Review of Restaurant Glow, Davos, Switzerland
UPDATE: out of business in 2021
A doyen of high-end cuisine in the Grisons Alps:
After several years of cooking at Hotel Seehof Armin Amrein, doyen of high-end cuisine in the area of Davos/Klosters in the Swiss Alps, opened his own restaurant – Glow – in a furniture shop one year ago. It is a small place with an even smaller kitchen, virtually a “shop in the shop” or more accurately a “spot in the shop”. As expected from such a talented chef, he works his magic also on limited space. My family had dined with Armin Amrein several times when he was chef at Hotel Seehof and we had been looking forward to our dinner at his new location.
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| Starter: Quail, Summer Vegetables, Soil |
Ambiance
As mentioned, you have your meal in one part of a furniture shop, not amidst of furniture for sale, but the closeness to the adjoining business shows. Amuse-bouche and friandises are served on mini pieces of furniture! The restaurant is furnished tastefully – no surprise in these surroundings – in a contemporary style. There are floor-to-ceiling window fronts that make the room well lit. The restaurant is nice to look at and you feel comfortable in here. You are protected from the eyes of passers-by – the restaurant is favorably located on the main street of Davos – thanks to screen shields.
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| Interior |
Food concept
Haute cuisine in on offer here, the chef is a master of his field. He uses high quality products and knows expertly how to prepare them best. He skillfully combines textures and flavors in a miraculous way so that culinary artwork results, a feast for the eyes and the palate!
Armin Amrein’s dinner menu consists of four to seven courses and changes about every three weeks. In addition there are four classics, which can be used as replacement options for the current menu.
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| Starter: Char from Grisons, Cooked in Hempseed Oil |
Sampled food
As we went there with friends, we had the chance to sample almost all the dishes of the menu although we only had four courses. Quail, summer vegetables and soil were the ingredients of the first course, followed by a composition consisting of white tomato soup, langoustine & buffalo mozzarella. The fish dish was a char from the area cooked in hempseed oil and accompanied by a variation of cauliflower and hazelnuts. Before coming to the actual main dish fried duck liver in combination with apricot and caramel was served. Next point on the agenda was wild turbot and knuckle of veal arranged with melon. As none of us opted for the cheese (matured raw milk cheese from the region with fig mustard and pumpernickel ice cream), we came straight to the dessert, a “potpourri” of blueberries, cheesecake and lemon thyme.
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| Starter: Fried Duck Liver, Apricot, Caramel |
Armin Amrein truly lived up to his reputation of a culinary artist! He is indeed a master of combining different textures and flavors so that a harmonious creation results of it. The highlight of the meal was in my opinion the fish dish where everything blended magnificently. I had been looking very much forward to the fried duck liver, but unfortunately it came a bit as a disappointment. Delicious bits of liver were drowned in a rather heavy sauce and were largely outnumbered by pieces of apricot.
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| Main: Wild Turbot, Knuckle of Veal, Melon |
Service/Pricing
The standard of service is somewhat difficult to express in words. Seen on the surface everything is as it is supposed to be, staff is polite and correct. But if you dig a bit deeper, you get the impression that the employees do not really convey the spirit of the restaurant, the chef and the food. The glow of the employees cannot be seen properly.
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| Dessert: Blueberries, Cheesecake, Lemon Thyme |
Prices – as you would expect – are elevated. Four courses amount to SFR 135 and every additional course costs SFR 20 more. Positively can be noted in this regard that you do not have to leave the restaurant still hungry after four courses as this is often the case in similar spots.
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| Friandises on Mini Piece of Furniture |
Overall, if you go to Davos and want to splurge on fine food, you absolutely have to go to Glow. The chef, Armin Amrein, is a master of culinary art and knows how to intrigue lovers of fine food. The setting is special, the restaurant is located amidst a furniture shop.
Date of visit: July 2016
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