Chateau d'If

It's a cold, snowy Sunday night in Geneva, you haven't quite made any dinner plans, and your friends start to wonder what's open on a Sunday night in this city anyway? If you've lived here long enough, you know there's not a whole lot to choose from! But fondue would be rather nice in this weather, one friend suggests... yes it certainly would be. I suddenly remember someone mentioning Chateau d'If, located in Vesenaz and raving about the fondue there. But is it one of the few places open on a Sunday night in Geneva? Why, yes it it - we have a winner, boys and girls! So off to Chateau d'If we head, luckily the restaurant is located just at the entrance of Vesenaz and is very easy to find. Once inside, we're immediately seated and given our menus, which we peruse with great interest.

The restaurant offers a number of different fondues, considerably more than you would find in other establishments, I'm curious about the all-vacherin fondue I was recently told about but I decide to go with my customary moitié-moitié (equal parts vacherin and gruyère) fondue and it does not disappoint! It is creamy and delicious and in addition to the bread you're usually given to dip into your hot pot of cheese, Chateau d'If also gives you a serving of small potatoes you can also use for dipping purposes. And you know what? It turns out potatoes covered in melted vacherin and gruyère are yummy! Up to then I had always had potatoes with raclette and bread with fondue, but sometimes you just want to mix things up a little, am I right?

I would definitely recommend Chateau d'If for a fondue dinner, and I hope to go back soon... well not too soon but certainly when the fondue mood strikes.

Pictured below: an assortment of cold cuts, cheese and pickles followed by a moitié-moitié fondue

Le Sesflo

I enjoyed my visits to L'Amalfi so much over the past few months, I figured it was time to give some of the other Frutiger establishments a try. Le Sesflo has consistently enjoyed rave reviews over the past few years, and so I thought I'd go check it out for myself. Le Sesflo and L'Amalfi's menus are not entirely dissimilar, they tend to specialize in various pasta and risotto dishes and both venues seem to be committed to qualiy, but Le Sesflo is perhaps a little more of an upscale establishment. The restaurant's interior design certainly reflects a modern and sophisticated style, at least by Geneva's standards. However, overall my preference goes to L'Amalfi just because I think their food is infused with so much more flavor and the staff is really friendly. Le Sesflo was a satisfying experience though and I'd definitely go back and try some of their other dishes.

Pictured below: An octopus salad starter followed by a shrimp and scallop risotto.