The Quest for Duck

Dinner at the Restaurant Pont de Brent

Just about a year ago, Jeff Kingston, Kevin Ng, AP USA's Michael Goldstein and myself had dinner at the Pont de Brent, one of two restaurants in Switzerland with three Michelin stars. While we were all most content with our menu, we were just a little bit jealous of the diners at the table next to us who were being served the most wonderful looking and smelling duck. We all agreed that the next time, one of these birds would have to fly to our table. A few weeks ago Jeff announced that he would be in Switzerland for a few days and we both agreed that then would be the perfect time to go have one of those ducks. Luckily the day we planned to go was a public holiday (Ascension Day) so I would be able to make a leisurely trip to Montreux instead hurrying down after work. A day after our reservation for May 9th was confirmed, I got an invitation to my niece's confirmation ceremony and lunch at my sister's restaurant. Also on May 9th ... Of course it was completely out of the question to cancel either event but I knew that my stomach would be in for a real test that day. My sister's restaurant is called the "Krone" (Crown) and is located in a small village called Batterkinden, about a half an hour away from Bern. Until a few years ago, she and her husband ran it as a gourmet restaurant, it had a Michelin star and 17 Gault Millaut points and was my favorite restaurant in the world. I've been their inofficial IT department for years now and all my "fees" have been awarded in the form of great dinners and lunches. After large damage occurred to their building caused by a fire, they changed the concept and nowadays concentrate mostly on banquets, event management, catering and organizing cultural events. The cuisine has become simpler but is still very, very good and I will go out on a limb to say their desserts still easily whip those of every restaurant I've ever been to including Rochat and Lameloise. Small crepes filled with coconut mousse and lime sherbet on the side is one that comes to mind. Naughty me played hookie from the church ceremony which started at 9 am and which would have required me to get up at 6 to attend so I went directly to the aperitif which was held at a historic farmhouse close by. As hard as it was, I knew I would have to hold back on the snacks and stuck to the alcohol-free juniper punch in light of all the food and drink that was still to come. After catching up with lots of relatives and being invited to the wedding of a cousin I haven't seen in 10 years, we returned back to the restaurant where the first strike on my digestive system was about to be launched. Appetizer, a sweet and spicy curry soup and spring rolls filled with a jumbo shrimp. Okay, I'll admit it. I broke down and had two more of the spring rolls ... wine was a crisp Australian chardonnay Main course, chicken breast wrapped in crispy bacon and filled with basil and pine nut pesto, a light sauce of balsamic vinegar and parmigiano cheese risotto. It took a lot of convincing myself to pass on a second helping, believe me, but the quest for the duck was still on ...wine was a lovely Sicilian red that reminded me of a Zinfandel, it wasn't a Primitivo though. Traditionally such Sunday lunches go on for ages in the canton of Bern and I had to leave to meet up with Jeff before dessert was served. Of course my sister wouldn't allow her "little brother" to leave without having a famous Krone dessert so I got a special one but was in a bit of a hurry to photograph it. Jeff and I met up, headed down to Montreux, had a bottle of mineral water (really !) at the hotel bar, went to change and were standing outside the Pont de Brent a mere four hours after I had wrapped up lunch. Incredibly, my appetite was all there and I was raving to go ... While very tastefully decorated and elegant, the atmosphere at the PdB is most relaxed, it feels almost like dining at someone's home. Now I could finally throw all inhibitions over board ! We started off with a glass of champagne and some small puff pastries and proceeded to study the menu. The duck was a given of course and we decided to design our own menu around it. White wine: 1997 Chablis Valmur Domaine Raveneaux, much less opulent in taste than the two Puligny Montrachets we had shared at Rochat and Lameloise but with very subtle and distinct flavors, most notably one of tropical fruit (pineapple ?) that appeared on the tip of the tongue. Amuse bouche: lightly broiled skate (ray) with just a whiff of olive oil and chives. Jeff and I agreed that we'd be most content by skipping all the other courses and just having more of it. First appetizer: Pan-fried sweet-breads from the calf, moreils and green asparagus covered by a frothy, creamy sauce. Jeff's dish was very similar but his substituted the sweet-breads for frog legs. I hope the resident vegetarians won't be having nightmares because of us ... Second appetizer: Wild salmon on a buttery broth of sliced artichokes. The salmon (which is only available for two months in the year) was cooked in a way that it was warm throughout but was still almost raw and just melted in one's mouth. As simple as they may sound, dishes like these are the ones that separate the boy cooks from the men cooks. Utterly delicious. Red wine: 1996 Bonnes Mare Grande Cru Domaine Roumier. When Jeff and I go on our little gourmet getaways, I'm always glad to let him sift through the wine list. For the duck, a Burgundy was called for and Jeff suggested two excellent Echezeaux which were priced within our budget and the Bonnes Mare which was priced a few francs higher. In light of the noises the sommelier was making, we decided to let budget be budget that night and went for the extremely full-bodied, powerful yet incredibly smooth Bonnes Mare. As it turned out, a most wise decision, certainly one of the two or three best Burgundies I've ever had. Main course: Duck served traditionally in two courses. After drooling for a year, we had finally arrived ! The first helping was the breast, accompanied by tiny vegetables, potatoes and a light wine sauce. The meat was so incredibly tender that it virtually vaporized instead of having to be chewed. The legs were then served separately and accompagnied just by a refreshing salad. I can happily say that the wait was worth the pain, I can't imagine how it would be possible to make this dish better. Like all the food at the Pont de Brent, the flavors of the main product did all the talking, there's no overpowering spices or heavy sauces which distract from what you're actually eating. A dish worth the trip. Cheese Wagon! We still had some wine left so we of course had a little bit of cheese, served with slices of fruit and nut breads. Dessert: A warm chocolate biscuit filled with melted chocolate sauce, passion-fruit coulis and chocolate and mascarpone ice cream. I know, after all the calories I indulged in that day, a bare fruit salad would have been the wisest choice for dessert. But I never said I was wise, did I ? The only thing I left remaining on these plates was a lonely slice of candied orange. No, I'm definitely not wise ...

On this day, I was definitely balancing the thin line of having a very hearty appetite and completely overindulging. If all the food hadn't been of the utmost quality, I would have thrown the towel half way through. Still, I'll be taking it easy in the coming weeks, perhaps my next post will be on something horrible like granola bars or Slimfast drinks! Regards, Hans ThePuristS Wine & Food discussion board Comments, suggestions, and corrections to this article are welcomed. Please e-mail comments or sign the guestbook. Copyright May 2002 - Hans Zbinden and ThePuristS.com - all rights reserved