MILLIE: I still can’t get over the marvelous Swiss treats that caused me to gain at least five pounds in 12 days from all the wining and dining Karla and I indulged in during a recent visit to Switzerland!
Karla and I arrived in Zurich via Singapore Airlines from Manila at 8 a.m. on a very warm and sunny day and were met at the airport by my dear friend Rolf Grunhut. I met Rolf over 40 years ago when I was learning French at Ecole Lemania in Lausanne. He and I have kept in touch through the years. He wants to help build hospitals in the Philippines in the same way he is helping in Belarus, Dushanbe, and soon Vietnam.
Our first stop was Sprungli in the Bahnhofstrasse, a fabulous and popular tearoom that offers confectionery items likes cakes, pastries and chocolate truffles. It’s always a must-stop for me whenever I am in Switzerland because my Mom loved their Engadiner Nusstorte, and I always had to get her some to bring home. It is a traditional Swiss treat made out of caramelized walnuts originally from the Swiss canton of Graubunden. Rolf would even send her some at Christmastime by mail. It’s sad to know they don’t offer it anymore.
Another specialty is the Luxemburgerli, which is similar to the macaron but lighter, with lovely flavors such as champagne, caramel, chestnut, amaretto, and raspberry, to name a few. I wanted to bring some home but the shelf life is only three days.
Having just arrived from Manila, our eyes popped to see the many delightful choices and Karla and I settled for a spinach and bacon quiche and an open-faced sandwich with smoked salmon for our mid-morning snack. I had two cups of lovely coffee while Karla had a hot chocolate with whipped crème Chantilly. Rolf insisted that we each have a melt-in-your-mouth truffe du jour, to which we both agreed. After breakfast, we checked in at the hotel and got ready for a meeting where Rolf presented his hospital project and toured us by the lake. He later took us to the yacht club to enjoy the rare sunny evening as, at this time of year, it’s still bright until 9 p.m. Karla and I had a traditional bratwurst sausage served with bottomless French fries while Rolf had fish and chips. To end the meal we had fresh strawberries with vanilla ice cream and crème Chantilly!
KARLA: Since Zurich was our point of entry and exit, we only had a full day when we arrived and a full day the day before we left. Therefore I had to jibe my schedule with mom’s and squeeze in time to meet a couple of friends who are now based in Zurich. The day we arrived back in Zurich, mom and I had lunch with my friend Andreas Rieder, who was based in Manila five years ago. Although it was raining, I forced mom to walk to the restaurant and kept telling her that we were a few more blocks away just so she wouldn’t notice that we had walked more than 10 blocks. The restaurant was not easily visible but was still packed with diners, mostly tourists. Zeughauskeller is definitely one of the most popular restaurants in the area for traditional Swiss food. If not only for the food, it is also a popular destination for tourists because of the history of the restaurant’s structure. The structure was said to have been built in 1487. Zeughaus, which means “arsenal storehouse,†was where they stored weapons until 1926. I was overwhelmed by all the items they had on their menu and wished we could have had more time to go back and try the other stuff. Since I had a hard time making up my mind, Andy ordered for me instead a Bauernbratwurst with onions and potato salad, whereas mom already knew what she wanted even before we walked into the restaurant. Mom had one of the house specialties called Schweinshaxe, which is a whole pork shank oven-roasted and simmered in dark draught beer served with fresh potato salad, while Andy had small, thin bratwurst sausages, originally from Nuremberg.
After lunch mom, Andy and I walked to Sprungli for some coffee and dessert. I had another hot chocolate while mom ordered coffee and a mille feuille. After a round of coffee, Andreas had to leave since he had to drive to Milan. Mom, on the other hand, could not resist and ordered another dessert. Haha! She had a Sprungli special, which is a triple-chocolate layered dessert with a brownie-like crust, chocolate in the middle covered in chocolate mousse for the upper layer. The cake was dusted with cacao powder and finished with a very thin layer of chocolate on the sides and topped with a personalized block of chocolate.
We spent the afternoon walking around the Bahnhofstrasse as the rains had stopped. We were just window-shopping, as we promised ourselves we would not go shopping in Switzerland at all! So all we did was eat all the fine Swiss food and chocolates! Heehee! Later that afternoon back at the hotel, I met my Mexican friend who lives in Zurich, Paulina Hernandez, in time for happy hour, only to find out that she was infant-icipating! So she ended up having a virgin piña colada while I had a Bellini. I met Paulina in New York in 2009. We were classmates and partners in chocolate class in New York. We ended up spending time out of class as well, mostly to go shopping or eat cupcakes. Haha! The one-hour allotment was indeed too brief for all the catching up we had to do since 2009, but we had to cut it short as we were meeting uncle Frank for dinner.
MILLIE: Frank Ansel was a schoolmate at the Ecole Hoteliere in Lausanne and was formerly VP of the Hyatt International for North America but is now retired and lives in Buenos Aires. We planned to spend a few days in Paris after our reunion in Lausanne, but it was difficult to book a hotel as it was Fashion Week. We also could not arrange for a later departure date as Singapore Airlines was fully booked. So we met up in Zurich instead as he was on his way to Antwerp on business. At present, Frank owns a vineyard in Mendoza, Argentina. He invited Karla and I to dinner at the Park Hyatt in Zurich.
KARLA: For dinner, we dined at the Parkhuus Restaurant at the Park Hyatt, which had a very interesting concept. The restaurant presented a summer market list consisting of all the items available fresh from the market — where the origin was and who the producer is to ensure the freshness of the ingredients. You could actually choose your side dish to go along with your entrée. Mom ordered the poached turbot fillet from Spain with almond milk, guacamole, and pepperoncini oil. Uncle Frank had French sea bass fillet with herb pesto, while I had Scottish salmon on cedar wood with horseradish cream. Our sidings were spinach with pine nuts and Parmesan, marinated and grilled Portobello mushrooms with herb butter and perfect and yummy mashed potatoes. Uncle Frank ordered a bottle of Ralf Oberer sauvignon blanc since we were all having fish.
For dessert, we shared a wonderful rhubarb crumble with sour cream ice cream — truly a delicious concoction!
MILLIE: We walked back to our hotel through the Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich’s famous shopping mile, taking pictures along the way. It was great to have spent time with a bosom friend, and even as we exchanged goodbyes, we both had that confident feeling that we would always be there for each other.
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