Le Deck Restaurant - Dining on the balcony of wine
If you are visiting Geneva and don’t mind driving 45 minutes for dinner, along the north shore of Lac Leman, then you are in for a treat. Le Deck restaurant at Chexbres not only has a stunning view of mountains and lake, it also has wonderful food, an excellent wine list and so many specialty beers that you can go on ‘Le voyage de la bière’.
As we found out, Le Deck is indeed on decking, pretty much hanging off the hillside below the Le Baronier Tavernier Hotel, to which it belongs. From the road we walked down a little path and suddenly found ourselves in what felt like a posh country club setting with a miniature infinity pool, creating the illusion of the edge of the restaurant blending in with the lake. It was near sunset, so the sky above the lake was peach pink, dramatically set off by the mountain silhouettes. Luckily it was a nice evening so all of this beauty wasn’t lost in the mist and clouds that can sometime obscure the view.
We decided to have an aperitif outside before sitting down and chose one of the groups of trendy wicker furniture under white sails as our spot. Below the restaurant, vineyards covered the steep slopes plunging right down to the lake. I could see why this area is called the ‘balcony' of Lac Leman.
We were shown to our table inside the restaurant and it was a little while before our waiter appeared. He redeemed himself by recommending a lovely local Pinot Gris from St Saphorin and after being able to physically point at the vineyard where the wine came from, he had definitely won us over.
It had been a hot day and felt like something fresh, so the Greek Salad starter was just what I wanted. The feta was delicious and I liked how they had peeled the cucumber and cut out the slimy bit in the middle. As a main, I had the Spicy Barbequed Lamb with a yoghurt and mint raita sauce with couscous. The lamb was perfectly cooked on the restaurants’ outside grill and the raita was absolutely essential to cool down the pleasant, but fierce fire in my mouth! The couscous was perfectly seasoned and was just the right level of moist – no sawdust in sight.
I did have my beady, cheese loving eye on the Assiette de Fromage for dessert, but won the scuffle with temptation – for once! I opted instead for a double espresso to propel me back along the lake after a very pleasant evening.
A meal for two with wine at Le Deck will cost around 100 Swiss Francs, the equivalent to £70.
Le Deck Restaurant, Hotel Le Baron Tavernier, Route de la Corniche, 1071 Chexbres, Switzerland, Tel: +41 21 926 6000, www.barontavernier.ch.
