The gourmet's guide to Europe

Of the Bern restaurants much the same is to be said as of the Basle ones. Historical paintings are thought more of than the cook’s de- Kornhauskeller, partment. The Kornhauskeller, in the Kornhausplatz basement of the Kornhaus, is a curious place and worth a visit for a meal. At the Schanzli, on a rise opposite the town, from the terrace of which there is a splendid view, and where there is a summer theatre, there is a café-restaurant, and another on the Garten, a hill whence another fine view is obtainable. 314 Gourmet's Guide to Europe Geneva Geneva is a capital which has few first-class restaurants. There is little fault to find with the restaurants attached to the hotels, and most travellers dine where they sleep, but the hotels of Geneva were mostly built in the days when a restaurant was not a necessity in a hotel, and the table d'hote dinner of the day forms the meal that nine out of ten visitors to Geneva eat at their hotel. At the National, which is the hotel at which I usually stay, I have found little cause to grumble at meal times, though I have usually dined either at the Restaurant du Nord or at the Kursaal Restaurant, if the latter happens to be managed for the season by some good restaurateur. The Restaurant du Nord is on the first floor of a house on the Grand Quai, a cafe being on the ground Restaurant floor- From the windows of the resdu Nord, taurant there is a pleasant view over Grand Quai the end of the lake and the Rhone rushing out of it, the two bridges, and the little island on which the poplars grow. The house outside is white-faced up to its second storey. The restaurant consists of two salons, both open in summer, but only one, the smaller of the two, a red room with a parquet floor, being used in winter. The Nord has an air of distinction ; its meals are a la carte ; and its proprietor, tall and wearing pince-nez, has the grand air that so well becomes a successful restaurateur. The bill of fare of the dishes and the wine list are both under one cover. The list of dishes is a comparatively short one, but the cookery is undeniably good. The Nord is an excellent restaurant at which to sample the various fishes of the lake, for fresh fish is the strong point in the cookery of Geneva. The Feras is a white-fleshed fish, which is like a herring, and its liver is as prized Switzerland 3 1 5 as that of a mullet. The Lotte is a fish locally in great favour. The trout are just as palatable as they were when Cambaceres used to import them into France for his suppers. The cooks at the Nord make of perch an excellent dish, and the king of the lake fish, the great char, the Ombre-chevalier, is generally on the bill of fare at the Nord. An Ombre-chevalier a la Genevoise is a noble dish. Petites truites a la Voltaire and Feras a la Bonne Tante are two admirable local dishes. The Nord has a good cellar of Swiss wines, commencing with Mont d’Or at fr. 5 a bottle, and Clos de Rocher at fr. 4 a bottle. The Grand Fine Champagne of the house at fr. 1.50 a glass is to be recommended.