Widder Restaurant, Rennweg, Zurich

The Widder is also the home of the butcher’s guild, while a dwindling few are actual butchers, the building is one of the nicer ones in the inner city of Zurich. The restaurant offers an exclusive pick-up service (more specifically they offer to come round and collect you…) if you’re in or near the city.

In certain situations dining at the restaurant of a 5 Star hotel has its perks. A button of my coat leaped into (short-lived) independence just before arriving at the restaurant. Since no willing person (and I was going to use the word female, but since this is an open-minded, gender-neutral and diversity supportive blog, person seemed more appropriate) with sewing skills was readily available in the next few days I had to find another way. I grinned at the maitre d’ (the venerable Mr. Scherrer) and asked since they’re not just a restaurant but also run a 5 star hotel if they’d had a member of staff who could sew a button on. Mr Scherrer didn’t as much as bat an eyelid, acted as if this happens on a daily occasion, smiled reassuringly and said they’d take good care of my coat.

The menu started off with a strong saibling, which was expertly marinated and the various fish eggs accompanied it nicely. The lobster was nicely cooked, that perfect slightly slimy texture, some deduction on the potato salad, my mother’s is better. Best dish of the day was a sunchoke soup with some alba truffle, the truffle weren’t needed, since the soup was simply delicious. The quail with foie gras was the least successful dish of the night, it felt sloppy and lacked to generate much excitement. Main was what you’d expect, with high notes for the ravioli with stewed veal filling. The Vacherin Mont-d’Or was lacking flavor and cumbersome to eat with just a single spoon. The pre-dessert was fantastic especially the cherry foam on top, seldom does a dessert incorporate Umami, but this one did. The chocolate variations were nice but not as good as the prior sweet course.

Overall it was certainly a good meal albeit pricey and not all the wines were a perfect pairing. The star was the Sauvignon Blanc, Domaine de Montmartin and the 30 year old Sherry Noe Pedro Ximenez, it’s unpatriotic but the Malanser Blauburgunder from Familie Fiesch was a dud.

I liked the luxurious and calmness of the dining room, not sure if the Maserati limousine service is included in the price of dining or not, but if it is, that’s certainly great if you’ve enjoyed a wine flight with your meal. Of course I hold the establishment in very high regards, since Mr. Scherrer came through and my button was sown back on my coat. I would like to point out that this was certainly the most pleasant way to spend time waiting for a button to be reattached, it sure beats loitering around Sihlycity outside the Stecknadel. In hindsight, I was lucky that the Swiss Army didn’t teach how to use a thread and a needle.