Which Swiss (Michelin) restaurants to choose as a traveling gourmet:

It is high time to advise on fine dining restaurants in Switzerland too after my other guides on my wonderful home country! While the first one was about where to go (precisely a grand tour across Switzerland), the second one highlighted premium Swiss destinations. A third one gave an overview on luxury hotels to choose while traveling this Alpine nation (part one and two), and now it is all about gourmet restaurants.

Again, the suggested grand tour of Switzerland will be the basis for my culinary recommendations. I will propose tips for fine dining lovers along this route as I did with my high-end accommodation guide. Luckily for you as a gourmet, many of the luxury hotels mentioned in here have great restaurants too. So it might be advisable to opt for those. Yet I will also go into hot dining spots outside of hotels.

And just as with my guide to upscale lodging, you get this fine dining directory Switzerland in two parts. It is simply too much to handle in one post only. The first one comprises of the basic tour No 1b (Lucerne-Interlaken), the modular tour No 1 (Basel-Solothurn-Bern) and the modular tour No 2 (Interlaken-Gstaad-Montreux-Lausanne-Geneva). The rest – modular tour No 3 (Zermatt-Saint Moritz), modular tour No 4 (Zurich-Saint Gallen-Appenzell-Bad Ragaz) and modular tour No 5 (Chur-Ticino) – follows soon on my blog.

(Michelin) restaurants along the grand tour of Switzerland

For details on how to visit Switzerland (grand tour, divided into a basic tour and 5 modular ones to add according to desire), please have a look at my correspondent blogpost.

Now to fine dining restaurants in my home country. Contrary to the luxury hotel guide, I will not include all the establishments that might be worth going to. Because there are too many of them. It will be a curated selection, based on two renowned restaurants guides and my personal experience.

Of course I have not been to all the restaurants I am going to talk about. I am a passionate fine dining lover and I have had my share of visits to establishments offering culinary delights (or not so much). Yet I consider myself an informed viewer of the national culinary scene. And there are – as mentioned – two restaurants guides for reference, the Michelin Guide Switzerland and the Gault Millau-Channel. While the former is available in English too, the latter only exists in German and French.

Michelin and Gault Millau Guide

In case you are unfamiliar with these two fine dining directories, here is some information about them. Michelin awards stars, either three (maximum), two, one or no stars. In the latter case, this does not have to be bad news. It might be an accolade just to be in the guide. And this either receiving “The Plate” meaning the restaurants “simply serve good food” or “The Bib Gourmand” that highlights those offering “a good quality menu for a modest price”. Gault Millau rates on a scale of 1 to 20 (the highest). However, the ones below 10 are rarely listed.

Basic tour No 1b: Lucerne-Interlaken – fine dining in Switzerland’s core

Lake Lucerne Region

In this region I make a distinction between the town of Lucerne and its neighborhood that I call here “Around Lake Lucerne”.

Lucerne

The town of Lucerne is not one that I often visit when it is about dining out in nearby places. Yet I had dinner twice here recently, and this at Restaurant Scala (15 points Gault Millau, Mediterranean cuisine) at Art Deco Hotel Montana. And I found it good!

As to the dining spots at the luxury hotels I mentioned in my accommodation guide, so much can be said. The Schweizerhof offers quality dining at its elegant annexe, Villa Schweizerhof (13 points Gault Millau, classic cuisine). The Grand Hotel National knows to persuade with a new restaurant, Klingler’s Ristorante (14 points Gault Millau, Italian cuisine), a branch of a Zurich dining-spot. And the newest luxury hotel in town, Manadarin Oriental Palace, even features two places for dining in style. These are Restaurant Colonnade (Michelin one star, 16 Gault Millau points, modern French cuisine) and Restaurant Minamo (Michelin, 14 points Gault Millau, Japanese cuisine).

The hottest dining-spot in town outside of hotels is probably Lucide (Michelin one star, 16 points Gault Millau, contemporary cuisine), at Lucerne’s culture and congress center (KKL). Michèle Meier, female chef of 2021 at Gault Millau, helms the recently redone restaurant.

Around Lake Lucerne

Here I limit myself to hotel restaurants as almost all of the luxury hotels I mentioned in my guide have excellent fine dining opportunities.

The flagship place here is probably Park Hotel Vitznau with two hot dining-spots. On the one hand, there is Focus (Michelin two stars, 18 points Gault Millau, creative cuisine),

headed by a young chef, Patrick Mahler. The dinner I had here some time ago was a hit, please refer to my post. On the other hand, yet another young chef is at work here, Felix Kattchin. And he does this at Grill & Lake Terrace (15 points Gault Millau, meat dishes).

The Buergenstock Resort in Obbuergen has even more fine dining opportunities, three in number awarded by Gault Millau! For an overview, check out my post about this huge hotel complex. The most popular might be Spices (Michelin The Plate, 16 points Gault Millau, pan-Asian cuisine). I had dinner here in the past and enjoyed it.

The other two are Oak Grill & Pool Patio (14 points Gault Millau, meat dishes) and Parisa – Persian Cuisine (13 points Gault Millau, oriental cuisine). Find here all about dining at this resort.

In case you want to have dinner at a Michelin starred mountain restaurant, Regina Montium (Michelin one star, 16 points Gault Millau) at Hotel Edelweiss on Mount Rigi could be your place. While the hotel is rather modest, its dining-spot is definitely not. I had lunch here recently (in the Bistro by Regina Montium, Michelin Bib) and liked what I got.

Interlaken

If you stay here at the best hotel in town, Victoria-Jungfrau, all the better! The best pick in town for gourmets is most probably Radius by Stefan Beer (Michelin one star, 17 points Gault Millau, creative cuisine), one of several restaurants at this grand old dame.

Modular tour No 1: Basel-Solothurn-Bern – gourmet restaurants in Switzerland’s northwest

Basel

Established dining spots in Basel

The city’s most upscale accommodation, Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois, is at the same time home of the star restaurant here. This is Cheval Blanc by Peter Knogl (19 points Gault Millau, classic French cuisine), one of only four Michelin three star establishments in Switzerland! I lately dined here and very much loved the experience.

As to other recommended restaurants in town, here are some more suggestions. I had dinner at all of them at some time in the past. First of all, there is another top dining-spot, a bit further away from the city center, Stucki – Tanja Grandits (Michelin two stars, 19 points Gault Millau, creative cuisine).

Then there is Bel Etage, Der Teufelhof Hotel’s signature restaurant (Michelin one star, 16 points Gault Millau, classic French cuisine).  Oliv (Michelin The Plate, 16 points Gault Millau, Mediterranean cuisine)

and Chez Donati (13 points Gault Millau, Italian cuisine)

are two other long-established culinary places in Basel, see my review of the latter.

Finally, there is one more decorated dining venue that has been on my bucket list for some time now. It is about roots (Michelin two stars, 18 points Gault Millau, modern cuisine). As the name hints they are into vegetable food yet without neglecting meat and fish.

Newer restaurants in Basel

As to newcomers, I tried out two of them in Basel lately. This was on the one hand Im Ackermannshof (Michelin one star, 16 points Gault Millau, creative cuisine).

On the other hand, I visited the restaurant at the new Moevenpick Hotel Basel, Puro (14 points Gault Millau, modern cuisine).

While the former beguiles with refined Italian inspired dishes, the latter surprises with Latin American Asian influenced creations.

There is one more new dining spot that is worth going to. A chef, at whom I have already dined several times (Andreas Schuermann), opened his new dining-spot, Zum Wilde Maa, in 2020 (Michelin Bib Gourmand, 14 points Gault Millau, modern cuisine). And the food is still excellent here.

Solothurn

Just in case you stay at La Couronne, why not give Le Restaurant a try (Michelin The Plate, 14 points Gault Millau, classic French cuisine). On my recent visit, I found it good.

As I am a great fan of modern Asian cuisine, I like to go to the Salzhaus (Michelin Bib Gourmand, 13 points Gault Millau, contemporary cuisine).

See here my reviews: lunch and dinner.

My favorite in town at the moment is Zum Alten Stephan (Michelin Bib Gourmand, 15 points Gault Millau, farm to table cuisine). On my recent lunch here, I very much enjoyed what they offered.

In the past, I had also dinner at the flagship restaurateur in the area, Juerg Slaschek, at his Attisholz – Le Feu (Michelin one star, 17 points Gault Millau, French cuisine), a bit out of town.

Bern

Established dining spots in Bern

Both luxury hotels I recommended in my recent post offer fine dining too. Bellevue Palace has its Brasserie Vue (Michelin The Plate, 14 points Gault Millau, modern cuisine). Schweizerhof features Jack’s Brasserie (14 points Gault Millau, traditional cuisine).

Of course, there are abundant excellent fine dining opportunities out of hotels as well. Here are two of them where I dined in the past. My top pick is the relaxed Steinhalle (Michelin one star, 17 points Gault Millau, creative cuisine, my review).

Yet I also liked my culinary experience at Mille Sens (Michelin The Plate, 15 points Gault Millau, international cuisine, my review).

Outside of Bern & newer restaurants

And if you do not mind heading out of town (20 minutes by train), the one Michelin starred Zur Gedult in Burgdorf (17 points Gault Millau, modern cuisine)

is a great address (my review).

I am looking forward to having dinner at two more places, too. First of all, the newly opened Restaurant Zoe (Michelin one star, 15 points Gault Millau, vegetarian cuisine) is high on my to-go list. Also, Restaurant zum Zaehringer (Michelin The Plate, 14 points Gault Millau, traditional cuisine), might be a good address for fine dining lovers, too. Its chef used to cook on Zermatt’s slopes and was known as ravioli king in this mountain resort.

Modular tour No 2: Interlaken-Gstaad-Montreux-Lausanne-(Geneva) – High-end restaurants in Switzerland’s west

The culinary Swiss journey goes directly to Gstaad as I have already written about Interlaken earlier on.

Gstaad

Here you do not have to leave your hotel for epicurean treats, at least if you follow my accommodation advice. All the high-end hotels I recommended in the chalet town of Gstaad offer top restaurants.

The Alpina Gstaad tops the list with the Michelin one star Sommet (18 points Gault Millau, modern cuisine). It is followed by Gstaad Palace with Le Grill (16 points Gault Millau, traditional cuisine) and Gildo’s Ristorante (Michelin The Plate, Italian cuisine). Also Le Grand Bellevue with Lenoard’s (16 points Gault Millau, Italian cuisine) and Park Gstaad with Avenue Montagne (Michelin The Plate, international cuisine) know how to persuade traveling gourmets.

Another hotel that is known for top cuisine is Le Grand Chalet where I stayed and dined twice in the past. Its classic French dining-spot called La Bagatelle (Michelin The Plate, 16 points Gault Millau) seems still worth visiting it.

The star restaurant in Gstaad is not in town but in nearby Rougement (10 minutes by car/18 minutes by train away). It is about the two Michelin star Restaurant La Table du Valrose (18 points Gault Millau, modern French cuisine) at Hotel Valrose.

Montreux

The lake-side town of Montreux does have some recommended fine dining opportunities, especially its part of Glion stands out. On the one hand, you find here Maison Décotterd (Michelin one star, 18 points Gault Millau, modern French cuisine). Only recently, I had a fabulous birthday dinner at this sophisticated place.

On the other hand, there is Hotel Victoria’s Restaurant (14 points Gault Millau, classic French cuisine).

I had dinner here on several occasions and was content with the dining place’s sound performance (my post).

Lausanne

Hotel restaurants

There is no shortage of great fine dining in this French-speaking city. And you can almost not go wrong as an epicurean if you stay at an upscale accommodation here. Because all three luxury hotels in town feature gourmet places.

The winner here in terms of high-end gastronomy is Beau-Rivage Palace. Onsite you find not only Anne-Sophie Pic (offshoot, Michelin two stars, 18 points Gault Millau, creative cuisine, chef Kévin Vaubourg)

but also two other quality restaurants. You can choose between Miyako (Michelin The Plate, 14 points Gault-Millau, Japanese cuisine)

or Café Beau-Rivage (14 points Gault Millau, international cuisine). On two recent occasions, I experienced culinary excellence at Anne-Sophie Pic, although be prepared to fork out some cash. In addition, I enjoyed a great Asian dinner at Miyako. Find more details about both dining spots in my blogpost.

Not bad at all is the choice at Lausanne Palace with La Table (Michelin two stars, 17 points Gault Millau, creative cuisine) and Brasserie Grande Chêne (12 points Gault Millau, traditional French cuisine).

Restaurants outside of hotels

If you look for independent restaurants (not at hotels), I have two more tips. I already mentioned that there are four Michelin three star dining-spots in Switzerland. Not far from Lausanne you find one of those, probably the most prominent one (and most expensive one too) in my home country, Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in Crissier (19 points Gault Millau, classic French cuisine, chef Franck Giovannini).

Just recently, I had the chance to dine here, and it was truly a great deal (my post follows soon).

You might also know that Lausanne is home of probably the best hospitality management school in the world. And there is also a top fine dining here, Le Berceau des Sens (Michelin one star, 16 points Gault Millau, French cuisine).

Geneva

The cosmopolitan city of Geneva is not much different from other Swiss cities when it comes to the location of haute cuisine. It is usually no bad idea to trust in restaurants of high-end hotels.

Hotel restaurants

I start with the ones which I have already visited. In the past, I ate well at La Réserve at its Tsé Fung (Michelin one star, 14 points Gault Millau, Chinese cuisine).

On the same occasion, I had a fabulous dinner at Le Jardin (formerly Michelin The Plate, 17 points Gault Millau, creative cuisine)

at Le Richemond. See here my post about my Geneva adventure. Hotel Le Richemond is closed at the moment and will open as part of the Jumeirah Group in 2025. Quite some time ago, I also dined at the Beau-Rivage at Le Chat-Botté (Michelin one star, 18 points Gault-Millau, modern French cuisine – UPDATE: chef Dominique Gauthier left in summer 2023 after more than 30 years in charge here).

There are more hotel restaurants worth going to as a gourmet. You can mention here Hotel Royal with L’Aparté (Michelin one star, 17 points Gault Millau),  Four Seasons des Bergues with Il Lago (Michelin one star, 15 points Gault Millau, Italian cuisine) and Izumi (14 points Gault Millau, Japanese-Peruvian cuisine) as well as President Wilson with Bayview (Michelin one star, 18 points Gault Millau, modern cuisine). Furthermore, there are The Ritz-Carlton de la Paix with Fiskebar (Michelin The Plate, 15 points Gault Millau, modern cuisine) and Mandarin Oriental with Yakumanka (Michelin The Plate, 13 points Gault Millau, Peruvian cuisine).

And the restaurants at the newest hotel here, The Woodward, deserve going to as well. There is L’Atelier Robuchon (Michelin two stars, 15 points Gault Millau, modern French cuisine) on the one hand and Le Jardinier on the other (Michelin The Plate, 15 points Gault Millau, modern French cuisine with a focus on vegetable).

Outside of hotels and Geneva

And of course there are also great places outside of hotels, I name here only one establishment awarded with a Michelin star:  Tosca (16 points Gault Millau, Tuscan-Italian cuisine).

Finally, there is one more dining-spot absolutely worth mentioning (and where I celebrated a special birthday), Domaine de Châteauvieux (Michelin one star, 19 points Gault Millau, modern French cuisine, chef Philippe Chevrier). It is outside the city, in the vineyards.

Overall

This was part one of a culinary journey along the grand tour of Switzerland proposed in an earlier post. Part two of the fine dining directory Switzerland follows soon on my blog. Other posts in the context of my home country Switzerland highlighted itineraries, premium destinations and luxury hotels (part one and two).

last revised: December 2023

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