Cheval Blanc by Peter Knogl

Cheval Blanc by Peter Knogl is the premier restaurant of the Grand Hotel Trois Rois and one of Switzerland’s 3-Michelin star restaurants. Chef Knogl has been at the restaurant for nearly 20 years and has earned it 3 stars for over a decade. The restaurant also holds a Gault Millau score of 19/20 (the Swiss guide has never awarded a perfect score) and is tied for the #1 spot on La Liste, a ranking based on an algorithmic aggregation of over 700 different dining guides and publications.

Chef Knogl is known for his precise application of global flavors, particularly spices, to a classic French repertoire. The restaurant offers a tasting menu as well as a la carte selections that can be easily swapped in or supplemented with the tasting menu. For my meal I had the tasting menu but substituted the venison main for Bresse pigeon, one of Knogl’s signature dishes.

Food

After being seated I was quickly offered a selection of breads. I chose a seeded baguette and a sourdough roll. Both breads were tasty and very crusty.

The tasting menu opened with a series of 4 amuse bouche in 3 services: a Gillardeau oyster in a sudachi foam, red prawn in a jalapeno espuma, cumin-spiced sardine on a tapioca cracker, and a foie gras macaron flavored with garam masala. It was unusual that these bites were served almost like individual courses instead of as one combined spread, but the powerful flavors each one delivered seemed to justify their separate servings.

The first actual course was a smoked young eel with beetroot foam on a plate with a thin layer of fermented garlic sauce. The eel was cut into thin strips but each packed a strong smoky flavor. The fermented garlic sauce, also spread in a thin layer, provided an aromatic punch. All of this was cut by the beet foam that provided a nice background sweetness. I was admittedly a bit skeptical of this dish when it was placed in front of me as it resembled a sort of modern art painting. But the flavors were strong yet precise and balanced, very impressive.

The next course featured Breton lobster with pieces of bergamot orange in a Chateau Chalon sauce. This was delicious and surprisingly classical-tasting given the white wine and cream sauce. The bergamot did add a bit of a modern flair with some sweetness and acidity.

The fish course was one of the chef’s signatures: red mullet with crispy scales, saffron foam, and tomato vinaigrette. This was the only dish that didn’t blow me away entirely. The first half of the dish tasted overwhelmingly of saffron; it wasn’t until the second half that I got enough tomato vinaigrette to bring everything into a lovely balance. The crispy scales added some nice texture though.

The final savory course was another one of Chef Knogl’s signatures: Bresse pigeon with Moroccan spices and mousseline of carrots. This was damn near a religious experience for me. I cannot do justice to how incredible the balance of smoky and spicy flavors worked with the succulent meat. The mousseline of carrots was basically Robuchon-style potatoes (extremely buttery yet fluffy) but with carrots, so the sweetness helped round out the flavors of the meat.

I don’t typically drink alcohol but asked the sommelier to recommend a glass of wine to go with this course. It was a tasty red that indeed paired well, though given my naive palate I have little else to say about it.

To transition from the savory to the sweet portion of the meal, there was a cheese trolley and a palate cleanser. I deferred to my server to choose a selection of cheeses for me, all excellent and served with more crusty bread.

The palate cleanser was a sorbet made with dill, tarragon, and basil over yogurt and green apples. This was extremely refreshing and very memorable (where most palate cleansers are not).

The meal concluded with an array of mignardises; I do not recall all of them but the front two were particularly memorable: a mango-passionfruit gel (served in a spoon) and a coffee cream pastry. There was also a chocolate tray with 4 different kinds of chocolate: plain milk, plain dark (these were good but par for the course in terms of general Swiss chocolates), milk chocolate with yuzu, and dark chocolate with Sichuan peppercorn (these were excellent with the tartness and tingly spiciness of the additional ingredients serving as pleasant flavor enhancers.

Final thoughts

Cheval Blanc by Peter Knogl serves extremely impressive food and it’s understandable why they occupy such a high spot in global rankings. Service was very good as well, professional and stoic at first but quick to warm up if you’re enthusiastic about the food. The restaurant has a reputation for moving at a very leisurely pace and that was indeed my experience, I was seated at 8pm and left shortly after midnight. Booking is also a bit trickier for solo diners given the restaurant only having 10 tables and you can only secure a reservation by calling or emailing. Even so, this was all well worth dealing with given the quality of food offered.