Dinner at Denis Martin

Menu "Evolution"

Chrysalide Bellota
Cornet Hollywood
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Rösti virtuel
Retour d'Asie
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Lingot d'or
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Langoustine, concombre à la coriandre et émulsion curry
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Sorbet sardine, framboises, estragon et faux pain
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Truffes noires, endives, yaourt à la livèche et bouillabaisse
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Qui l'eût cru
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Birchermuesli de foie de canard
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Rocher Granit - Argent de Boya
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Mojito, clémentine et lard torréfié
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Soufflé de merlan et cryo d'escargots
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Le pain à la tomate
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Rien
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Crevette dans l'amer
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Sourire
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Paysage Vaudois abstrait
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Choucroute garnie
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Brouillard et avalanche sur l'alpage
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Bicolore d'oeuf cassé aux truffes
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Filet de boeuf cuit & crû
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Improvisation
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Cône Woodstock
♥
Chocolat blanc et cacahuètes torréfiés

This was the menu we enjoyed last Saturday at the restaurant Denis Martin in Vevey.

Denis Martin's theme is au plaisir de faire plaisir, and a lot of pleasure he had given us. It already started with the table, which was set with plates in primary colours (cutlery was provided when needed) and two colourful toys with a cow on top, which mooed if you turned them (see below). Not exactly what you expect, when you enter a restaurant that has been awarded with 2 Michelin stars and 18 Gault Millau points.

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But before I come to the food I have to praise the waiters. Spotless service, charming and attentive yet unobtrusive (and not to forget quite handsome too).

Now to the food. If you look at the menu above, there were about 25 courses. This is not a tasting menu. Each item is a course in its own right. Just not in American style feed-the-beast dimensions. I mean, they are small - just enough to explore taste and texture. Talking about taste and texture, Denis Martin provides unexpected contrasts of flavour, temperature and texture. You never know if it really is what it seems, which is sometimes provoking, but always surprising and very delightful.

Below is the course Lingot d'Or (gold bullion). It has to be eaten à une bouchée. But unfortunately I have completely forgotten how it tasted. Another à une bouchée dish was a raw cube of tuna with a waver of white chocolate in Thai spices. This one was a thunderstorm in the mouth. My mouth had never gone through more tastes in such a short time.

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The next picture shows truffes noires, endives, yaourt à la livèche et bouillabaisse. The bouillabaisse is the small cube on the stick. The smallest soup I've ever eaten.

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I forgot to take a picture of Birchermuesli de foie de canard. Yes Birchermuesli is the popular breakfast cereal. But here the cereal had been substituted with duck liver and the fruits with tiny taste bombs that kept exploding in your mouth.

Also I don't have a picture of Rocher Granit - Argent de Boya. This had a piece of fish, which was coated with silver before it had been fried. Soufflé de merlan et cryo d'escargots was another fish with iced (cryo) snails (escargots). The snails were the white balls at the bottom.

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From the beginning we were wondering what Rien might be, since this is the French term for "nothing". Now I know that nothing tastes of dill and tomato (see how nothing looks like on the picture below). Another dish, which made us curios just because of the name was Sourire (smile). It was impossible to eat that dish without having a smile on the face afterwards no matter how grumpy you try to look. Denis Martin put some squid ink so cunningly on the spoon that when you ate the dish it painted a smile onto the lips.

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Sauerkraut was also served...

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...followed by fog and avalanches on the alpine.

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At the end you did not wonder that the steak was raw and cooked at the same time and served with a dill sauce and caramelised peanuts.

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A mind and tastebud boggling experience. This was a brilliant idea by Pilar, Thierry & Carlos who had invited us. They had promised us a dinner in a relaxing atmosphere. They more than kept their promise.

Nessecary Amenities

I travel quite a lot (more about) and believe me, I've seen worse toilets than this in a hotel room:



However, at The Weekend™ Toño & I experienced something completely different:



The toilet had a remote to control the water yet and to adjust the temperature of the water and then of the fan that blow dried whatever got wet.

This was not even the best gadget this room had to offer. There was also a Nespresso machine.



If only they had covered the mattress with Egypt cotton sheets...

Enchanted

Last Friday we travelled to Lucerne with extremely high expectations and we were not disappointed at all but enchanted by a handsome magician. Jamie Lidell and his band were frolicsome and just extremely masterful. If I were a musician*, I would have given up after this concert, burned all instruments and would still be snivelling.

Once his musicians left the stage and Jamie Lidell constructed the tracks of this song live on stage by continuously sampling, looping and mixing his own voice:



* I lack all talent in this respect

Lavaux

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Our weekend at the Lake of Geneva started with a hike through the vineyards of Lavaux. The weather was nasty at the beginning but got better by the minute.

Coincidentally the route we walked is part of the Via Francigena, the pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome. Two years ago, two of our hosts, Pilar and Carlos made a pilgrimage into another direction - that is, from La Côte (the wine region in the west of Lavaux) to Santiago de Compostela, a journey which took them three months.

Of course, we were not only walking. Like here, Toño is explaining to Pilar and Thierry how vertjus is made:

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And we also had to rest, like here in the Cave Communale in St. Saphorin:

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If I recall correctly, the first wine recommendation Toño ever made to me, was when I was invited to Château Mac for a barbecue that was camouflaged as Raclette. He recommended a St. Saphorin. The wines of this domain perfectly match with Raclette.

Château de Chillon

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Château de Chillon is one of the most picturesque castles in Switzerland. I've seen the outside before, but I've never actually visited it. And since I have a thing for brave knights I behaved quite affirmative when the idea of visiting the castle was discussed at yesterday's breakfast.

The setting is perfect, although there is a highway quite close to it, but when you're in the castle you hardly notice this.

Pilar (on the left on the picture below) mentioned that the building has exactly the right size to suit her needs. She is an architect and measured the dimensions of the bedroom of the Counts of Savoy and found out that it has the size of an average apartment in Switzerland and that it was bigger than the castle's chapel.

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I was born and raised in a house that was built in 1613. That chest below was made in 1605. I was surprised to see similar decorative elements as in some furnitures and boiseries at my clan's residence.

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The castle was made popular by Lord Byron, who wrote the poem The Prisoner Of Chillon (1816) about François de Bonivard, a Genevois monk and politician who was imprisoned there from 1530 to 1536; Byron also carved his name on a pillar of the dungeon (to the poem).

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The Weekend™ - Preview of the Reviews

We had the most amazing weekend. Pilar, Thierry & Carlos invited us to Vevey at the Lake of Geneva. It was their present to Toño's and mine registration of our partnership* last year. They might now be on the brink of bankruptcy, however the memory will last. I'll have to make several review posts in the course of this week to capture The Weekend™. These could be the topics:

• Jamie Lidell's concert of the year on Friday in Lucerne (not yet official part of The Weekend™, nevertheless a perfect overture)
• Hiking through the vineyards of Lavaux
• 25 course dinner in a relaxed atmosphere
• Finally a hotel room with the right amenities
• Walking in Lord Byron's footsteps into a dungeon.

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*registered partnership is the Swiss version of gay marriage, thus our marital status is called "in registered partnership", which fits in hardly any form.

Not Just Another Weekend

We had to put the most exposed flowers on the balcony floor this morning. Heavy storms are forecast for today. We also expect the evening to be a bit wild. We are going (finally) to see (cutie) Jamie Lidell, who will be performing in Lucerne at the Blue Balls Festival (I know, silly name).



Early Saturday morning we will embark to Vevey at the banks of Lake Geneva. Friends have invited us for the weekend. The climax of that visit is expected to be a dinner at Denis Martin (2 Michelin stars, 18 Gault Millau points). I better pack a clean shirt for that.

Though Toño has warned me. All involved but me are Latinos. Not everything might be that smoothly and predictably organised. I reckon, I will survive it, for once.

I wish you an amazing weekend. May some wild dreams come true for you!