Justified fiendishness

Fear of fattening up prevents me from eating ice cream very often. But some ice creams just demand to be eaten, whatever the calorific cost.

This was my thinking on a very hot Sunday afternoon in Nyon. As Monsieur Gourmand and I strolled along the lakeside promenade after cooling ourselves off in the lake, we couldn't help noticing that every second person seemed to be eating a very delicious-looking ice cream. So we threw caution to the very hot hairdryer wind and went to find where the tasty-looking tubs were coming from. 

An orderly queue was forming out the door of Manu, a modern-looking, white-all-over gelateria, where two friendly-looking Italians were busily serving with a smile. Fancy that around here! (Well, actually, with the amount of money they must have been raking in during the heatwave, anyone would be smiling).

Monsieur Gourmand didn’t delay in ordering nocciola and Nutella, while I dithered between banana and pistachio, yoghurt and lemon, before settling on refreshing melon and creamy coconut.

It had been a long time since my previous proper Italian ice cream and it was every bit as exquisite as I expected. The afternoon indulgence just confirmed to me that life’s too short for crappy ice cream; if you’re going to have several hundred calories in one fell swoop, make sure you enjoy every luscious lick.  

Manu, il Gelato Italiano

Rue de Rive 32, 1260 Nyon (other branches in Geneva: Carouge, Paquis and Eaux-Vives)

+41 (0)22 361 08 94; www.manugelato.ch

Soggy veg

There's a lot to be said for cheap and cheerful pizzerias. But cheap is hard to find in this neck of the woods and cheerful isn't something that springs to mind in most Romande restaurants.

 

At least La Puccia gets full marks for trying. The food is cheaper than poncier pizza places, the owner is amiable indeed and the atmosphere could even be called buzzy. And pizza is not the limit - Italian classics such as Saltimbocca and Veal a la Milanese are always worth a bite and there's an inviting array of pastas. 

 

In an effort to shed some Christmas kilos, I was avoiding a carb-fest on our last visit in favour of vegetables, something that any chef worth his white hat should be able to cook. Alas, not so here - my veggies were soggy and salty rather than crunchy and croquant. A shame really because everything else was fine, particularly our friend's cheesy gnocchi.

 

Don't expect creative cuisine or edible vegetables but a couple of carafes of wine and passable pizza are enough to make La Puccia a reliable choice to kick off a night on the Nyon tiles.

 

La Puccia, Grande Rue 5-7, 1260 Nyon
+ 41 (0)22 361 2020; www.lapuccia.ch

Monotonous meathead

I'm lucky to have found Monsieur Gourmand at the tender age of 21; it saved me years and years of dull dates like the one endured by the poor girl on the next table at Au Parc in Montreux.

 

As her beau's musculation monologue ensued, she barely said a word, dutifully trying to look transfixed as he talked her through every muscle group and sinew. I wondered whether she was thinking the same as me behind her glazed-over eyes: he doesn't look very buff.

 

Fortunately I had my own piece of meat to concentrate on in the form of veal saltimbocca. Three big slices topped generously with prosciutto and sage were quite enough to quell my hunger, while the vegetables on the side were pleasingly crunchy. Monsieur Gourmand wanted something hearty to prepare him for our weekend skiing, so he went for fagottini with a creamy black truffle sauce, which turned out to be sensational.

 

Beyond muscle man and his long-suffering squeeze, we saw several groups of what looked like locals sharing big woodfire pizzas and quaffing red wine. This is obviously a popular place and deservedly so - the food is reliable tasty Italian, the atmosphere is buzzing and there's even service with a smile. 

 

Still, I suspect our friend on the next table will always remember it with a yawn.   

 

Au Parc, Grand Rue 38, 1820 Montreux

+41 (0)21 963 3157; www.au-parc.com

Saucy Sicilian

Bounding along the lakeside path on his evening run, there was no mistaking the buff physique and leonine locks of Dario, eponymous owner of the eatery Monsieur Gourmand and I had visited the night before.

In a town where most restaurateurs could do with a stint at charm school, Dario's approach is rather refreshing. Yes, he will probably have run out of most things on the menu and you'll have to wait a while for his attention, but any disappointment is short-lived: in a jiffy he'll be calling you by name, plying you with wine and recommending another dish that somehow sounds so much better than what you wanted.

On our first visit, I arrived grumpy but left happy, having eaten a plate of deliciously creamy fresh burrata with rocket leaves and a dollop of honey, followed by swordfish piled high with tomatoes and olives. In truth, the sauce overpowered the natural flavour and texture of the fish, but it seems that heaviness is a feature of Sicilian cooking (they also do a hearty aubergine and parmesan bake and some truffle-laden pasta dishes).

The warm interior décor of burnt orange walls, tiled tables and wrought-iron chairs reflects Sicily's proximity to north Africa, but outside is the place to be, where Dario works the pavement tables, keeping the locals coming back for more of his Italian tastiness and infectious joie de vivre.

Dario's, rue de Montchoisy 4, Eaux-Vives
+41 (0)22 700 7507; www.darios.ch

Flawed design

Typically Italian, aesthetics are important at Olio Design. The stone arches are reminiscent of a Roman palazzo, exquisite tableware abounds and of course the food is a feast for the eyes: looking at my anchovy salad was like leaning over a river bank and peering into the fast flowing water, a shoal of silvery fish swimming amid a colourful mesh of green lettuce and reddish radishes.

Alas, it looked much better than it tasted - the anchovies were raw.

Now, I'm quite partial to a bit of ceviche or sushi, but without the strong flavour of lemon or wasabi I couldn't overpower the slimy, slippery texture which made me think of eels, and eels give me the creeps. Thank goodness for the Gavi with which I washed it down.

Why did I force myself to eat something I didn't like, you may ask. Well, partly because it cost an outrageous 30CHF which I didn't want to waste, and partly because I felt bad about offending the chef who had created the dish especially (I had chosen a hot anchovy starter with burrata but he thought I might like something lighter). Maybe the burrata had gone off. 

Whereas Monsieur Gourmand had enjoyed a peculiar but pleasing appetiser of asparagus soup and squid, it was soon his turn to taste disappointment with a plate of unexciting orecchiette with fresh mushrooms. My deliciously al dente linguine with chunky frutti di mare, however, were the perfect antidote to my hunger and I wolfed them down with abandon.

My meal continued on a yummy note - a ball of pannacotta with firm, fresh raspberries and strawberries. Limoncello on the house by way of apology for meddling with my meal was a welcome sweetener, but didn't change the fact that Olio Design is not outstanding enough to justify the high prices.

Olio Design, 59 rue du Rhone, 1204 Geneva
+41 (0)22 310 1555; oliodesignrestaurant.com