I still remember meeting Markus Mennig back in 2003 in New York City.  He was one in a group of friends who went to the École Hôtelière de Lausanne, and I was simply fascinated when he told me he was from Zermatt.  Little did I know then that not only would I be living in Switzerland myself one day, but I’d be eating at his family’s restaurant too. More importantly, after 8 years of hearing about it, I finally tasted their famous millefeuille… Read the rest of this story >>

A spontaneous summer weekend adventure (and a birthday) found my husband and me on the Glacier Express, perhaps Switzerland’s most famous – and spectacular – train ride across the country, the complete line going from St. Moritz to Zermatt.  We had been dreaming of taking this train since we arrived in Zürich in 2008.  (A birthday that year had us on the Bernina Express.  Yes, we like trains.)

I hadn’t been to Zermatt since a tennis tour in 1995, when one by one, we 15 year olds took the obligatory photo, arms outstretched in front of the Matterhorn.  I’m sure you would all recognize that triangular peak, forever immortalized on Toblerone bars found all over the world, from the highest-end food shops in Switzerland to Bed, Bath & Beyond in the USA.  We set off to Zermatt primarily to enjoy a day on the train itself (word of advice to photographers: bring filters for window reflections) and to see friends.  But as you all know, no adventure of mine is complete without checking out the local sweet scene.  So read on for where to get your chocolate fix in Zermatt,… sans Toblerone.

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A friend and I hopped on the train for a Swiss adventure in the canton of Jura, about two hours northwest from Zürich, to track down the region’s famous Toétché (also known as Gâteau à la Crème Jurassien) and Gâteau du Cloître (tête de moine cheese tart with chives).   Sitting overlooking the Doubs River in the medieval town of St. Ursanne, gazing quizzically at the bridge beside us (that happened to be the inspiration for the illustrator of the Lord of the Rings book), eating trout from the water below us, we paged through brochures and maps to determine our afternoon (foodie) destination.

“I got it !”  A farm specializing in ice cream… with 450 flavors ?!  I dropped my fork and called them immediately.  On a Monday afternoon in July, they weren’t exactly in high production mode – or at all.  Nor were there crowds of people requesting a visit – or any at all.  Blaise Barth couldn’t possibly understand why I wanted to come, “It’s just a farm. It’s not very interesting.” Fast forward to 5 hours later when he was driving us back into town after a laughter-filled afternoon spent together, and me assuring him… “See, told ya it was super interesting !”

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