Long considered old-fashioned, the bistro is making a strong comeback in the hearts of gourmets. Whether it’s for a pot-au-feu or a pistachio sausage, let’s get out the pots and pans. <\/p>\n
Just like a brasserie, the bistro has always been part of the ambient culinary landscape. Often small, noisy and intimate. With its red-and-white checkered tablecloths, typical wooden chairs, brown leather banquettes and endless wine balloons, this style of restaurant brings together suit-and-tie enthusiasts and construction site workers alike to savor comfort food. <\/p>\n
For more than 150 years, these guinguettes of home cooking have seduced lovers of good food, for economic reasons as much as for taste sensations. Rusticity is the basis of this cuisine, the pig one of its worthy ambassadors, root vegetables unavoidable extras and offal indestructible actors. How can we explain this longevity and timeless love that transcends fashions? <\/p>\n
While writer Gilbert Cesbron described bistroquets as “confessionals of the devil”, it was chef Yves Camdeborde who brought these establishments back into fashion in the early 1990s. After working alongside Christian Constant in the kitchens of the H\u00f4tel de Crillon, where he was awarded two Michelin stars, the former MasterChef judge opened a small neighborhood bistro at Porte d’Orl\u00e9ans. La R\u00e9galade revolutionized the Parisian restaurant scene, following in the footsteps of what would become known as bistronomy a few years later. This instigator of the bistro revival decided to lighten up traditional French cuisine while preserving its fundamentals. “Even if respect for tradition doesn’t mean conformism and academicism, I want my cooking to breathe France,” he explains. <\/p>\n
In Geneva, retro enamelled metal plaques depicting alcohol advertising still proudly stand at the entrance to the Dix Vins restaurant in Carouge. The vintage style sets the tone. This gourmet temple, well known to aesthetes in search of culinary pleasures of all kinds, doesn’t play around. It’s a place to indulge, to get drunk and to break the crust… <\/p>\n
For the past twenty-five years, Ren\u00e9 Fracheboud has been discreetly reigning over Geneva’s bistro scene from behind his ovens – a record for an overheated sector. Far from giving in to the siren songs of avocado toast, kale salad and buddha bowls, this poet of sauces, cooking and seasonal produce continues to play the casual card. Alongside calf’s head or a slice of foie gras, beef carrot is firmly anchored on a menu that evolves with the seasons, not fashion. “The bistro is like playing hooky: a deliciously fraudulent escapade of pleasure. It remains an irreplaceable source of relaxation.” <\/p>\n
A keen observer of his time, Ren\u00e9 Fracheboud is a privileged witness to the evolution of culinary meetings. His observation? Over the years, customers no longer allocate the same amount of time to fine dining. “Before, people took their time; they smoked and drank without asking too many questions. Now, contracts are signed in a gym rather than in a restaurant.” In the digital age, where company cafeterias and delivery sites are flourishing, the time factor is more than ever at the center of the chessboard. <\/p>\n
Following in the footsteps of Claude Legras at Le Floris in Ani\u00e8res and Gilles Dupont\/Thomas Byrne at the Auberge du Lion d’Or in Cologny, haute gastronomy is abandoning its stuffy codes and long menus in favor of a certain bistro lightness. A choice that comes as no surprise to Jan Bertiaux, owner of L’Artichaut on the banks of the Arve, well known for its pheasant pithiviers and roasted veal sweetbreads. “There’s a growing desire to go more towards the essential. Customers want sensitivity”, observes the owner. Far from renouncing taste and product quality, they prefer conviviality, even when the timing is very tight. Whose fault is this? “It’s all down to companies, which have tightened up the rules of behavior during lunch breaks. It’s becoming increasingly rare to see business people mixing work and pleasure.” <\/p>\n
With its legendary pike quenelle and its unmissable chateaubriand and b\u00e9arnaise sauce served on a silver platter, the Farina family is a source of delight for visiting gourmets in the P\u00e2quis district. The Bistrot du B\u0153uf Rouge is an institution in the heart of Geneva. On board, Carlos – the second-generation owner – pilots this thirty-year-old craft with a master’s hand, advocating a service organized around generosity and hospitality. “There’s no question of charging extra for sauce. This kind of practice is a false calculation and does not correspond to the soul of a bistro. Customers come here to enjoy themselves. It’s up to us to make sure we meet their expectations.” A fine philosophy! <\/p>\n\n
Le Dix Vins<\/strong>, 31, rue Jacques-Dalphin, Carouge, 022 342 40 10<\/p>\n\n L’Artichaut<\/strong>, 9, quai du Cheval-Blanc, Carouge, 022 301 90 91, www.artichaut-restaurant.ch<\/a><\/p>\n\n