During our recent stay at the Beau-Rivage Geneva, we had the great honour of having lunch at the Table du Chef.
Chef Dominique Gauthier welcomes you to his starred restaurant’s kitchens to taste a selection of his signature dishes while enjoying the view on the brigade at work. Lunch at the Chef’s Table is a unique experience. Very few restaurants offer this concept. Not everyone is necessarily willing to open their kitchens to guests in this way. It is therefore a great privilege to discover the cuisine of a starred chef.
The lunch at Chef’s Table
Let’s tell you right away. By having lunch at Dominique Gauthier’s Table, you will experience new flavors and textures. In addition to demonstrating a unique know-how, the Chef selects his own products and then cooks them, surrounded by a brigade to prepare the many dishes on each menu. Dominique Gauthier is in the kitchen from the beginning to the end of the service and each dish passes through his hands before being served.
The Chef’s Table is located, in an alcove, at one end of the kitchen, between the area occupied by the preparation of starters and main courses and the area occupied by the pastry team. Two to eight guests can have lunch at the Table du Chef, where a multi-course lunch with wine pairing is served.
The meal begins like a show. You enter the room. The curtain rises, the kitchen is already swarming. Calm reigns. The Chef welcomes you warmly. You don’t know what you’re going to taste yet, but you can already imagine the best. And believe us, it will go far beyond anything you can imagine. It is a truly sensational culinary experience, to be enjoyed at least once in a lifetime!
After some fine appetizers, the festival of flavors begins with the Vallorbe frogs, spinach shoots, garlic milk mousse, the Chef’s signature dish. This absolutely delicious introduction reveals a beautiful marriage between a slightly crunchy texture at the beginning and a melting texture after that. The taste is enhanced by the garlic milk froth.
Then, a magnificent lobster carpaccio, tartar with herbs, colored radishes, Thai basil and yuzu, shows us the Chef’s ability to innovate by offering a pleasant walk between land and sea. The whole, delicately tart, is wrapped in a remarkable finesse, all in freshness and lightness.
The brown morels stuffed with poultry, peas, bacon and parmesan offer once again a very nice textures game, very airy. The peas, too rarely featured in haute cuisine, find a prominent place here, bringing all its roundness. This is one of the great assets of Dominique Gauthier’s cuisine : knowing how to sublimate simple products by mixing them with more exceptional ones.
South African scampi, crispy soufflé, imperial Amur caviar is a real artwork. Visually, we reach perfection. From a gustatory point of view, once again, Dominique Gauthier finds the perfect association between scampi, caviar and this little crispy soufflé. All this is accompanied by a fine scampi and lime emulsion, a delight!
Saint-Pierre from Brittany, cooked pearly, green asparagus, artichoke-rimmed juice and arugula is cooked at low temperature. The result? A delicately melting texture and a perfectly preserved taste. In particular, we were able to attend the preparation of the asparagus by the brigade. It’s a real goldsmith’s job. The asparagus is processed with care and delicacy.
The last dish, the Swiss veal filet mignon, steamed, white asparagus, morels, potatoes in oil, highlights the breeding of a local producer with whom the Chef has been working for years. The finesse of the calf, grazing in pastures at an altitude of 1.200 m, is simply incredible. The combination of morels and asparagus works perfectly.
After this festival, comes the time for the pre-dessert, prepared by the pastry chef Yoann Coiffard. It is an opaline, ginger, exotic fruits, granny smith apple and lime espuma. Presented in the style of a jewel in its porcelain case, this pre-dessert releases an explosion of flavors whose delicacy is matched only by the sublime association of textures.
The dessert, once again prepared and staged by Yoann Coiffard, under the kind eye of Dominique Gauthier, is a green Chartreuse soufflé with yellow Chartreuse ice cream. Forget everything you’ve ever known about soufflés, this Chartreuse soufflé is the ideal conclusion to an exceptional lunch. The taste is very well balanced, very delicate. The texture is very airy. Together with a Jurançon selected by the sommelier, it is a real treat.
After reading this description of the menu, you probably think that you will never manage to eat all this in one meal. Well, yes, we did. And to tell you the truth, we didn’t had any feeling of heaviness.
We strongly recommend that you try this unique experience at least once in your life. Chef Dominique Gauthier is an artist at the top of his game.
About Chef Dominique Gauthier
Chef Dominique Gauthier has been in charge of the kitchens at Beau-Rivage Geneva hotel since 2001 after entering this beautiful house in 1996. Originally from the Côte Saint-André in the Vercors region of Isère (France), Dominique Gauthier has worked with Chefs such as Georges Blanc and Jo Rostang. The work of a perfectionist, his creations are meticulously crafted in terms of both the plating and the combination of tastes and textures. Everything has been carefully studied.
Dominique Gauthier is also a lover of beautiful products that he knows how to highlight with brio. He has been working with many small local and regional producers for years. This network has been built up over the years and allows it to offer healthy, authentic and refined cuisine.
We were dazzled by his cuisine, full of colors and flavors but also by his warm and humble personality. Our Chef leads his brigade with a masterful hand without raising his voice. Everything goes very smoothly and neatly as in a hive where everyone has their role. On the day we were at the Chef’s Table, the restaurant was pretty busy and the hotel also had a banquet to serve. The workload was therefore significant. Despite this, the rush did not result in any febrile or vocal outbursts.
About Le Chat Botté
Le Chat Botté is the starred restaurant of Beau-Rivage Geneva. It extends on the ground floor of the hotel, along the avenue that borders Lake Geneva. The kitchens are managed by Dominique Gauthier, accompanied by the pastry chef Yoann Coiffard who prepared a light and delicious soufflé à la Chartreuse.
We would like to thank Morgane, Camille, Kamonchat and Marco who served us like kings during this magical meal. Their know-how, patience and discretion have made this moment an exceptional one.