Stéphane Décotterd

High quality cooking

good quality, good value cooking

Naturally, a world-renowned hotel management school relies on an outstanding chef for its flagship restaurant. And Stéphane Décotterd delivers in the magnificent hall of the palace hotel high above Lake Léman and Montreux: His Swiss-inspired market kitchen once again delighted us from A to Z. A vol-au-vent topped with turnips and filled with St. Gall blue cheese, a Vaud bouchon (cone-shaped sponge cake) stuffed with dried meat, and a smoked whitefish served under a cloche on a rye crisp all delighted us as starters right from the outset. The chef elevated the hearty winter vegetable salad to gourmet level with Oona caviar from Frutigen and local pumpkin seed oil, while he served the salmon aromatized with star anise and melilot from Lostallo alongside a rich sauce made from Fribourg barley. Colonnata bacon and kaffir lime added a zesty kick to the prawns from Rheinfelden, while the black truffle from Vaud was skillfully combined by the kitchen with hazelnuts into a blancmange. Also from the nearby region came the poultry from the Gruyère area, cooked in a hay crust and served with young spinach as the main course. Christophe Loeffel, GaultMillau's "Pastry Chef of the Year 2021," delighted us with airy Valle Maggia rice pudding and honey from Montreux, as well as with a caramelized pear presented as jus, pickle, and sorbet. The final compliment goes to sommelier Romain Doisneau for his perfectly food-pairing wines, all exclusively sourced from Switzerland.