Hotel cuisine
A journey is always good for reflection, especially when you’re lulled by the rhythm of the train as it winds its way along the shores of Lake Geneva. As we approach the town famous for its jazz festival, it’s easy to imagine the stationmaster shouting across the platform “next stop Montreux”, just as he did in the days of the Orient Express. A journey of barely an hour that promises to be a culinary highlight. DirectionGlion Hotel School where Stéphanie on the dining room side and Stéphane Décotterd on the kitchen side took over the bistro and gourmet restaurant of the venerable institution almost two months ago.
Edouard Amoiel
Panorama
Built into the side of a cliff, the hotel offers spectacular views. It’s hard to beat the panorama! With a bevy of students all in work uniforms, the atmosphere inside is one of concentration. It is within these walls that future managers are trained in the hotel and catering professions. Under the same roof, two restaurants and two atmospheres offer guests the opportunity to (re)discover the world of
While the wine list has been expanded to include a number of new varieties, the food menu has been carefully selected: 4 starters, 3 fish dishes, 5 meat dishes and 3 desserts! As in the past, this gastronomic concentration is oriented towards terroir, seasonality and locality. Is the aim to win awards? The motivation may lie elsewhere, but the duo are clearly aiming for culinary recognition. What could be more natural when the previous Pont de Brent restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars and 18 GaultMillau points?
Practical information
Address: 111 route de Glion, 1823 Montreux / Telephone: 021 966 35 25 / Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, lunch and dinner. SITE
TIPSfrom Geneva, take the train to Montreux and a cab from the station / parking in front of the entrance / exceptional view / Christophe Loeffel elected best pastry chef of the year 2021 by GaultMillau
Edouard Amoiel
After a promising sequence of amuse-bouches featuring a bricelet fribourgeois encasing a trout tartare with fir buds, a tomme fleurette cookie and a soft sponge with mushroom strips, it was the turn of the Pastrami de Canard d’Appenzel to make its entrance under a poor musical cover of Franck Sinatra at an inappropriate volume. A gourmet restaurant shouldn’t be plunged into cathedral-like silence, but neither should it resemble a dance bar. It’s as if, in our modern age, noise has “become a right”. But back to the point! Even if the presentation of this starter is tasteful – each element being scrupulously ordered to the millimeter – between a seemingly boiled pastrami, a timid chestnut royale and a celery emulsion that’s far too liquid to be fully appreciated, the gustatory synergy doesn’t work.
Tempo and poetry
With the black-legged free-range chicken raised in Epagny advertised with a 50-minute waiting time, the sequences for the entire meal are proving too long for a lunchtime meal. The sporadic presence of the hostess does not seem to reassure the young trainees. which seem lost and hesitant when it comes to cutting; a lack of confidence as evident in their gestures as in their enumeration of dishes, which is no more than a rote presentation of the menu’s titles. What’s missing is a story, a tempo, a poetry, a life to these narratives, to bring the love of cooking to the table. The whole roast rack of Jaman lamb is a thing of beauty, cooked to perfection. A choice morsel that would reconcile any vegetarian with meat. It’s a pity that the pommes boulangères with candied onions are piled up on the plate, giving the impression of a bistro rather than a gastro setting.
While young prodigy Christophe Loeffel’s dessert of poached pear with cooked wine, walnut praline cream and pear sorbet propels us into sweet weightlessness, the whole lunch quickly brings us back down to earth. The couple are still finding their feet in their new home, and Pont de Brent seems a distant memory. With the new menu about to be published, a change is only a matter of time…
