Category: Gastronomy

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Cliffhanging restaurant opens for the season in Switzerland: Äscher Mountain Restaurant

Äscher Mountain Restaurant. Photo: Switzerland Tourism. Cliffhanging restaurant opens for the season in Switzerland: Äscher Mountain Restaurant.

Cliffhanging restaurant opens for the season in Switzerland: Äscher Mountain Restaurant

This summer the Äscher mountain restaurant had a weather delay that did not allow it to open in time. This restaurant is a bucket list place to go – nested by a cliff. One of the hiking routes up to the restaurant via the Blättli and Alp Bommen, are still closed due to high avalanche risk.

There are other paths to reach the restaurant that are still covered with snow. You should get the latest route information before venturing to the restaurant.

The restaurant is now under new management, because the people taking care of it until last year decided to cease their work there as the hotel had become victim of its own success, not being able to cope with soaring visitors’ numbers.

Cliffhanging restaurant opens for the season in Switzerland: Äscher Mountain Restaurant.
Cliffhanging restaurant opens for the season in Switzerland: Äscher Mountain Restaurant. Instagram photo.

The hotel is an Instagram sensation, and you can see by watching the pictures why. But it also got very well-known thanks to be named one of the world’s five most

The Äscher came to prominence in 2014 when it was named one of the five most interesting restaurants in the world in the Huffington Post.

Also, National Geographic featured it in the “Destinations of a Lifetime’ special. To reach the restaurant, you need to take a cable car and a short walk from Wasserauen in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden.

The foundation that owns the restaurant said last year that they were working on improving the establishment.

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A Day Visit to the Terminal Neige-Refuge in Montenvers, Chamonix.

The Terminal Neige-Refuge in Montenvers is a great day out, or a magnificent place where to sleep for a couple of nights up in the mountain. Credits : Villa Marie – Saint-Barth / L. Benoit, L. Di Orio

A Day Visit to the Terminal Neige-Refuge in Montenvers, Chamonix

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On our way to Courmayeur, this year we stayed for two nights in Chamonix. We had the luck to go this time up to the Gare du Montenvers and take the train up to the mountain to see the glacier of the Vallée Blanche. That in itself was a great day out! The train goes over a rack and pinion railway and through some nice forests and then climbs up giving travellers amazing views of Chamonix and the mountains surrounding the valley. Most people go up the station and then climb down the stairs to the ice cave, which needs to be carved each year in the glacier, as each year the glacier retreats many meters. It is impressive to see how high the glacier was not so many years ago. There is a small gondola that takes you to the top of the stairs, and then each year the stairs have to be extended down and down to reach the entrance of the ice grotto.

The train takes you from the station in Chamonix up to Montenvers, where the Mer de Glace awaits. Photo: The Ski Guru
The train takes you from the station in Chamonix up to Montenvers, where the Mer de Glace awaits. Photo: The Ski Guru

The day we choose was amazing, pretty warm in the sun, with some clouds menacing a storm that did not materialise, and we were happy to be up the mountain, as in the valley of Chamonix it was 31 C (this summer was way too hot all over Europe!). This considering that Chamonix is by Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe and even here it was hot!

The Mer de Glace as seen at the arrival station at Montenvers. Photo: The-Ski-Guru.
The Mer de Glace as seen at the arrival station at Montenvers. Photo: The-Ski-Guru.

Not too many people know, that 100 metres from the train station (gare), walking back to the valley, you find the Terminal Neige-Refuge. This hotel was built in 1880 to accommodate the first mountaineers and travellers who went to visit the Mer de Glace. From outside is a typical ‘rifugio’ of the Alps, with granite façades and small windows. The hotel is perched at 2049 meters over sea level (6725 feet) with magnificent views to the Mer de Glace glacier, the mythical Aiguille des Drus, the Grand Jorasses, and also the Valley of Chamonix.

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Ski Portillo is opening on June 23rd with more than five feet of snow.

Skiers Looking Down at Hotel Portillo. Frank Shine 2

Ski Portillo is opening on June 23rd having received 16 inches of fresh snow over the weekend (nearly five feet to the date).

The recent storm that covered Portillo’s iconic ski runs is stirring anticipation and excitement amongst skiers and boarders across North America. An all-inclusive Ski Portillo vacation is something special, nothing to compare to other ski resorts experiences. It is like you are going to a private ski mountain, and is a perfect summer getaway for guests of the Northern Hemisphere to enjoy with family and/or friends.

Ski Portillo. Photo by Adam Clark. Skiing as if you were in your own private ski resort.
Ski Portillo. Photo by Adam Clark. Skiing as if you were in your own private ski resort. Ski Portillo is opening on June 23rd.

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Are you ready for the Mountain Gourmet Experience of 2018? Courmayeur Mont Blanc is waiting for you!

For the second year running, Jason Atherton (now 4 Michelin stars worldwide) and Claude Bosi (straight at 2 Michelin stars with his new venture, Bibendum), join inaugural genius Sat Bains (2 Michelin stars) for an incredible experience curated by Heston Blumenthal in Courmayeur, Mont Blanc, from 20 to 23 March.

Heston Blumental curates the Mountain Gourmet Experience 2018 in Courmayeur
Heston Blumental curates the Mountain Gourmet Experience 2018 in Courmayeur

The added twist is the unexpected presence of Marcus Wareing, who enjoyed the first 2 experiences so much, he has come back for more!

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Guests from the UK, Canada, Dubai, France and Ireland will converge on Courmayeur for 3 days of epicurean alchemy provided by the stellar chefs and their support team composed of 10 chefs from the UK.

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Taste of Courmayeur will start on January 26th and go through the 28th at the Courmayeur Mountain Sport Center

Taste of Courmayeur is starting this coming weekend! Photo Credit: Taste of Courmayeur and Centro Servizi Courmayeur

From January 26 to 28, the Italian resort of Courmayeur hosts an amazing gourmet event: Taste of Courmayeur where people have the chance to sample the best delicacies from the Aosta Valley and Italy as a whole with a beautifully scenic backdrop, enhanced by lights and music.

Taste of Courmayeur - 26-28 January 2018 at the Courmayeur Mountain Sports Center.
Taste of Courmayeur – 26-28 January 2018 at the Courmayeur Mountain Sports Center.

For this year’s event at the Courmayeur Mountain Sport Center, six renowned chefs will prepare their most refined and delicious dishes in a special tasting menu. The 24-course menu will be accompanied by a rich programme of activities – it’s a gourmet dream for foodies, a great festive occasion, and a unique opportunity to attend food and wine tastings and workshops with top chefs. The three-day festival aims to make haute cuisine accessible to everyone – each of the 24 dishes is priced between €6 and €10, with good-quality wine and beer as an accompaniment – and there’s also a kids’ area for young foodies.

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What’s on: St Moritz Gourmet Festival

ENGADIN ST. MORITZ- ENGADIN ST.MORITZ - The finest chefs from around the world, the most talented newcomers, and top names from the local hotel and restaurant scene all come together at St. Moritzøs Gourmet Festival. Copyright by: ENGADIN St. Moritz By-line: swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler

Starting on 12th January 2018 and extending until the 20th January, is the 25th time that this gourmet event takes place and will entice visitors with culinary delights by ten guest chefs.

The Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains is the setting for the Grand Opening of the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival. All the chefs and festival hosts as well as many well-known personalities from the international gourmet scene gathered here to launch the week. Copyright by St. Moritz Gourmet Festival By-line:swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler
The Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains is the setting for the Grand Opening of the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival. All the chefs and festival hosts as well as many well-known personalities from the international gourmet scene gathered here to launch the week.
Copyright by St. Moritz Gourmet Festival By-line:swiss-image.ch/Andy Mettler

Chefs include:
Tanja Grandits
Hosted by Chef Fabrizio Piantanida, Grand Hotel Kronenhof*****
• 2 Michelin Stars
• 18 GaultMillau points
• Female Chef Award 2017 (MICHELIN Switzerland)
• Chef of the Year 2014 (GaultMillau)

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