Zermatt: a Gastronomical Experience

Zermatt’s mountain restaurants are blessed with a winning combination of excellent cuisine, incredible views and the charm of alpine farm buildings. They are also regarded by many as the best mountain restaurants in the world.
 

This is one reason to go to Zermatt. Hard to believe, but there are more than 50 huts and mountain restaurants in Zermatt.  Some even have Gault Millau points. On top of all that is the view. It is not just the Matterhorn. It’s the panorama and you are in the middle of it. Lunching on the old terrace at the Enzian, Findlerhof or Chez Vrony on a sunny day with the Matterhorn rising majestically as if from the end of the deck, the delicious food and wine are an incredible mix of pleasure and happiness. The great thing is that similar experiences can be enjoyed in huts across Zermatt’s entire ski area. These places typically offer well prepared traditional Walliser/local (meaning from the Wallis area) specialties – lots of home-made soups, cheese plates, salads, slices of bread and cured meats, as well as wonderful bratwurst, rösti and special pasta dishes — the last reflecting the influence – just across the peaks – of Italy.
 
Other excellent huts you might try are the Zum See and Blatten restaurants below Furi. Also at over 3000 meters, you shouldn’t miss the Gandegghűtte, above Trockener Steg, which has been a restaurant since 1885. And just in case you want a real Italian dish you can always ski over to Cervinia for some Italian food. Just make sure you are taking the last gondola back to the peak; otherwise, you have to spend a night in Italy.

 

Lunch can easily replace a big dinner. When you enter one of the huts or restaurants, you sit at a table on comfortable chairs, and your dish is served in porcelain and silverware. You enjoy a glass of wine or a beer in a real glass. The food is fresh and cooked right there. The chefs are famous, sometimes spending the winter in Zermatt and after the season ends, goes back to the 5* restaurants or hotels down in the valley. A couple of years ago the chef at Chez Vrony in Findeln created meals for 1st class passengers on Swiss Airline.
 
So close your eyes and imagine its January. You are sitting outside and have delicious food in front of you. In front and in view is the the majesty of the snow-covered mountains and glaciers. The sun is warming you up, and you let your tongue explore the different flavors. All this served by a friendly waiter or waitress.
 
After you enjoyed the lunch break, it is time to ski again. Later in the afternoon, there is always the last run back to Zermatt. You pass other huts or restaurants, and you might stop, take a last break, and enjoy a coffee with Schnaps with (real) whipped cream. It is hard not to try a piece of cake and a wonderful coffee.
 

Sounds good? Sounds great? To your surprise, at the end of your vacation, you don’t gain any weight. I think it is the quality and the portions and of course a lot of outdoor activity.
 
I am back in New York City again. Reading this draft made me hungry. I quickly go downstairs from my office at Union Square, grab a plastic container at FraicheMaxx and put some chicken and salad in it. I pay, and the cashier puts my plastic container into a plastic bag, throws in a plastic fork and plastic knife and a ton of napkins good for a whole family. I say “thank you,” she looks over my shoulder and screams “Neeeext.”
 
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