu with spicy salt. Both are excellent and their different textures complement each other very well.
Meat and fish eaters also have many choices and in general the only drawback is that the menu never changes.
Desserts are a mix of western and oriental flavors such as the chocolate nems or candied ginger with lemon sorbet. An excellent way to end your dinner.
So if you are in the mood for a great evening and you don't mind spend some serious money, head for the Tse Fung. You won't be disappointed.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Good Earth, Knightsbridge, London

The Good Earth is a Chinese restaurant, so it does not really fit with the rest of the establishments I wrote about so far. However it is an excellent Chinese and is vegetarian-friendly, offering 4 starters, 3 soups and 10 main courses.
It has become a must-visit every time we are in London. It is part of a small chain but we have visited only the one in Knightsbridge, not far from Harrod's.
There is a smaller dining area on the ground floor and a larger one in the basement, with round tables that can accomodate parties of 8 or so. It is a busy restaurant to it is wise to book a table.
Service is fast and thanks to the round tables it is easy to share the dishes. Our favorites are Sichuan “Chicken”, Sweet & Sour “Chicken”, Dry-fried Aubergine, and the tofu dishes.
Meat eaters can choose from a wide selection but I find that the vegetarian offerings are tasty and it is more fun to share.
There are some good desserts. My son loves the chocolate ice cream.

http://www.goodearthgroup.co.uk/index.php

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Vegetarian-Friendly Michelin starred restaurants

Over time I plan to visit some new restaurants:
Fleur de Sel, Megève,
Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville, Crissier, Lausanne
L'Alexandrin, Lyon

 ...and some I already know:
Chateauvieux, Satigny, Genève
Denis Martin, Vevey
George Blanc, Vonnas
Alain Ducasse, Paris
and many more.
There are several in London, such as Petrus, but they are too many to mention...


Curlew, Bodiam, Sussex

This restaurant near stunning Bodiam Castle has earned one Michelin star.



It is apparently going through some changes as we were informed that a new chef would start a few days after our dinner.
England, of course, is much more vegetarian-friendly and on the web site of the restaurant a vegetarian menu is mentioned, without being actually shown.
We had a reservation for Sunday night and we were quite surprised to have the restaurant all to ourselves! That was a bit odd, but Rob, who waited on us, was extremely helpful and friendly. Another surprise was that no vegetarian menu was available but the chef was willing to prepare whatever we wanted.
We both had the double baked cheese soufflé, which was excellent, while the main was salmon for me and a risotto for my son. He was very happy with it.

double baked cheese soufflé-not pretty but excellent!
risotto

We ended the meal with dessert.
I was somehow disappointed because I expected a vegetarian menu and I must say it is odd to eat in an empty restaurant. Apparently it was full for lunch, but on Sunday night people rather go to their local pub. The simple style of service might surprise diners who are accustomed to the more formal approach you typically find in a one star Michelin restaurant. It did not bother us.

http://www.thecurlewrestaurant.co.uk/

Château des Monthairons, near Verdun






This charming hotel and restaurant is not Michelin star material but it is an ideal base to discoverVerdun and the surrounding area.
I had avised the restaurant that there would be one vegetarian diner, also because I had read a Tripadvisor comment stating that the restaurant was not able to accomodate such a request unless they were informed ahead of time.
Even with the reminder there was some confusion at dinner when we were served a fish amuse-bouche. After some more explaination dinner went smoothly

Having said that, I felt once again that this chef was not particularly comfortable with a vegetarian meal, but they tried. The meal was composed by a pretty plate with different salads and such as a starter and an omelette with vegetables as a main course.
Dessert was quite good. I had a warm soufflé of groseilles.

Sorry for the odd layout but this blog site is quite weird and behave in ways that are quite strange to me. 

http://www.chateaudesmonthairons.fr/en/index.php