A Meal at Hotel Rotary, Geneva  Add/Read Comments

Scribbling on postcards and sipping on a glass of Pommery. The great decision remains open - does the evening meal get eaten outside - so I do not have to move too far (it being a bit warm and sultry here in the centre of Geneva) - or inside in the cool elegance of the hotel restaurant proper. A complementary olive followed by a pistachio does little to aid the decision making.

If maintaining a proper diary was within my abilities today's entry would be large. A gorgeous grapefruit and orange ice-cream on the Pont de la Machine that melted quicker than I could gobble, left sticky hands for the remainder of the day. A beer in the old town market place (Place du Burg-de-Four) was both reviving and more alcoholic than I realised. A contemplative moment in the cathedral, designer window-shopping along the boulevards followed by a relaxing boat cruise across Lake Geneva.

The Hotel Rotary is hosting a function of some-kind; I spy a rather forward chaffinch attempting to make good with a tempting canapé...

As the restaurant fills, more life and multi-language chatter enlivens the atmosphere. An olive decides I should stay put. Another glass of champagne may persuade otherwise. I wonder if they have noticed my glass is empty?

Postcards completed, olive bowl depleted, chalice emptied - with no offer of a re-fill. I have just taken my 57th photo of the day. (Which turns out to be rubbish and not worth keeping).

I catch the waiters eye - I smirk over a juvenile joke about how careless he must have been to drop it - and a second glass of Pommery and a menu appear. The 'discovery' menu is in English. Explanations suggest that the red meat is Swiss in origin, the lamb from the UK and the poultry from France. The chef is French, not Swiss, which is a shame as I was hoping to enjoy something typically local - but then we are but a stones spit from France...

The list has 13 wines from across Switzerland. Local wins with a Chardonnay de Choully Le Cret, 2006, from Geneva (CHF41) and I pick a Salad of Green Asparagus with Orange Frothy Mousse (CHF28) as the starter. Poached Supreme of Chicken with Creamed Tagliatelle as the main, and to conclude, a plate of local cheeses - yep, cheese instead of the 'Melt-in-the-mouth Chocolate Cake Served with Vanilla Milk-Shake'.

The Chard. Is rather tasty - a little bottle age, a touch of creaminess, toasty, nice weight, a savoury touch, but also a green bean edge. Hoping this will match well with the asparagus and pick up the herbs from the chicken.

Yeh, I know. One bottle of wine for one on top of two glasses of champagne and the lunch-time beer and I haven't had a rum and coke yet!