Delmonico, Hopfenstrasse, Zurich

Gemüsesuppe

Carpaccio vom Frischlingschinken mit Herbstsalaten und Käse kombiniert mit Wildlebermousse mit Pistazien und Hasellnusscrème und Wildbratwurst auf Pilz-Endivien-Ragout mit Zwiebeln

Kürbisgnocchi mit Butter, Parmesan und schwarzem Trüffel kombiniert mit Kakao-Tagliolini an Wildfleischragout und „Harfen“ Spaghetti an Seppia-Carbonara mit ihrer Tinte dazu Tortellini mit Käsegefüllt an Ihrer Fonduta (auf Wunsch mit Schwarzen Trüffeln)

Sometimes I find places by wandering around. I wanted to eat at a place at the Manesseplatz, drove past it to park and found the Delmonico Fine Arts Restaurant. I changed my plans and entered. Dimmed lights, white table cloths and no one there except a waiter and myself. He told me that they specialize in menus and that they’re actually doing good and that it would be difficult getting a table on a Friday or Saturday night as a Walk-in. I sat down, was handed a big menu and got an explanation. Every menu page has a theme (eg. “Meat delights”) and there’s a first and a second combination which both reflect this theme. A combination then again contains 2 to 4 different small dishes, the first combination is more of an appetizer and the second one is more of an entree. But you can also order all the individual components a la carte, if you wish to do so. Certainly a first for me. I mixed the first combo from the game with the second combo from the pasta themed menus. I was warned by the waiter, he said that the pasta part would be weighing roughly 300 grams, but I decided not to change my order.The waiter was extremly attentive, since I was the only person present, it just felt strange having the guy look at me all the time to see if there’s anything he could do. I concentrated on my newspaper. The amuse bouche was a vegetable soup in a shot glass which I found bland and not very creative. My first combo arrived, a plate with three dishes a Carpaccio of young pork ham with autumn salads and cheese, a game liver mousse with pistacchio and hazelnuts and a game bratwurst on a endive-mushroom ragout and onions. The bratwurst was excellent and was nicely matched with the ragout. I wasn’t happy with the other two dishes, the mousse had bitter notes which didn’t belong there. The ham, salad and cheese dish was off, the flavours didn’t connect and it just felt like a bunch of components lying on a plate. The plate which followed was quite something, it contained four pasta dishes. Pumpkin gnocchi with butter, parmigiano and black truffles, Cocoa-Tagliolini with game meat ragout, “Harp” spaghetti with sepia-carbonara and tortellini filled with cheese in a fonduta. Again it was a disappointment, the sepia-carbonara spaghetti were nice, especially the cubed bits of sepia were a surprising idea. All the other pasta dishes were bad, none of the dishes made me happy, the tortellini even reminded me of a tv dinner. I feel it’s sad that a chef of this caliber is wasting his talent. He obviously is able to cook, but he’s not focused. I had seven dishes on two plates and only two were okay. Throw out the complicated menu and refocus.
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