Chocolate in London, Paris and Zurich

Wow, what a week! Within one single week I tasted chocolate in London, Paris and Zurich. Not bad, huh? But I'm pretty sick of chocolate now (I never thought I'd ever say that!).

Last weekend I was in London and was able to stop by the shop Melt in Notting Hill. It was a very cute shop with a small selection of chocolates and chocolate bars. Perfect, as too large a selection makes me suspicious as to the freshness of the products. I bought the dark chocolate bar with mint (which never left London), the dark chocolate with sea salted caramel bar (which didn't make its first night back in Basel) and the dark chocolate bar with orange (which I just took a nibble of and presumably will disappear within 24 hours). As the name suggests, these chocolates melt in your mouth, creating a very smooth and fresh feeling. Very tasty and definitely worth another visit the next time I go to London.

When my sister was in Paris a few weeks ago she bought me a bar of dark chocolate with orange from Jean-Charles Rochoux, a shop I had recommended to her from my last trip to Paris last fall. It was so delicious that I decided to stop by the shop again this past Wednesday while I was on a work trip to Paris. And I was not disappointed. I bought a chocolate bar filled with praliné and caramel and topped with almonds as well as a selection of little chocolates. All were very tasty and fresh, but my favorite was the raspberry one called "maraba". Raspberry and dark chocolate are a couple wed in heaven. Mmhmm. 

When I found out that the Salon du Chocolat was to take place for the first time in Zurich at the end of March I knew I would have to go visit. That's exactly what I did yesterday. There was a small number of exhibitors from Switzerland and other European countries, most of which I'd heard of before, such as Sprüngli, Cailler, Honold, and Beschle. After snatching free samples of chocolate Luxemburgerli and dark chocolate truffles from Sprüngli (and they taste so much better fresh!) I went to the Beschle stand, a chocolatier from Basel. I'd only ever tried their chocolate here and there and was excited to have the opportunity to try some different flavors at their stand. I tried dark chocolate and ginger, white chocolate and lassi, white chocolate with blueberries and almonds as well as dark chocolate with rosemary and lemon thyme and dark chocolate with pistachios and fleur de sel. The latter two were my favorite and I bought a bar of each. Normally I don't care for chocolate that has flavors usually found in savory dishes, but the rosemary and lemon thyme chocolate was really delicious and fresh-tasting. A palate-cleanser.

Markthalle Restaurant in Zurich and Sihlhalde in Gattikon

This weekend I finally made it to Im Viadukt in Zurich, a new strip of shops and restaurants built into a viaduct in Zurich's district 5. The shops were already closed by the time we got there but the restaurants and bars were still open. After walking down the entire strip we decided to get a bite to eat at the restaurant belonging to the Markthalle (market hall) which houses a market 6 days a week. The restaurant serves produce from the market hall. Since we weren't very hungry we shared a beefsteak and buffalo mozarella salad as well as a vegetable and potato omelette. Both dishes were very fresh and tasty. Since the market hall was also already closed by the time we were there, I'll definitely have to go back to check it out. It would also be fun to go back to the restaurant for their Sunday brunch.  

Last weekend we went on a mountain bike tour and passed the restaurant Sihlhalde in Gattikon on the way. The restaurant is in an old half-timber house and it looked absolutely charming. On the front it had a sign identifying itself as a member of the Grandes Tables de Suisse, a selection of gourmet restaurants in Switzerland. Back at home I looked it up and although the website showed only very few images of the food I decided I'd have to try it some time. After this weekend's bike ride we spontaneously headed over there. And we were not one bit sorry!

Okay, maybe I was a bit sorry when the amuse-bouche on the house turned out to be calf's head carpaccio. I ate most of it, trying hard not to envision where exactly the pieces once were located in the calf and that I might contract BSE. It did taste much better than I had imagined, though.

For the main dish I had sea bass with champagne foam served with chard and a side of new potatoes. 

He had beef tenderloin with green peppercorns and a side of basmati rice. It was perhaps the most tender beef I had ever tasted. 

For dessert I had the zucotto-an Italian dessert with liquor-soaked sponge on the outside and cream with chocolate bits on the inside. 

Mister had the Tahitian vanilla soufflé with berries and honey ice cream. 

Along with our coffees we got a plate of small goodies. Everything was very delicious and fresh and not over the top. A very satisfying meal indeed! 

As we were leaving the restaurant, the hostess handed us a copy of La Tavola, a Swiss food and travel magazine and told us that the magazine's publishing director, Marion Michels, was our neighbor at dinner. How exciting! I would have liked to have asked her a few questions.