Place your bets at the Casino de Morges!
They’re young, they’re professional and they’re free! Free to choose. Free to decide. Free to tune. Free to enjoy. It wasn’t that they felt trapped in their previous jobs, but a desire for entrepreneurship led them in a new direction by taking over the Morges Casino and thus acquitting themselves of their (albeit glorious) past. For Thibaud Gardette is none other than the former sommelier of Crissier’s Hôtel de Ville restaurant, and Rémy Gravelaine one of chef Franck Giovannini’s lieutenants. These two met on the benches of this prestigious temple of Swiss gastronomy and decided to combine their talent and knowledge on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Presentation of the Pâté en Croûte
As summer draws to a close, the terrace is packed with curious gourmets who come in droves to discover the cuisine of the new tenants. It’s good to sit down and take the time to get together. It’s a table that brings people together in many ways. We choose the pâté en croûte with pork and foie gras, which Thibaud presents to us whole and then slices, allowing us to start the meal with a bang. We’re already won over.
With no time to lose, the appetizers follow on with zucchini flower fritters, crisp as they should be, accompanied by an elegant zucchini purée with hazelnuts. We are also tempted by a fine tartelette filled with rillette of féra, enhanced by a sauce of La Côte Chasselas. Then it’s time to decide between the barbecued gamberi rossi or the sole meunière with lemon beurre blanc mentioned on the menu…but we’re already closing this gastronomic chapter and heading for the house’s “must-haves”, beef Wellington and perch fillets. After a few detours, the choice is made and it’s finally the pike quenelles that win the vote.
Quenelle anthology
These famous pike quenelles, with the special mention “crousti-fondantes” on the menu, are served in beautiful individual dishes. The culinary culture of haute gastronomy has come a long way, for the Casino de Morges pike quenelles are undeniably a sublime creation that first feeds our eyes, then electrifies our senses. They are placed between two slices of toast as thin as cigarette paper, topped with a delicious Nantua sauce, accompanied by peas, fava beans and a few pike eggs. The dish is dense, intense and overwhelming. An interpretation that reflects years of craftsmanship, while emphasizing the desire to move forward at all costs.
The Casino de Morges vibrates and bewitches… and this is just the beginning of a wonderful adventure. More changes are to come, and we’ll be sure to let you know about them. In the meantime, our hats are off to these two lovers of taste, who are just writing the first chapters of what promises to be a most promising book.
