La Salle
We took a cab over to La Salle last night. Probably should have rent a car while we are here. La Salle is located in an area of Zurich that appears to be going through a change. Even the highway is under construction in that part of town.
This area is supposedly where the younger crowd hangs out. An old industrial area on the move. The restaurant appears to be in the middle of nowhere, at least that is how it seemed to me. Architecturally, it is totally cool. The restaurant is a box built inside an old ship factory that is 100 years old. A huge structure.
Poured concrete and glass are some of the elements used. Super cool.
The town appears to be a bit empty, as you can see from the restaurant. It was 9pm. This place packed would be hopping. From the chandelier to the bar. Everything works.
The food was creative. We have yet to have anything is brilliant but certainly La Salle is one of the restaurants in Zurich working on new cuisine.
I began with a octopus papaya salad with chili peppers. Nice presentation. Flavors worked.
Josh had the pan roasted scallops, laden with butter mixed together with sliced mango and avocado. The scallops were absolutely delicious.
Fred did the aspic. Octopus carpacchio aspic with a tomato vinaigrette. It was really interesting and tasty. Aspic is sort of a strange thing. Too many bites can put you over the top.
Emily had the prosciutto and melon. Switzerland sits on the borders of Italy and Germany. A strange combination and you can see each of those regions come together in all the menus we have seen.
For the main course, Josh went with pan fried veal. They do lots of veal here. There were dollops of herbed butter on the side that you are supposed to put over your veal for taste, he didn't but that was the concept.
Emily went with the spinach ravioli. It is hard to really go wrong in a good restaurant with this.
Fred and I had the fish of the day. Sea Bream pan fried in lots of olive oil and with a tomato confit on the side. I thought they used more butter than olive oil but that is just a guess.
The bar here is one of the other areas in the restaurant.
Here are the tables outside. Very clever of the architects to make a smaller restaurant inside a ridiculously huge space. Yet, the place is still quite large. I'd like to know if it ever gets filled and what it looks like then. There are different places for different vibes. Really impressive architecturally.