IF ONLY WALLS COULD SPEAK - Blancpain

I had now worked my way up to dessert,
which at Rochat consists of no less than four
courses NOT counting the petits fours and
chocolates. The first dessert was Miroir de
cassis aux baies de sureau crème glacée aux
poires William's du Valais. This was a cassis
mousse crowned with a shimmering shiny
cassis glaze accompanied by a wonderful
pear william ice cream. Yin and yang again.
The pear william eau de vie, creamy as it
was, had just enough bite to play off the
miroir de cassis.
The parade of desserts then turned to first
a plate of intense and perfect sorbets and
then a plate of ice creams, in each case a
selection of three. Sorbets were grapefruit,
mango and raspberry; ice creams were praline,
vanilla and yogurt-lime. The vanilla ice
cream alone is worth the trip to Crissier:
positively black with bits of vanilla bean, it
shames all others.
After all of this comes the challenge, the
last act in the ballet, the dessert trolley. It is
always entertaining to look at the expressions
on faces around the room as diners,
who have made it this far, confront a trolley
laden with enormous selection of tarts and
poached fruits—have as many as you like.
Smiles of guilt, eyes bulging in disbelief,
hands rubbing together, everyone has at
least something. For me the one constant is
the tarte vaudoise. This is a tarte whose filling
is a highly reduced crème of cinnamon. With
that and a sensational bittersweet chocolate
tart I surrendered. Well, not exactly, since irresistible
chocolates materialized with coffee.
By this point, the afternoon had now
moved to its final stages and, surprise, the
mists had separated allowing for just a bit of
late afternoon glow. I know that it did not
atone for the caloric intake, but I managed
to race off to Glion, above Montreux, and
jog until enveloped in darkness. All in all, a
perfect day. ■
PHILIPPE ROCHAT
RESTAURANT DE L’HÔTEL DE VILLE
1023 Crissier
Phone: +41 (0)21 634 05 05
Fax: +41 (0)21 634 24 64
www.philippe-rochat.ch
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