Terzo, Seefeldstrasse, Zürich

It’s hot outside and the large outlets with the industrially fabricated news are all out on vacation. Rumour even has it that the Zueritipp’s resident food journalist is on a month long vacation forcing them to bring in outside, freelance talent just to keep providing current articles. There is but one pocket of passion in food writing who is still on-duty and who knows no down-time – the real picky gourmet. While others are sizzling in Ibiza, one man strives to bring you the freshest updates and most flavourful news from Zurich’s restaurant scene. Unseen levels of quality, a life-long dedication to no-holds-barred journalism & a relentless pursuit of even the faintest notion of a new restaurant are driven by one single thing – love for my readers (that’s you). With great joy, pride and satisfaction the real picky gourmet brings you a true scoop in the middle of summer.

Terzo opened up in the former location of the Strozzi’s on Seefeldstrasse 214 near the Bahnhof Tiefenbrunnen. Matthias Hunziker (of Jdaburg & Zentraleck fame) is running the show and the menu features some classic dishes of his. We were rather surprised to see that the place was full on a Tuesday night and brimming with customers, which is a pretty good sign for a new place. A lovely salmon tartare is served as an amuse bouch with some horseradish froth and pistachios. Nice touch with the pistachios adding a surprising layer of texture to the nicely balanced fish and horseradish. We tried the tuna sashimi, the additional spicy ginger was too overpowering for the fish, but the serving of sauteed romaine lettuce with a perfect sauce (some sesame oil) was a great idea and one of the few things I’ve tried which fits nicely into the “Eurasian” category.

Terzo has a small pizza menu and we decided to go for the craziest (and not surpringly most expensive) one we could find, the Storione. Smoked Sturgeon, white tomato reduction, sour cream, artichokes and caviar were the toppings. Now surprisingly the heavy saltiness of the caviar works with a pizza (which had very nice thin, dough). The combination with all the other elements (and we didn’t see any of the white tomato reduction) was just too much, we’ll stay with something simpler in the future.

The main course was also too busy (or ” es bizeli es Chrüsimüsi” as my dining partner put it). The ravioli had a tasty filling and the dough was done well, but it came with too many additional elements. Two is a company, three is a crowd and putting assorted vegetables & chanterelles on top of the stuffed pasta leads to a crowded plate. So what did we make of Terzo ? The chef is certainly skilled and the basic elements are good. It seems that he has shifted his style of cuisine towards Italy, while keeping some of his signature dishes onboard. Looking forward for some of the dishes less would be more, cutting down on the sum of the components on a plate.